Putting The Pieces Together Part VII: Did Other People Groups Join The Israelites On Their Exodus?

This is going to be my final post on Simcha Jacobovici’s documentary The Exodus Decoded. I have really enjoyed this video and blogging on it. I hope in the future to study and do more research on this era, because of the controversy surrounding the Exodus. I also desire to do more research on the Hyksos period to be able to show that they are not the Israelites. There are things that I’ve agreed with Jacobovici on, and then there were other things I didn’t. But it is encouraging, speaking as a Christian, to have someone do a documentary like this to try and prove that the Exodus really happened. We will look at two artifacts that Jacobovici believes can prove that the sea was parted, and by showing us these artifacts Jacobovici gets us to think that maybe the Israelites weren’t the only ones who left on the Exodus with Moses; could it be possible that other people groups went with them?

     Jacobovici is certain that the Israelites weren’t the only people to follow Moses on the Exodus, through the sea, and then later to Mount Sinai. But Jacobovici asserts that this was as far as this people group went with the Israelites, and again he finds the necessary evidence. “As it turns out some of the people that followed Moses across the parted sea, and later to Mount Sinai, did not follow him to the Promised Land. They boarded ships and sailed to an unknown exodus to Greece. Why hasn’t any noticed? Because no one has thought to look in Greece for evidence of an event that happened in Egypt. In fact, until recently, there was very little archaeological evidence of contact between the Minoan civilization of ancient Greece and Egypt at the time of Moses. All that changed with two great discoveries: The first was in 1972 when digging under the ash at Santorini Archaeologist made a startling discovery, linking this area of the world with the Exodus. They found unusual Minoan style wall paintings, incredibly among them there is a map depicting an ancient journey from Egypt to Greece.” Jacobovici continues with his description about the map: “The map is breathtaking, the colors as vibrant today as 3500 years ago. It depicts an epic journey from Egypt to Santorini. The voyage is complete with a terrible storm at sea. Working even further back we see that ancient sailors sailed pass Egyptian Fauna and palm trees in the Nile delta. The map then follows the river inland and it ends up in a magical city on a kind of river bound island. This mysterious city is surrounded by high walls with multi-storied houses, elegant ladies peering from the rooftops, and a rich harbor. At the time, there was only one port in Egypt that fits the city in the map; the fabled Avaris. Until late in the 20^th century there was no archaeological proof of contact between Avaris and the Minoans of Santorini, then in 1992 perfectly preserved Minoan paintings were discovered at Avaris. Proving that in Biblical times this city was not only populated by Israelites but also by people from ancient Greece.”

     Could it be possible that these ancient Greeks followed Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt? The Bible certainly doesn’t give us any information that other people groups came with them on the Exodus. But let us look at the map. Jacobovici claims that these sailors came from the “Fabled Avaris.” He also states that the finding of Minoan artwork at Avaris proves that not only the Israelites populated Avaris, but also the Minoan’s. But as I have stated before, the Israelites dwelt in the land of Goshen (Ex. 8:22, 9:26). Also at the time of the map the Israelites were already enslaved under the Egyptians, so how could the Israelites be among the “elegant ladies peering from the rooftops, and a rich harbor?” They were slaves, and obviously slaves would not have dwelt in such a “magical city,” as Jacobovici claims. Isn’t it interesting that this map depicts these Minoan’s coming from Avaris, the Hyksos capital, to Greece? So these Minoan’s could very well have been the Hyksos of Egyptian history, and if this is true the evidence is somewhere out there. Could it be possible to assume that this map depicts the Hyksos expulsion? It was found “when digging under the ash at Santorini,” so could the map be displaying the Hyksos expulsion before the eruption of Santorini; if it was found under the ash of the Santorini volcano. So that would definitely place the Hyksos expulsion before the Exodus, but Jacobovici gives us evidence that Minoans did in fact travel with the Israelites, and saw the parting of the sea. But we know one thing and that was the Minoans and Egyptians did have contact. Dr. Charles Pellegrino states: “Most people do not realize that there is not only contact between the Minoan world and the Egyptians, it was very intense contact; contact in trade, contact in ideas, we have the Egyptians referring to the Minoans as the only other civilization that they considered civilized. It was not a military presence in Egypt it was actually a trade presence.” So we must wonder if these Minoans were the Hyksos, or just another type of people group living within Avaris at the time of the Exodus. Does this place the suspicion back on the Israelites as being the Hyksos though? I would say no, because even though these Minoans might have went with the Israelites there is more speculative proof, with this map, that they are the Hyksos rather then the Israeites.

