The Tel Amarna Tablets
Biblical Parallels in the Time of David
"In 1887, 380 clay tablets were discovered in Egypt at a place called Tell el-Amarna and have come to be known as the Amarna tablets. These tablets were letters from foreign rulers, mainly of city-states but also of the more powerful northern kingdoms of present-day Syria, Turkey and Cyprus, as well as what was once Babylonia and Assyria. They were written to the Egyptian pharaoh of the day; this was Amenhotep IV who soon changed his name to the famous Akhenaten.
"The tablets were carried to Egypt, transcribed onto papyrus from the original Akkadian/Cuneiform script into heiroglyphs for the pharaoh to read and then the original tablets stored at Amarna to be discovered some 3000 years later."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
According to conventional chrononology, Amenhotep III ruled from 1402 to 1364 B.C.E. and his son Akhenaton from 1364-1347 B.C.E.
Amenhotep IV "revived the ancient cult of the sun god in the form of Aten (the disc of the sun). Amenhotep believed that the Aten revealed himself only to his 'son', the king. He changed his name to Akhenaten ('living spirit of the Aten') in honor of his god."
- The Useborne Book of the Ancient World"
"The Akkadian language was the lingua franca of the time [of the Pharaoh Akhenaten] and was used as the official language of correspondence between the city-state rulers of the Levant and Pharaoh. The majority of the tablets found at Amarna were letters sent to Egypt from these city-state rulers or file copies of replies from Pharaoh (EA 45 to EA 382), but there was also correspondence from the 'Great Kings' of the powerful northern kingdoms of Mitanni, Hatti (Turkey), Alashiya (Cyprus), Karduniash (Babylonia) and Assyria (EA 1 to EA 45)."
"In the Amarna Letters to Pharaoh from the city-state rulers of Palestine and Syria (including Phoenicia) we find copious references to a group of people called the habiru (or in Sumerian logogram-form 'SA.GAZ')."
- David M. Rohl, A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History (1973), pp. 196, 200
"Some of them were anxious letters written from Jerusalem (Urusalim), warning the pharaoh an invasion by the 'Habiru [Khabiru]', approaching from Trans-Jordan."
- Immanuel Velikovsky, Ages in Chaos
Akhenaton's mother, Queen Tiye, was evidiently the recipient of the letters addressed to her son and ignored the pleas for help.
"The Amarna tablets paint a picture of a tribal Palestine ruled by various city-state rulers of Canaanite, Philistine and Israelite/Hebrew origin as well as the larger state of Amurru/Aram to the north, very much corroborating the biblical picture of Samuel. They tell us that the coastal plains were in the hands of Philistines of Indo-European origin, dominated by city-state rulers with Indo-European names who communicate with Pharaoh Akhenaten in the Amarna letters. The Bible tells of the coastal plains being out of the control of Saul and under Philistine rule. The city of Gezer in the Amarna letters is under Canaanite rulers; Gezer in the Bible is under Canaanite rule until given to Solomon as a dowry by Pharaoh in I Kings 9:16."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
(1) David in the Time of Tuthmosis III?
Kings Saul and David reigned in the 10th century B.C.E. according to the biblical chronology but Josephus dates David to a far earlier period.
"He was buried by his son Solomon, in Jerusalem, with great magnificence, and with all the other funeral pomp which kings used to be buried with; moreover, he had great and immense wealth buried with him, the vastness of which may be easily conjectured at by what I shall now say; for a thousand and three hundred years afterward [in the time of] Hyrcanus the high priest, when he was besieged by Antiochus..."
- Josephus Flavius, Antiquities of the Jews
The seige of the second Temple in Jerusalem by Antiochus can accurately be dated to 167 B.C.E. Adding another thousand and three hundred years puts David's funeral at 1467 B.C.E., or almost 450 years before the generally accepted date (circa 1020 B.C.E.) This, according to conventional chronology, would be during the reign of the greatest Egyptian warrior-pharoah Tuthmosis III [1490-1436 B.C.E.], who extended the Egyptian empire to its furthest limits.
