Viewers may have an interest in the below letter posted to another list
regarding the ORIGINS OF ISRAEL"S EXODUS TRADITION-
Dear George,
Yes, I have studied John Croft's proposals and even given several critiques
on them. Some of these critiques are in the Ancient Bible History discussion
list's archives (to access these archives, click on my signature url,
navigate to my Links Menu and the ABH link near the bottom of the Links Menu
page).
As you may recall, he posits that the Exodus is a garbled memory of the
arrival of the Philistines, and that the Israelites are really Philistines !
Their defeat in Egypt and settlement in Philista has become the Hebrew
Exodus according to his theory.
My research suggests that the only Philistine connection in regards to the
Exodus, is that when they did settle in Philista, some Canaanites fled to
the Hill country, joining the brigand Habiru and thus these refugees
preserved the story of their Hyksos ancestors being expelled from Egypt (ca.
1540 BCE) and conquered at Sharuhen (Tell Ajjul by Gaza ?). The notion of
Hebrew slaves fleeing an Egyptian bondage doesn't come from Egypt and the
Hyksos though, it comes from the Canaanite Habiru. In the course of the Late
Bronze Age, Canaan was in bondage to Egypt and raided regularly for tribute
and slaves. To escape the Egyptian bondage within their own country, some of
the natives fled to the Hill Country and linked up with the Habiru.
Contemporary documents, the Amarna Letters from Canaanite Princes serving
Pharaoh speak of "Slaves kiling their Canaanite princes, and then fleeing to
become Habiru." I thus understand the Pentateuchal traditions of a Hebrew
bondage, flight and conquest of Canaan to be a garbling of real historical
events which have been combined, the Hyksos Exodus of 1540 BCE preserved by
the refugees fleeing the Philstine invasion of their country and the Habiru
traditions, all of whom who were Egypt's slaves in their own land. They
fought Egypt and the Philistines for mastery of Canaan, TAKING BACK THEIR
INHERITANCE.
Sooo, that's my understanding of the true origins of the Exodus traditions
(cf. my article titled "The Exodus Traditions (Their Pre-Biblical
Backgrounds)", if interested, click on my url in my signature line and
navigate to the OT Menu).
All the best, Walter
Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld
Walldorf by Heidelberg
Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany
http://bibleorigins.homestead.com/index.html
----- Original Message -----
From: George Brooks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 2:19 AM
Subject: Re: Dating the Pentateuch
<SNIP>
> Have you ever had the opportunity to explore the Philistine
> Theory of the source of Exodus supported by John Croft? It's
> really quite elegant. And over the past several months, I've
> become more and more interested in it.
>
> George
For private reply, e-mail to "Walter Mattfeld" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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