     One thing that is very clear is that during the time of Moses there’s a great possibility that Minoans were living in Egypt; possibly even through the plagues. Jacobovici claims that “As a result [of finding the map], it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that some of the followers of Moses came from the area of ancient Greece, and it’s quite possible that some of these people returned to Greece after the Exodus.” Jacobovici’s theory can be plausible, and he gives the evidence to back it up. Let us now look at the second piece of evidence Jacobovici gives to support his theory. He states:  “The Bible says that Moses and his followers left Egypt with great quantities of swords and Egyptian gold [Ex. 12:34-36]. 3500 years after the fact, is there any chance of finding Israelite swords, and Egypt’s golden treasures in Greece?” In the book of Exodus the way it portrays the Israelites leaving, and gaining the Egyptian treasure, is interesting. Although many people believe they used forceful means to gain the treasure, it is actually by peaceful tactics, although the Bible says that “they spoiled the Egyptians.” But in the Biblical account the Egyptians gave up all their treasures to the Israelites (Ex. 12:33-36), because they just wanted them gone; for the Egyptians were afraid they would die. “And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people [The Israelites], that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men (Ex. 12:33, KJV).” Surprisingly though, Jacobovici does find the proof he needs from Greece and it come from tombstones that are found in Mycenae, which were discovered by archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. “The tombs are incredible,” Jacobovici comments, “with long shafts leading to vaulted ceilings; they were built in the shadow of a mountain and has the shape of a pyramid. Surprisingly they contained a treasure trove of swords and Egyptian gold.  Schliemann believed that the gold belonged to Homer’s Agamemnon, who led the war against Troy for the sake of the beautiful Helen, but scholars soon discovered that the people who were buried in the tombs lived about three hundred years before Agamemnon. They lived around 1500 B.C.E.” Jacobovici believes that these tombs are the tombs of the Minoan follower’s of Moses and the Israelites. The answer he seeks is on the tombstones themselves.

     There are three tombstones that stand out to Jacobovici, and he believes they depict the story of the parting of the sea. He takes us through the three steles in a way only a movie director can: “I almost want to whisper, it’s some kind of secret, because nobody realizes that they have a 3500 year old movie issue of three frames of the parting of the sea, and they don’t know it. But look at it, just look at it, it’s so clear! Frame number one you see waves on top and waves on the bottom, you actually literally see the parting of a sea, and this guy is on a chariot chasing Moses whose holding a staff; that’s frame number one, and right over here you have frame number two in the movie. The water is gathering into whirlpools, and look what’s happened over here, everybody thinks the man with the staff is the loser but he’s actually turned around, he’s turned around he’s facing his enemy. He’s occupying higher ground and this guy is occupying lower ground, and look there’s walls of water coming, and in the third frame, which is in another museum, even more hidden. You see this guy’s been overturned, the water is engulfing them, the horses are up-ended, and the story is complete.” Most scholars disagree with Jacobovici’s interpretation of the steles, and he brings in an expert to comment on the stones. Constantinos Paschalidis of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens states: “In this very example the options can be namely two: either, he’s a warrior in a battle scene, and he’s the enemy, he’s chasing the enemy, and the enemy is trying to escape holding this wand, and the second option may be a chariot race scene.” But Jacobovici insists “Here we have literally carved in stone a visual account of the Biblical tale dating back to the very time of Moses and the Exodus.”

     Who could disagree with Jacobovici’s evidence? It is very compelling, and as someone who believes the Biblical account to be historical, I applaud Jacobovici and his attempts to prove the Exodus. We see that the pieces of his puzzle do indeed fit together quite perfectly, although some smoothing out may need to be done. I do feel like Jacobovici put a lot of information into one film and he could have dived deeper into his evidence, giving a more detailed documentary; which of course would’ve required him to do more than one documentary on the Exodus. But all in all the information and evidence he provides is very alluring. At the end of this film I came to realize two things: There is very sound evidence out there to prove the Biblical account of the Exodus. Which also means there is sound evidence out there to prove the rest of the Biblical account. This is why I desire to become a Biblical Archaeologist, to be able to find that proof and like Jacobovici put the pieces of the puzzle, called the Bible, together. Jacobovici ends his documentary with a profound question and I think it is only fit to end this series of post with this quote: “I think we must end our journey as we started with a question: did all this happen as a result of massive geological events triggered by nothing more than nature? Or were the earthquakes, volcano’s, and the tsunami’s caused by divine intervention, when God, decided to free a nation from slavery and forge a new covenant with humanity?”