"The David who established an empire that stretched from the Nile to the Euphrates can only have lived in the fifteenth century B.C...The Israelite infiltration of Canaan, the Promised land, was a fragmentary process that did not gather pace until after Egypt lost control over Palestine in the second half of the twelfth century B.C...The David whose main campaigns were against the Philistines cannot have lived before the twelfth century B.C. because that was when the mass invasion of the coastal plain of Canaan by the Philistines took place."
"The King of Qadesh, a strong fortified city on the River Orontes in northern Syria, led a Syrio-Canaanite confederacy in a general rebellion against Egypt. In response, Thuthmosis III marched into western Asia to regain the territories between the Nile and Euphrates that had been conquered forty years earlier by his grandfather, Thuthmosis I. In the next twenty years he led a total of seventeen campaigns in western Asia, at the end of which he had earned himself the reputation as the mightiest of all the kings of the ancient world. The account of these various wars, copied from the daily records of the scribe who accompanied the army on its campaigns, is to be found in the Annals, a 223-line document that covers the inside of the walls enclosing the corridor surrounding the granite holy of holies Thuthmosis III built at Karnak."
- Ahmen Osman, The House of the Messiah
| Comparison of Military Campaigns | |
| Tuthmosis III | King David |
Tuthmosis III splits his army and defeats the divided forces of Qadesh near Megiddo. The kings flee and seek refuge behind the gates of their fortress. |
David splits his army and defeats the allies of the Amonites in open field. The Amonites flee and seek refuge behind the gates of their city. |
Many city states between the river Jordan and the coast and some in Syria now recognize the suzerainty of Egypt. "Then that enemy and the princes who were with him sent out to My Majesty, with all their children carrying abundant tribute, gold and silver..." | Then David took "their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance." |
The Egyptian army captures three cities by the River Litani in south Lebanon, then return to Egypt. | David's army crosses the Jordan and defeats a new Syrian army, slaying"the men of seven hundred chariots...and forty thousand horsemen." - II Samuel 10:18 |
After 3 year campaign, Qadesh in northern Syria captured. The Egyptians then cross the Euphrates and defeat the King of Mitanni. |
David "smote also Hadadezer...King of Jobah (towards Hamath in northern Syria), as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates." - II Samuel 8:3 |
"It is remarkable that none of the letters from Tel Amarna refer to central Palestine. There is no mention of any town in lower Galilee or in Samaria, except Zabuba, and Megiddo. Taanach, Shechem, Jezreel, Dothan, Bethel, and other such places are unnoticed, as well as Heshbon, Medeba, Rabbath-Amon, Ramoth-Gilead, and the places in Moab and Gilead. The Egyptians probably had no stations in these wild mountains, where their chariots could not pass. No towns in the regions of Samaria or Gilead or Moab occur in the list of places taken by Thothmoses III; nor were there any stations in the Hebron mountains. The nearest places to Hebron seem to have been Nezeb, in the valley of Elah, easily reached by a broad, flat road, and on the south Kanaan (Kanana), a fortress, which is only two miles southwest of Hebron. The inhabitants of Hebron were never apparently disturbed by the chariots, and appear in the Tel Amarna tablets as marauders of the Egyptian stations. On the other hand, many places in Sharon and Philistina, and in the lower hills to the east, and in the Nezeb hills south of Hebron, were conquered by Thothmoses III."
- The Tel Amarna Tablets, translated by C.R. Conder, 2ed., London, 1894
(2) David in the Time of Thutmose IV?
"The city of Beth-shan was long an Egyptian outpost and during his first battle against the Canaanites, one of the local kings killed in the valley of Beth-shan, was placed on the city walls along with that king's slain sons, as was customary for Amenhotep II."
