Sunday, January 22, 2012

About David Rohl

David Rohl’s books have convinced me that he is one of the most brilliant and original minds now engaged in writing ancient history. If he hadn't been a historian he would have been a terrific mystery writer. 
Colin Wilson, Archaeology Correspondent for the Daily Mail



The Daily Express newspaper went so far as to state that ‘when it comes to exploring, David Rohl makes Indiana Jones look like an under-achiever.’ Always controversial, Rohl is not only a best-selling writer but also an explorer, TV presenter, internationally renowned public lecturer, composer, musician, record producer, photographer and former Archaeology Correspondent for one of the UK’s leading newspapers.

With degrees in Egyptology, Ancient History, Mycenaean Archaeology and Levantine Archaeology, Rohl is a genuine scholar with a full list of academic credentials, but, at the same time, is seen as a highly original thinker. The Kirkus Review called his best-selling first book ‘a ground breaking analysis of archaeological evidence for the historicity of the early books of the Old Testament … a work with profound implications for both Biblical and Egyptian history … a breathtaking archaeological tour de force.’

David’s popularity stems principally from his internationally acclaimed TV series ‘Pharaohs and Kings’ (1995), which has been seen by millions around the world, and for the best-selling book A Test of Time (translated into twelve languages). The documentary ‘In Search of Eden’ has also reached a huge audience and is constantly being repeated on the satellite channels.

Comment from Anthony van der Elst
(Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences, London)

For most of the last 200 years the academic trend had been to reduce the value of the Old Testament from historically useful narrative to worthless fiction. The most published, most translated, most famous writings on the planet were no better than Harry Potter, and any scholar with the temerity to suggest that they were even a potential source of real history was derided as a crank. Then everything changed when, in 1995, a gifted and compelling voice demanded critical re-examination of the evidence. Crucial assumptions, handed on down through the years from professor to student, had received little such examination. Inconveniently obscure or confused periods tidied generations ago into ‘Dark Ages’ or ‘Intermediate Periods’ had become straight-jackets creaking with the double strain of unresolved contradictions and the insistent questions of modern scholarship. With his first book, A Test of Time, Egyptologist David Rohl burst upon the scene and, in the words of the Sunday Times, ‘set the academic world on its ear’.

A consummate communicator, Rohl writes and lectures brilliantly and is one of that rare breed of scholars who can talk to a lay public without condescension and with real passion. Reading Rohl, watching his television programmes or listening to his lectures, one is impressed by a wide-ranging mind completely at home in a familiar landscape. His obvious mastery of the subject, the clarity with which he lays bare the disturbing inconsistencies he is challenging, his impressive marshalling of facts and the lucidity of his arguments mark him out as an important voice in archaeology. Rohl is a fiendishly clever writer. He even manages the trick of occasionally letting his readers get ahead of him so that they work out a conclusion before he suggests it. No wonder his arguments are persuasive – you worked them out for yourself! As a detective story for intelligent, inquisitive people his seminal work, A Test of Time, is unmatched.


David’s Books

A Test of Time: The Bible – From Myth to History
Published in September 1995 by Century (Random House) in the UK
Published in February 1996 by Crown in the USA
Translations into German, Dutch, Polish, Japanese, Korean
TV Series ‘Pharaohs and Kings’ by Channel Four and Discovery to accompany the book
Sunday Times Magazine cover story
Reached number two in the Sunday Times bestseller list

Review Quotes:

Sunday Times: ‘The New Book of Revelations … A scholarly theory that has set the academic world on its ear.’  ‘A rock and roll archaeologist is rewriting holy history.’

Kirkus Review: ‘A ground breaking analysis of archaeological evidence for the historicity of the early books of the Old Testament … a work with profound implications for both biblical and Egyptian history. A breathtaking archaeological tour de force, persuasively argued, sure to be controversial.’

Seattle Times: ‘This handsomely illustrated book is a treasure.’

Al-Ahram (Egypt): ‘Few authors can boast of making the bestseller list ahead of publication. David Rohl is one those few.’


