The Bible Unearthed
The Making of a Religion
2005
Icarus Films
First Run Features
R1 DVD
Reviewer:
Bob Estreich
If
you are the sort of person who blindly believes that the Bible is the literal
word of God, don’t bother reading this review. If, however, you wonder whether
the Bible stories are accurate then this DVD is worth watching. It highlights
errors, political interpretations and simplifications of the old oral legends
on which the early Bible is based. Could the stories be feasible? If not, do
they fit better into another time period? The stories are compared one by one
against the archaeological evidence and the authors attempt to explain the
discrepancies and suggest more accurate time lines.
The
first five books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch, are the basis for three
of the worlds major religions – Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The Bible has
been used to justify wars, genocide, slavery, suppression of science and
countless power struggles so it is important that its limitations be
understood.
The Patriarchs
The
Pentateuch or the Torah in Judaism sets out the history of what became the
Jewish people. The first chapter of the DVD deals with the Patriarchs, Abraham,
Jacob and Isaac. It rather wisely ignores the fanciful Genesis but concentrates
on the tribes that became what is now Israel.
For
two thousand years the books were regarded as the literal truth. In the 1900s
this was being questioned due to many of its obvious inconsistencies, which
included the relationship of the patriarchs themselves. “Biblical archaeology”
was designed to examine on the ground the histories described in the
Pentateuch. Its intent was to prove that the Bible was a reliable record.
Christian scholars roamed the Biblical lands “with a spade in one hand and a
Bible in the other”, finding all the supporting proof they wanted without being
too critical of the quality of the evidence. After all, they knew what had
happened, they just wanted corroboration.
By
the 1960s the inconsistencies had accumulated to the point that the whole Bible
was being reexamined as a scholarly field rather than a religious one by less
biased archaeologists and historians.
The Bible, for instance has it that Abraham set out from the Tigris-Euphrates
area of Mesopotamia around 1000 BC and moved into the area of Canaan (now part
of Israel). This area was not uninhabited, so the assertion that God gave this
land to Abraham and his heirs looks a bit thin – politically motivated perhaps?
The
remains of the city of Megiddo provide a continuous record for some centuries.
It was already a thriving walled city in 1000 BC, the center of commerce and
agriculture for the area. Could a group
of wandering sheep- and goat-herders have really claimed this land? There were
many other city-states, both in Mesopotamia and in Canaan. Was it OK to destroy
these cities and slaughter their inhabitants? Yes, provided the story said they
were evil and it was really God’s punishment. Megiddo has layers of ash and
burnt material showing that destruction did occur. Radio carbon dating can
pinpoint when this occurred with some accuracy. It does not agree with the
Biblical date. This and other new evidence found by less religion-biased
scientists now suggests that Abraham’s migration would have to have happened at
least 1000 years earlier when the area was more sparsely settled. Much of the
earlier “research” and beliefs would have to be reevaluated. The attempts to
place Abraham into an already documented historic context fail in the face of
the newer evidence. This problem of misdating occurs through much of the Bible
and is highlighted many times. In fact, sorting out the dates is a major part
of the documentary..
The
documentary tries to provide more logical time scales for the events listed in
the Pentateuch and to test the stories against archaeological evidence from
other sources. It becomes obvious that the Bible is a set of oral legends
finally written down when the primitive herders learned to read and write. It
also seems they brought some of their own legends from the Tigris – Euphrates
area and included them in their oral tribal histories as well as absorbing some
of the preexisting local legends as their own. Neither of these approaches
match actual dates or time periods, as the archaeology shows.
The
evidence suggests a date of around the seventh century BC as the most likely
time the books were finally put into writing. Between 2000 BC (Abraham’s
arrival) and 700 BC (the legends are written down) there was much revision of
the stories. Many have been politicised
at some time to strengthen the importance of patriarchs of particular tribes or
major events. Again the documentary consults the archaeological record to
critically assess these stories.
The Exodus
By
this time the Israelites had apparently moved into Egypt. Although this has
been traditionally taken to mean the Nile area it could also be a folk tale
remembering the southern area of Canaan falling under the control of Egypt. The
Bible tells of Joseph being sold into slavery in Egypt and rising in favour in
Pharaoh’s court. The Egyptians were dedicated record keepers so the rise of a
foreign slave to a position of power would be recorded somewhere. So far no
such record has been found. In fact so far there is only one mention of Israel known.
It describes the destruction of Israel (at this stage Israel would just have
been a tribal area) when Egypt took over the Canaan area. The Egyptian date
however is far earlier than that in the Biblical record.
Archaeological
research on the people shown in Egyptian rock engravings and carvings shows
many foreign clothing styles and facial features. It was a major trade and
political centre. The carvings also record famines in the non-Nile areas caused
by drought, and Egypt took in many new workers from its provinces at these
times. The Pentateuch describes how a new king of Egypt became nervous of the
number of Israelites in his country and turned what had been welcome
agricultural workers into slaves. There is some archaeological verification of
this and they may have been forced into building the Egyptian city of Tanis.
The
Biblical story now turns to Moses and the conflict between Yahweh, the God of
Moses, and the Pharaoh who was himself a living God of the Egyptians. The
hostility led to the flight of the
Israelites across the Red`Sea. If the Biblical account is accurate then Egypt
would have suffered a major economic downturn when a large part of its slave
labour force walked out. There is no archaeological record of this happening.