- Encyclopedia Brittianica, "Amenhotep II"
"Thutmose III's forces controlled much of Palestine after his victory over the locals at Megiddo in 1438 BCE. During the time of Saul at one of the Battles in the valley of Ephesdam'mim, the enemy's champion had challenged the Israelite forces for forty days before David came forward to take it up. Goliath was defeated, and the Egyptians were driven back to their border. Years later Saul was killed in Battle by Amenhotep II in the valley of Beth-shan, near Mt. Gilbo'a."
"Many letters were written to the King of Egypt, accusing A'chish of treason against the alliance and being tied in with the "men of blood" from the central hill country of Palestine."
Rev. R.N. Palmer, "King David of Israel - His Place in History" (July 28th 1997)
"The leader of the 'men of blood' is in another letter shown to be D_D. This is demonstrated to be David."
- C.R. Conder, "The Tel Amarna Tablets" 2ed, London, 1894
"At this time David was pretending to be in league with the Egyptians, a confederate of A'chish. But he trusted David completely, never realizing that David had been raiding the cities of the alliance. David was made king over the tribe of Judah and ruled from Hebron. He continued to make raids on the various Egyptain outposts throughout the Palestine area. And many letters were written to Egypt complaining about the "marauders" and "men of blood" based around the hills of Hebron.
"Three years after Saul's death David became king over all Israel. In his seventh year as king, David besieged Jerusalem and took it within five months. Ebed Kheba wrote several letters to Egypt asking for help and why did the Egyptian troops withdraw from Zion.
Rev. R.N. Palmer, "King David of Israel - His Place in History" (July 28th 1997)
"Why do you tremble before the chief of the Habiri and the rulers fear the end?'"
- Ebed Kheba to Egypt from the El-Amarna letters
"Soon Thutmose IV sent out a large force to fight against king David in the valley of the Giants. This was made up from the armies of the alliance and troops from Egypt as well. However, David's army caught them by surprise and defeated Thutmose IV's force and drove them all the way back to Egypt's boundary south of Gaza.
"King Abimel (Hiram) of Tyre sought to make a treaty with David after Jo'ab defeated him and others of the alliance."
Rev. R.N. Palmer, "King David of Israel - His Place in History" (July 28th 1997)
"...As to Ben Zechariah (another of David's captains) the King has sent not to attack. Lo! Ben Zechariah with men of blood was known to us to march, and we are conquering him. He gives up Abukasu. Once more he has made peace."
- Biridia to Egypt from the El-Amarna letters
"David went up into Syria and in league with the king of Egypt as one of his vassals, fought and defeated Du Srutta king of Mittia. This figure is better known in the Old Testament as Hadad'ezer of Zoab."
Rev. R.N. Palmer, "King David of Israel - His Place in History" (July 28th 1997)
"In the Amarna letters, Jerusalem is ruled by Jebusites, a Hurrian elite race. In II Samuel 5:6,7, this is also the case until the city is conquered by David. The name of the ruler of Jerusalem is given in the Amarna letters as Abdiheba, a mixed Semitic/Hurrian name. The Amarna tablets tell of the whole region of Syria dominated by kings of Amorite stock including a king Aziru. The Bible in II Samuel speaks of this kingdom being Aram and the king being Hadadezer, one of David's enemies. Aziru is considered to be the accepted shortening or hypocoristicon of a longer, more formal name. Given that Hadad was a prominent god of the Arameans and that -Aziru (or -ezer) means helper of', it can be seen that the Amarna letters use the shortened name of the Aramean king Helper of Hadad' or Hadadezer, a startling biblical confirmation."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
"The name 'fierceness as the lion is his strength,' in Hebrew is rendered Hadad'ezer and in the Syrian (Persian) is rendered as Du(r) Srutta."
- Rev. R.N. Palmer, "Reflections on Biblical Histories, Part 1" CCU, 1997.
"He [David] then went further and defeated the other Syrian forces that came to Du Srutta's aid. After this David put a garrison at Damascus to put down any insurrections that may have followed.