Legend: The Genesis of Civilisation
Published in September 1998 by Century in the UK
Translations into Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Turkish
TV Documentary ‘In Search of Eden’ by Discovery two years after the book came out
Sunday Times Magazine cover story
Der Spiegel cover story
Jerusalem Report cover story
Reached number six in the Sunday Times bestseller list

Review Quotes:

Sunday Times: ‘The likeliest location of the Garden of Eden is by no means the only jaw-dropper in Rohl’s new book … but then that’s true to form … Rohl’s real achievement is the way in which he has pieced the evidence together into a coherent, properly magnificent story, the first of all stories, for the first time.’

Daily Mail: ‘The Bible, it seems, is back in business.’

Daily Express: ‘When it comes to exploring, David Rohl makes Indiana Jones look like an under-achiever … Rohl is Britain’s highest profile Egyptologist.’


The Lost Testament: A 5000-year History of the People of the Bible
Published in November 2003 by Century in the UK
Translations in Italian, Polish, Hungarian and Russian
Sunday Times Magazine article

Review Quotes:

Sunday Times: ‘How Myth became history.’ ‘Rohl’s packs more into one book than most archaeologists-historians would attempt to set down in a lifetime.’

Daily Express: ‘The British explorer who is outdoing Hollywood’s Indiana Jones.’


The Lords of Avaris: Uncovering the Legendary Origins of the Western World
Published in February 2007 by Century in the UK

Review Quotes:

Colin Wilson, Archaeology Correspondent for the Daily Mail: ‘The Lords of Avaris left me stunned and, like his previous books, convinced me that David Rohl is one of the most brilliant and original minds now engaged in writing ancient history. If he hadn't been a historian he would have been a terrific mystery writer.’


Exodus – Myth or History?
Published in May 2015 by Thinking Man Media in the USA



Available from www.patternsofevidence.com


David's book 'From Eden To Exile' available from Greenleaf Press:
http://bit.ly/5ybCFu
http://www.greenleafpress.com

DVDs:
http://stretchproductions.com/RohlProducts.html

31 comments:

  1. Dear Mr. Rohl,

    I am writing to ask permission to use a photo of yourself in our Egyptian chronology display we are in the process of creating at the Akron Fossils and Science Center in Copley, Ohio. We would like to use this quote from you: "Without initially starting out to discover the historical Bible, I have come to the conclusion that much of the Old Testament contains real history." We are addressing the new revised Egyptian chronology and how it fits better in with Biblical history.

    Thank you for your time.

    Sincerely,

    Tirzah Julius

    Tirzah.Julius@gmail.com

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  2. Will there be alternate websites to buy "Exodus – Myth or History?" ? The website www.patternsofevidence.com is charging $20 just for shipping.

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    Replies
    1. Depends where you live. If in the UK or Europe you can order from Amazon.co.uk. If in the USA, you can order from the Patterns of Evidence web store or Amazon.com.

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    2. You can also order from the Book Depository, in UK. Ships worldwide with free shipping!

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    3. Amazon UK has the book, but it still ships from the US and it's still more expensive compared to the US buy. I wouldn't really mind that, to be honest, but it's the time it will take to arrive that I can't afford right now. I don't suppose it's sold here in any UK book shop?

      Btw, Book Depository doesn't have it.

      The only "quick" alternative I've found is to buy it digital on Apple Books. Not really my favourite option.

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    4. Dr Rohl,

      Does any of the other books of yours readily available in the UK contain similar information as your latest book?

      Trying to have some material that to argue my case in my essay on Exodus, where I want to challenge the academic consensus about the historical setting of the exodus.

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  3. Dear Mr. Rohl,
    In your book "Exodus Myth or History?" you indicate that flood level markers showed that excessively high levels were shown for a period of 12 years. The Bible says that there would be seven years of famine. Is it that the construction of the Bahr Yussef and Lake Moeris were constructed in time to eliminate the threat of over flooding in the last five years of the 12 year period of excessive flooding conditions?
    Best Regards,
    Arthur Hellthaler
    ahellthaler@optimum.ney

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    Replies
    1. Yes Arthur, that is exactly the case. The general conditions of high floods lasted longer than the famine because Joseph was able to alleviate the excess water damage after constructing the canal system to divert about 50% of the flood water into the Fayum basin and therefore relieve Lower Egypt of the excessive flood.

