How Not to Create a History of the Exodus—A Critique of Professor Goedicke’s Theories

In the September/October BAR, we presented an extensive account of Professor Hans Goedicke’s new views on the Exodus and the Israelites’ flight from Egypt (“The Exodus and the Crossing of the Red Sea, According to Hans Goedicke,” BAR 07:05), as well as a critique of these views by Professor Charles R. Krahmalkov (“A Critique of Professor Goedicke’s Exodus Theories,” BAR 07:05), a well-known expert in ancient and Biblical languages at the University of Michigan. Professor Goedicke, a distinguished Egyptologist and chairman of the department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University, placed the drowning of the Egyptians in the eastern Nile Delta. Professor Krahmalkov placed it in the large body of water south of the Sinai known today as the Red Sea. In this issue of BAR, Professor Eliezer D. Oren, a prominent Israeli archaeologist and chairman of the Department of Archaeology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, presents his views. Professor Oren places the drowning of the Egyptians in the Lake Bardawil area of the northern Sinai.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg of disagreement among these distinguished scholars. It is an exciting intellectual adventure to follow, compare and weigh their competing views. We hope to continue the debate with contributions from readers in future issues.—Ed.