"David was feared for his guerrilla military tactics, using nature to his advantage in over coming his enemies. He was known for many things, but not for being a prominent member of the Egyptian alliance in Palestine, nor his becoming a vassal for the Pharaoh."
Rev. R.N. Palmer, "King David of Israel - His Place in History" (July 28th 1997)
"The first of many Judean kings who served under the sovereignty of Egypt. Solomon [son of David] is the most noted."
- Shem B. Toshawb, "The True Hebrew Antiquities" CCU, 1984.
David's low profile in the alliance "may be the fault of the historians who gave the victories of the foreign kings in their lands little to no credit, while on the other hand heaping all the glory upon the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, the god of Canaanites (Ba'al). (The Egyptian kings were worshipped by their Canaanite subjects and called in both masculine and feminine forms. Statuettes have been confirmed as in the likeness of king Narmer's famous pose. [Shem B. Toshawb, The True Hebrew Antiquities and Sayce, Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, chapters V and VII])."
"So David ruled in Jerusalem for thirty two and one half years. He served as a vassal of Egypt for thirty. His deeds and his life had been recorded in the Old Testament, with the above in formation not included. The reason unknown even to this day. Though archaeologists have uncovered evidence that shows (suggests) the dominance Egypt held over the area of Palestine for centuries longer than that of the Babylonians. (From 3,000 BCE to the time of Herod the Great the Palestine area was under control of Egypt for an overall period close to 2,600 years, one way or another. The Babylonian influence was mainly in trade and correspondence language.)
"But David showed that by being a member of the Egyptian alliance that The Israelites could be masters over their own country. His accomplishments should reflect this achievement along side all else recorded concerning him."
Rev. R.N. Palmer, "King David of Israel - His Place in History" (July 28th 1997)
(3) David as 'Malchiel'?
At the time of the Tel Amarna tablets Jerusalem was controlled by the Jeb'usites. Their ruler, Ebed-Kheba [a Hittite name] , was unsuccessful in preventing the Egyptian garrisons from abandoning their positions before the Khabiru governor lay siege to the city. The Khabiru governor's name was 'Malchiel' (God's appointed) who had remarkable parallels to the biblical King David.
Malchiel "lived in Hebron, governed the area there, married a daughter of Tagi, took Jerusalem and proclaimed himself king of the Hebrews."
"It appears that the Egyptian royal court knew about David [Malchiel] and allowed him to make raids on the other districts and take over the district that belonged to the Jeb'usites and Jerusalem as well."
- Rev. Robert Palmer (private correspondence)
"To the king my lord thus says Ebed-Kheba thy servant: at the feet of my lord the king seven times seven I prostrate myself. Behold, Malchi'el has not separated himself from the sons of Labbawa and the sons of Arzawaya so as to claim the king's land for them. A governor who commits such an act, why has not the king questioned him (about it)? Behold Malchi'el and Tagi have committed such an act by seizing the city of Rabbah. And now as to Jerusalem, if this land belongs to the king, why is it that Gaza has been appointed for the (residence of the) king ('s commisssioner)? Behold the land of Gath-Carmel is in the power of Tagi, and the men of Gath are (his) bodyguard. He is (now) in Beth-Sannah. But (nevertheless) we will act. Malchi'el wrote to Tagi that they should give Labbawa and Mt. Shechem to the district of the Khabiri, and he took some boys as slaves. They granted all their demands to the people of Keilah. But we will rescue Jerusalem. The garrison which youi sent by Khaya the son of Meri-Ra been taken by Hadad-mikhir and stationed in his house at Gaza. [I have sent messengers] to Egypt, [and may] the king [listen to me]....There is no garrison of the king [here]. Verily by the life of the king Pa-ur has gone down to Egypt; he has left me and is in Gaza. But let the king entrust to him a garrison for the defense of the land. All the land of the king has revolted. Send Yenkhamu and let him take charge of the king's land."
- Tel Amarna Collection (Archaeology of Cuneiform Insriptions, Chapter VII)
Bringing the Time Frame Forward
"To the king, my Sun, my god, my gods. Message of Abimilku, your servant...Fire destroyed the palace at Ugarit; (rather) it destroyed half of it and so half of it has disappeared."