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  4. Dear Mr. Rohl,

    Do you have a simple chronological timeline with dates/key events (using the New Chronology) from 4000 BC - 664 BC for the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonia, Assyrian, Hittite, Minoan, Phoenician, Mycenaean, Aramaean, Greek, and Etruscan civilizations? I'd love to get a copy of it to help with a timeline project I'm working on. Or which of your books would you recommend to find this information? (I already have Exodus: Myth or History.)

    Thank you for your honest scholarship and courage in the quest for truth.

    Best Regards,
    Cindy Decker
    shopper.decker45@gmail.com



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    Replies
    1. Cindy, most of that info is in the books The Lords of Avaris (for the northern Mediterranean civiliations) or From Eden to Exile (for Mesopotamia, Israel and Egypt). Hope that helps.

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  5. Dear Mr. Rohl
    I came about your first book Pharaohs and Kings not by chance: as a layman I could not believe that the tumultuous happenings of Exodus, with the annihilation of the Egyptian army, could have gone unmarked on the well documented (relative to others) historical record of Ramesses II. Something had to be wrong. And so I ventured on an Internet search for unconventional theories on the identity of the Exodus pharaoh, and found a reference to your book. Your books also provided an answer to another question I had: why was there no mention in the Bible to Egyptian kings during the long Judges period, when Egypt pops up almost everywhere else in the Bible?
    So, thank you for providing a chronology, and accompanying historical settings, that makes sense to me, OC doesn´t.
    Best regards. Wolodyk (wolodyk@telefonica.net)

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  6. Nossa meu sobre nome é igual ao seu

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  7. Is there a place to get your powerpoint lectures? I have your books and DVD lectures the powerpoint notes would really help in my studies. Jesus4ramaa@gmail.com. 414.213.9367 (C) 414.771.6000 (O) _Richard

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  8. Hi David will your 2 dvd lectures be available in the uk.It is for sale on amazon uk for £48!!.I've looked in to buying from the usa but the cost of postage+import cost,then the post office charging another £8 handling fee it's expensive.Could they not be made available for purchase and download as i think is would make it cheaper,no postage import/post office charges.Just A thought as i would like to hear the lectures.Thank you
    Alastair(alsimpson12@talktalk.net)


    3

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  9. Great admirer of your work. Are you planning any visits to Australia??

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  10. David thanks so much for your book. As a conventional Egyptologist I have difficulties (ie the Philistines being around before RIII) with it but it certainly livened up my reading for the last few weeks.

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  11. Hi David. Do you know what happened to the bodies of Joseph's brothers. I know there were daggers in two of the tombs and I know that Joseph's body left with the Israelites. Joseph was mummified right? Just wondering if anything was found of the brother's bodies? Thank you for your time.

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  12. Dear David,I have read your Test of Time and Lords of Avaris, and am now reading Legend. I notice that Victor Pearce is not in your list of authors and books. He is an eminent anthropologist and archeologist; and he published his 'Evidence for Truth' series, Vol 1 Science, Vol 2 Archeology, Vol 3 Prophecy in 1993 (sold out & republished 1998). I think you would find them very interesting; he even quotes from Richard Leakey's 'Origins reconsidered', that half his anthro-geological friends are 'Gardeners' (for Eden/Adam) and half are 'Sons' (for Flood/Adam).
    Victor's 'Science' book agrees with your thinking about about Eden (p.165-172). But his section on the Flood has a wealth of detail (p,215-231). He then mentions whale bones in Alabama, the Dirty Shame site, and mammoths in Columbia (p.232-238). Then in the Andes L.Titicaca (salt,sea water), and Tiahuanaco, its sea port buildings and agricultural terraces at 12,000 ft.(p.239-242). This might give an accurate dating for the sudden change of axis, (perhaps caused by a meteor strike in the bay of Mexico)leading to the Flood.
    I would be most interested to hear your comments. Yours sincerely, Jim Stanley-Smith. j.stanley-smith@ntlworld.com

