KTU 1.78 daes Exodus to 1378 BCE
Moshiachyozif
III. This is consistent with archaeological evidence based on the dig at
Jericho where Kathleen Kenyon indicates that city fell by Joshua between
1325-1350 BCE. Since she is out of print I prefer to quote her directly:
Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up Jericho, Jericho and the Coming of the
Israelites, page 262:
"As concerns the date of the destruction of Jericho by the Israelites, all
that can be said is that the latest Bronze Age occupation should, in my
view, be dated to the third quarter of the fourteenth century B.C. This is a
date which suits neither the school of scholars which would date the entry
of the Israelites into Palestine to c. 1400 B.C. nor the school which
prefers a date of c. 1260 B.C."
The above gives a range for the Exodus of 1390-1365 BCE, which again occurs
during the reign of Amenhotep III. Since the Exodus ends with the death of
Amenhotep III in the Red Sea the 1st year of Akhenaten who succeeded him and
converted to monotheism after the ten plagues would mark the precise year of
the Exodus. This is where ASTRONOMY comes in.
The KTU 1.78 is an eclipse reference that occurs in 1375 BCE. This is
applied to year 12 of Akhenaten, in which case the specific absolute date of
the Exodus occurs in 1386 BCE.
Of note, modern science reference has also contributed to this specific
dating. New methodology for RC14 dating that is now quite specific can be
used to date short-lived grains which if found burned at the time of a
destructive level can date that destructive level. This is the case at
Rehov where grains destroyed at the time of Shishak's invasion and
destruction of the city has been reliably dated to c. 871 BCE! Even with a
narrow range of 10 years, this new dating reference can be used to determine
the pharaoh of the Exodus and the Exodus itself to within ten years.
http://www.geocities.com/ed_maruyama/REHOVPROB.JPG
The calculation is to year 39 of Solomon in 871 BCE, dates year 4 to 906 BCE
which is 480 years from the temple. That turns out to be 1386 BCE. It is
exactly the same year that the astronomical text KTU 1.78 would date the
Exodus, of course, as well supplemented by the dating for the fall of
Jericho.
So astronomy, when correctly and consistently applied can affect, confirm
and support other scientific menas of dating such as archaeology and RC14
dating. All this comes together for the Exodus thanks to the KTU 1.78
astrotext.
Interestingly, with all these clues and confirmations of when the Exodus
actually occurred, archaeologist or the field of popular archaeology
pretends the Exodus is still a dating mystery or not an event they can in
any way confirm at any time let alone date to a specific pharaoh. Well now
we have the correct date and pharaohs!
As an astronomical note, the ten plagues occurred on the Full Moon so there
was plenty of light, and then the national religion of Egypt became
monotheistic. Akhenaten was called the "heretic king" in later times but
the impact of the ten plagues was simply too profound. Now we have
sufficient references to specifically date the Exodus to 1386 BCE based upon
astronomical text.
JC