A
flight to the north around Sinai would be difficult as it was well garrisoned
by the Egyptians. The southern route between the Sinai and Negev deserts is
drier and more difficult, but the Bible documents how the Israelites indeed
fled this way and stayed at the oasis of Kadesh-Barnea for forty years before
entering their Holy Land. The tribe cannot have been very large as the oasis
would not support a large population. This could also explain why their
economic impact on Egypt was not great. According to the documentary the oasis
has been thoroughly excavated twice, and no remains from the 13th
century BC, the most likely period for the flight, have been found. Nor has
evidence of the Exodus been found anywhere else in the Sinai despite many
searches and military surveys. Other placenames along the path of the flight
did not exist until long after the Bible records them. The tribe of Moses
simply could not have conquered Canaan, as the Bible describes. Once more the
story was written down much later than supposed and some poetic license was
used or the dates were simply wrong. Again, the documentary shows that the
Biblical stories are not supported by the archaeological evidence.
Around
this time the northern kingdom of Israel was taken over by the Assyrians,
leaving the southern kingdom of Judah as the only Israelite kingdom left.
Jerusalem grew tenfold in population in this time due to the influx of refugees
and was expanded and reinforced. In spite of this the Assyrians took over Judah
as well. Surprisingly the tribute state then entered a period of economic
growth. When the Assyrians left to deal with their own internal problems, Judah
was actually in a better state than before. Its leaders determined to conquer
the northern kingdom of Israel and create a unified state.
According
the Bible under the king Josiah a
mysterious book, the Book of the Covenant, was miraculously discovered. It was
attributed to Moses and was based largely on Moses’ Ten Commandments. Josiah used it to justify centralising power,
both government and religious (the two were intertwined) in Jerusalem. The
Pentateuch books at this point become rather political to justify the takeover
of a friendly neighbour. The Covenant however became one of the foundations of
Judaism. The story may be a fabrication. This is examined later.
The Kings
The
Book of Joshua reaffirms God’s promise to give the Israelites all the land of
Canaan, justifying Joshua’s reported conquering and genocide of the existing
occupants. He formed a powerful army
from all the tribes of Israel. City after city was destroyed and the
archaeology verifies this destruction. It also raises doubts that the Biblical
version is entirely accurate. Dating of the ruins of Jericho, for instance,
show that at this time Jericho had no walls to come tumbling down. Other cities
like Hazor and Megiddo were indeed destroyed but radio carbon dating shows that
the destruction occurred over a much longer period than the Bible suggests.
Archaeology
does not explain this. From clay cuneiform tablets found at Tel el-Amarna it
becomes obvious that the Canaan city-states were once again vassals of Egypt,
the dominant force in the area at the time. The regional center was at Beit
Shean, and this is supported by archaeology. The Egyptians would resist any
attempt by Joshua to take over the area, and the archaeology shows that they
were still in control after Joshua’s supposed conquest took place. The Joshua
story therefore appears to be a literary fiction designed to set a starting
point in the Israelite history of the land, and the story of the Covenant a
convenient political justification. So if the destruction of the cities wasn’t
due to Joshua, how did it occur?
Although the Egyptians took control of the
area again after the Assyrians, within a hundred years or so most of the city
states were in ruins. Who destroyed them? Once again the documentary turns to
Megiddo, whose preserved strata go back through at least twenty five city
levels. A stele from around 1200BC says that the entire eastern Mediterranean
was under attack at the time by an invading group of people who are hard to
identify. Each city or civilization had its own name for these invaders. In
less than a century the “sea peoples” had taken over most of the coastal areas
from the Egyptians. Inland in the higher areas another transformation took
place. Although the area had poor soils and little water, the archaeology notes
many small villages developing. There is no sign that this was done in any
military way - they just sprang up to service small local populations as a
result of the troubles in the lowlands. These people were probably the first
true Israelites, evolved from the original Bedouin inhabitants and the coastal
refugees. Without the trade between the cities and the Bedouins (animal protein
for cereals) the previous nomads had to settle down and grow their own cereal
food.
They
were not monotheistic like their southern and lowland neighbours but many of
their religious customs infiltrated the growing lowland religion (such as the ban
on eating pork). They appear to have
also worshipped Yahweh as one of their gods.
It
all started to come together with the introduction of writing in the seventh
century BC. At this point all the legends, the laws and the history seem to
have been decided on, complete with the absorbed legends of other tribes, the
politically corrected versions, and the incorrect dates. Only just in time.
When the Babylonians conquered the country the Jewish community was broken up,
exiled or scattered. Judaism was the only common thread holding the people
together. No further revision (or correction) of the book was possible.
It
must be remembered that early Christianity was a Jewish religion, following
many of its practices and beliefs. Gradually the Christian bishops asserted
their independence and the religions drifted apart. Even the Christians,
however, preserved the Pentateuch as part of the Old Testament. It also became
a part of the Koran.
The
DVD covers the entire four-part TV series. It shows the massive amount of
archaeological investigation being done and shows where the findings conflict
with the rather fundamentalist and often inaccurate beliefs of the Pentateuch.
This avoids the “Biblical Archaeology” approach and simply sets out to discover
the true history of the Jewish people. Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman,
the presenters of the show and writers of the book on which it is based, do not
let their religion stand in the way of true knowledge. By this approach they also highlight the
stupidity of religious prejudice between the peoples of the area, as many share
a common background. By highlighting the errors in the books they also make a
subtle joke of those who take the books literally.
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This
review will appear in Volume 2 No.5
(2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.
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