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    1. Dear David, Further to my letter of May 31. There have been recent programs about the Sahara desert having rivers and lakes before 5,000 BC (with the axis change of the equator) and the Black Sea flooding then; also Britain being separated from the continent.
      'Ron Wyatt's Noah's Ark video' in 1970 and others up till 2014 show strong evidence of a human built boat structure on the slopes of the Ararat mountains, with Turkish officials in attendance. Then a bit further away massive stone sea anchors 8 ft.tall with holes in the top for ropes (to keep the boat pointing into the wind and waves).
      These points are surely worth your attention, taking the flood back to about 5,000 BC. The lists of ancestors in Gen 5 and 10 could well be selective, so as to connect finally with Abraham.
      Hoping to hear your reply soon,
      Jim Stanley-Smith

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  13. Dear Mr. Rohl,
    In the 'David Rohl lectures' (from Patterns of Evidence), Lecture 2 (Moses and the Exodus) you construe the date of 25 februari 1362 BC and 12 march of the same year. I don't fully understand that construction. How is that date derivated? Is that date derivated by astronomy (the movement of planets and other space objects) or does it appear from the tablet?
    Further, I don’t understand how the interpretation of the Babylonian priest (what happened before and what should happen if the double eclipse reoccurs) would be significant to link to history. And in what way does the rereading (from the archives) be meaningful to this?
    Is it possible to explain it step by step. I’m not a historian and therefore my questions are probably stupid, but I’m very interested in the timeline of the Old Testament. I think the construction of the date is very important, because it is the base of further analysis. Therefore I want to understand how it is constructed.
    Thank you in advance for answering me,

    And my apologies for my poor English,

    Sincerely,

    Peter-Paul from The Netherlands (Rotterdam).

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  14. The Resolution of the scriptural Exodus in the history of Egypt's dynasties 12 to 18.

    Abstract:
    The controversy as to a historically verifiable exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and as narrated in the Torah and its masoretic derivative of the Old Testament in the Christian bible is resolved in using the scriptural account from its inception in the patriarchy encoded in Genesis and superposing this account as a numerical time line onto the historical and archaeological evidence of dynastic Egypt.
    This time frame then incorporates the historical and written records of dynastic Egypt from dynasty 12 and founding pharaoh Amenemhat I to dynasty 18 and founding pharaoh Ahmose I from 2053 BC to 1453 BC according to the scripturally encoded year count.
    Recent reevaluation of archaeological discoveries at Tell el Daba, Nile Delta, Avaris, Egypt have called into question the length of the Hyksos presence in Egypt and their domination of the lower delta, centered on Avaris. Whilst the Turin Canon is said to specify a Hyksos rule of the 15th dynasty of about 108 years, the Tell el Daba evidence and in conjunction with improved Carbon 14 dating of the archaeological site indicates a divergence between the archaeological dating methods and the radioactive dating of at least 120 years. Manetho specifies a period of the 15th dynasty as 259 years, which differs from the Turin papyrus by 151=259-108 years.
    However the radiocarbon dating has begun to converge to an exact date of the Santorini-Thera Minoan volcano eruption, dated by the new evidence to be centered on 1620 BC (Höflmayer, see ref.) and so the indication that a suspected correlation between the 'seven plagues of Egypt' precursive of the scripturally encoded exodus was in fact correct.
    Detailed analysis of the encoding patterns shows the Exodus to be a triple historical event, where a real historically verified exodus uses the image of the Santorini cataclysm to superpose this event as the 'seven plagues of Egypt' onto a self-consistent and continuous time line as a history for the entire world imaging and revisiting its own past to prepare for its future.


    https://cosmosdawn.net/forum/threads/the-temple-of-the-new-jerusalem.1591/page-10#post-18585