- El-Amarna Letter EA 151 (written after the death of Amenhotep III in the twelth year of Akhenaten)"The day of the new moon of Hiyaru was put to shame as the sun (goddess) set, with Raspap as her gate-keeper."
- Tablet KTU-1.78 (found in the "Western Archive" of Ugarit, burned by the fire)
"...King Nikmaddu II and the priests of Ugarit watched with foreboding from the roof of the temple of Baal as the day was 'put to shame at sunset' at precisely 6.09pm on the 9th of May 1012 BC - just thirty minutes before the sun set! Close to the eclipsed solar disc was a giant star which would explode so violently some two thousand years later. Astronomers have christened this spectacular supernova the Crab Nebula. The god Rashap who attended the sun's entry into the nether-world was a giant star approaching its nemesis."
This is the only "candidate for a near-sunset total eclipse at Ugarit in April/May [the month of Hiyyaru] during the second millennium BC."
"This entirely independent chronological determination confirms that the el-Amarna period fell in the late eleventh century BC and not in the mid fourteenth century BC as previously believed."
"The 18th Dynasty did not begin in circa 1570 BC, as the conventional chronology proposes, but rather some three hundred and seventy-seven years later in 1194 BC."
- David M. Rohl, A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History (1995), p. 239, 240, 241
This moves the time frame of the Amarna letters forward to the era of Saul and David - 1010 to 971 B.C.E.
| For more on David Rohl's timeline, see: A New Chronology . |
(2) A Lawless Period
"From the Amarna Letters we can see that the Habiru groups are comprised of stateless persons who are outside the normal protection of city-state law. The adult males tend to be fighting men who hire themselves out to the local rulers as mercenaries. In the earliest letters a number of the city rulers have platoons of Habiru troops which they use to guard their petty kingdoms and sometimes to settle feuds over disputed territory."
"The general political topography of the Levant in the Amarna period closely corresponds to that described in the second book of Samuel which deals with the beginning of the United Monarchy period in Israelite history."
"The hill country to the north of Jerusalem is dominated by a king who shows scant respect towards Egyptian sovereignty in Palestine. His hypocoristic name is Labau - his fuller name being unknown. Moran [Les Lettres d'el-Amarna: Correspondance diplomatique du pharaon] suggests that name should be understood as 'Great Lion [of N]' where 'N' represents the name of a deity."
King Saul had "a royal bodyguard named the 'Great Lions' and...a corps of Saul's archers who were 'servants of the great lioness'..."
- David M. Rohl, A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History (1973), p. 200, 205, 206
Hiding from Saul's men in the cave of En-Gedi, David wrote:
"I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts-- men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords."
- Psalm 57:4
Labayu contended for power with the kings of Jerusalem and Gezer, and had possession of the hill country and attempted to penetrate the Jezreel valley, laying siege to Megiddo. He sent an uncompromising letter to the pharoah (probably Amenhotep III).
"If an ant is struck, does it not fight back and bit the hand of the man that struck it?"
- El-Amarna Letter EA 252
"As already recognized by; the interpreters, this idiom is pure Hebrew."
- W. F. Albright, "Two Little Understood Amarna Letters from the Middle Jordan Valley"Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 89 p. 11
There are close parallels between Labayu's seizure of his home town and sacred site, and Saul's campaigns against Geba/Gibeah where a Philistine pillar had been erected at a high place sacred to the Israelites.
"Jonathan smashed the Philistine pillar which was at Gibeah and the Philistines learnt that the Hebrews had risen in revolt. Saul had the trumpet sounded throughout the country and the whole of Israel heard the news: 'Saul has smashed the Philistine pillar and now Israel has incurred the enmity of the Philistines.'"
- I Samuel 13:3-5
"This event is mentioned by Labayu as he writes to the Pharaoh in EA 252, to say that he was recapturing his home town which was taken by the Philistines, even after it had been agreed in the presence of the governor from Egypt that this would not happen!