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  15. Open letter sent to David Rohl:
    "Hi David!
    The description below validates your exodus date as one of two such events (one a ghost 'shepherd king' ---Bnon-Khyan...) discussed by Josephus' Against Apion, criticizing Manetho.
    You might find that your take on the connection between the scripture codes and Egyptian chronology is verified, albeit in a novel manner.
    Namely the scripture codes describe a superposed Hebrew timeline onto secular history and as you have stated, the secular history should be used to verify the bible which so crystallizes a 167+1 time shift regarding the encodings as compared to the secular history.
    As a point Aaron's age of 83 before pharaoh is crystallized from the entire Israelite timeline and calendars to be the year 1453 BC validating your date for the 'ghost exodus' mirroring the exodus of Aaron being 83 years old at 1620 coincident with the 'plagues of Egypt' and the Santorini eruption.
    The 'shortening of times' 1260=15x24 for 84=84 hours as 3½ days as years so define a Egyptian timeline of 610 years (linked to Noah's life) as 83+Mirror of Joseph as 1+83 in the many and interwoven time codes from Genesis to Daniel to Ezekiel to Revelation.
    Your timeshift of say 180 years linking dynasties 12 to 18 from say 2063 BC (Abraham) to 1977 BC to 1453 BC then crystallizes as the 7 times as shortened from 2520 to 168 for 7x24=2520.
    The solution to the intermediate Egyptian period then becomes the 167 year divergence, say as found in the conventional Hyksos dating, linking the 15th to the 18th and the 12th, as a combined period, as pointed out by your work and now revisited in Tell el Daba.

    Good providence for your works.
    TonyB. "

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  16. Mr. David Rohl,

    I wanted to show you something. Can you please email me with a working email address to share with you what I found?

    Thank you

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  17. Mr. Rohl, in your opinion, was Goshen (Avaris) east or west of the Nile River, and what do you base your opinion on?

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  18. I am a Spanish researcher and I was shocked and inspired by the book "Legend". I was intrigued to find so many Iberian place names and personal names in Mesopotamia during the conquest of the territory by king Sargon. My debt with David Rohl is acnowleged in my modest book Las Nuevas Huellas de los Iberos (ACCI, 2020), and I wonder if Mr. Rohl would like a free copy of it at some point (alas, it is only available in Spanish). There is also substantial grounds for research in South Spain concerning old Paleolithic and Neolithic funerary stones and sites. My email address is igotxerruski@gmail.com. Many thanks. Yours. Pedro Javier Romero Cambra (BA, BA PhD).

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  19. Dr Rohl I am fascinated by your work on an alternate biblical timeline…especially the Exodus event. However, I am perplexed. If chariots were first introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos then wouldn’t the Exodus have to occur in the New Kingdom as the biblical account mentions them?

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  20. Thank you for your work. I am commenting on your interview with the podcast "the den of lore ". You are the only one that I have heard address this subject online and that is ,the history of the grail . I want to to recommend a good book that you might want to read . The title is " Saint Paul in Britain ". Written by The Rev. W. Morgan. The origin of British Christianity. 1860 edition. For much more, my contact info is hardyr478@gmail.com. I'm currently reading your book " a test of time ".

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  21. Hello David M. Rohl,

    I'm a scholar of Tibetan who studied five years at Paris Dauphine INALCO University. I've researched the Shambhala Kingdom as described in the Kalachakra as taught by the Ngor School for very many years now.

    Your idea of the Garden of Eden being in Urmia intersects with the Tibetan Kingdom of Shambhala announced in the sacred end times prophecy of the Kalachakra as taught by the Ngorpa School. Did you know that?

    There's a forum thread right now at Godlikeproductions (with your work linked there.). Could you please come to share with us there? Thank you. It'd be so nice to hear from you for us all.

    A bientôt peut-être.

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  22. Mr. Rohl,

    I am doing some research into my maiden surname of Rohl and was wondering if there is any way that I could get your Father's name, so I could research further? If you need info from me showing that my maiden name really was Rohl, just email me at: acton454@gmail.com. Thank you.

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