"In EA 254, Labayu's third letter to Pharaoh, he reprimands his own son for consorting with the Habiru/Hebrews without his knowledge. This is also told in I Samuel 20:30,31."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
Saul (the "Lion [of Yahweh]'") was eventually killed on Mount Gilboa, to be succeeded by his youngest son and son-in-law (David) . In the Amarna letters, Labayu was also smitten and replaced by "the two sons of Labayu"
"The deaths of Saul and his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malkishua are recorded in I Samuel 31. They occur at the battle of Mount Gilboa in a clash with the Philistines. After gathering at the fountain of Jezreel, the Israelites retreated into the mountains so that the Philistines could not make use of their chariots and cavalry. How the Philistines were successful in pursuing Saul up the mountains is not clear in the Bible but the Amarna tablets answer some intriguing questions. In EA 250, a ruler of a city-state reports to Pharaoh that Saul's surviving sons have asked for help to inflict revenge on a city called Gina (biblical En-Ganim) for killing their father. Also, in EA 245, Biridiya, Philistine ruler of Megiddo, writes to say that when he arrived on the battle field, Labayu was already dead and so could not be taken alive and sent to Egypt for public execution as Pharaoh had wanted."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
(2) David in the Time of Akhenaten?
"The most striking parallels by far are found in the story of David's outlawry....[David's gang] roam the countryside seeking the favor and protection of cities (Keilah), wealthy individuals (Nabal), and kings (?Nahash of Ammon, cf. II Samuel 10:2). Finally David offers the services of his band (600 men - a veritable army!) to Achish, king of Gath. Achish assigns them quarters ('gives them' in biblical and el-Amarna usage) in Ziklag. The town becomes the military base of their marauding operations."
- George Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, pp. 135-136
"David's power begins to rise after the death of Saul; after seven and a half years, he is king of all Israel. As his power increases, we read in the Amarna letters desperate pleas for help from Pharaoh against the rampaging Hebrews. Most poignant of all comes from the Jebusite king of Jerusalem, Abdiheba. In EA 288 he writes that he is an island amidst a sea of violence as cities fall to the Hebrews round about him. The fall of Lachish is recorded and Pharaoh is reminded that he has done nothing to help. The king asks to be brought to Egypt with his brothers for safety. However, there never was a rescue as in 1003 BC, David conquered Jerusalem; nothing is ever heard from Abdiheba again in the Amarna letters!"
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
"Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David."
- II Samuel 5:7
"May the king, my lord, be informed that my younger brother, having become my enemy, entered Muhhazu and pledged himself to the Habiru. As Tianna is at war with me, take thought for your land."
- El-Amarna Letter EA 298
"The Hebrew ts (tsade) is often interchanged with a hard t (tet) in other west-semitic languages such as Ugaritic, Pheonician and Aramaic, and also in Indo-European Greek."
"With this linguistic trait in mind you will clearly be able to recognize the Amarna period city of Tian (with its Akkadian termination '-na') as the equivalent of Hebrew Tsiyon which the English Bibles translate as Zion."
"The situation described in several of the Amarna Letters from Palestine reflects the activities of David during his seven years as king of Hebron prior to the capture of Jerusalem. The stronghold of the Habiru enemy from the mountains mentioned in the late Amarna letters EA 298, 284 and 306 - there named Tian-na - is to be identified with the 'fortress of Zion' (Heb. Tsiyon) captured by David in his eighth regnal year - in other words Jerusalem."
- David M. Rohl, A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History (1995), p. 227
"The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker."
- II Samuel 3:1
"After the death of Saul/Labayu, we know from the biblical account that Saul's son Ishbaal/Ish-Bosheth and David vied for power (II Samuel 3:1). Ishbaal fled across the Jordan after the death of his father and from there he wrote to Pharaoh the tablet EA 256 (in the British Museum)..."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
"Say to Yanhamu, my lord: Message of Mutbaal, your servant. I fall at the feet of my lord. How can it be said in your presence, Mutbaal has fled. He has hidden Ayab'? How can the king of Pella flee from the commissioner, agent of the king, his lord? As the king, my lord, lives, as the king my lord lives, I swear Ayab is not in Pella. In fact, he has been in the field (i.e. on campaign) for 2 months. Just ask Benenima. Just ask Dadua. Just ask Yishuya."
- El-Amarna Letter EA 256
·"Yanhamu is the official representative of Pharaoh in Palestine."
·"Pella is one of the Israelite strongholds across the Jordan."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
"El-Amarna letter EA 256 contains the names of five of the leading players from the books of Samuel. The letter itself is written by Ishbaal [= Mutbaal =' man of Baal], son of Saul, who in turn refers to Joab [= Ayab = 'Ya(weh) is the father'] (David's military commander), Baanah [= Benenima = 'son of Ana'] (one of Israel's chieftains), David [= Dadua = 'the beloved (of Yahweh)] (ruler of Hebron and son-in-law of Saul), and finally Jesse [= Yishuya = '(Yahweb) exists'] (father of David)."
- David M. Rohl, A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History (1995), p. 229
"As well as confirming the names of these characters, the Amarna letters even contain the name Goliath in its Akkadian form Gulatu (in EA 292 and 294)!"
"It is interesting to note that the only other mention of David found to date is the Tell Dan Stela/Tablet, dated to the mid-9th century BC and mentioning the House of David'."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
"King David, the dynastic founder of Israelite Jerusalem, was a contemporary of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, Ay and Haremheb (early reign) in Egypt and the Hittite emperor, Suppiluliumas I. He forged his kingdom in the historical period when Egypt was politically and militarily weak and when the latter's northern ally, the kingdom of Mitanni, was disintegrating under the combined pressure of the Hittites to the west and the Assyrians to the north-east."
- David M. Rohl, A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History (1995), p. 231
"Thou dost appear beautiful on the horizon of heaven, 0' living Aten, thou who wast the first to live. When thou hast risen on the eastern horizon, Thou hast filled every land with thy beauty.
Thou art fair, great, dazzling, high above every land; Thy rays encompass the lands to the very limit of all thou hast made.Being Re, thou dost reach to their limit And curb them [for] thy beloved son;Though thou art distant, they rays arc upon the earth;"
"The whole land performs its labor. All beasts are satisfied with their pasture;
Trees and plants arc verdant. The birds which fly from their nests, their wings are (spread) in adoration to thy soul;
All flocks skip with (their) feet; All that fly up and alight Live when thou has risen [for] them.
Ships sail upstream and downstream alike, For every route is open at thine appearing. The fish in the river leap before thee for thy rays are in the midst of the sea."
"Mankind, cattle, all flocks, Everything on earth which walks with (its) feet, And what are on high, flying with their wings.The foreign lands of Hurru and Nubia, the land of Egypt - Thou dost set each man in his place and supply his needs."
- Hymn to the Aten 1-9, 30-40, 55-59,
"Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters."
"He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains.
They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate..."
- Psalm 104:1-3a, 10-14a,
"The cities and royal residences of LB IIA-B in Palestine were built of fine ashlar masonry befitting the 'Phoenician tradition' as described in Kings and Chronicles. The literary tradition of Psalms would now be set in an era of great hymns and epic poetry, vividly represented in the literature of LBA Ugarit. Akhenaten's 'Hymn to the Aten', so often closely compared to Psalm 104, would have been composed in Egypt when King David, the author of Psalm 104, ruled in Israel. Without question, both culturally and historically, the Late Bronze Age best reflects the era of the rise and then artistic culmination of Israel's United Monarchy."
- David M. Rohl, A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History (1995), p. 328
| Related Sites |
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Kings' Valley Web Page A proposal for a mission to locate the tombs of Akhenaten's brother and his Queen Nerfert Iti |
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