David Rohl Testimonials

JEFF SIEMON

(Search Ministries, Minneapolis)

Last spring, our organization had the great joy of hosting David Rohl for a presentation he gave before more than 500 people in Minneapolis. While I had only heard of David through a mutual friend, it didn’t take long for me to learn in a conversation with him that he was an exceedingly bright, relationally warm, interesting and ingratiating Brit, with every bit of the charming English accent to boot! 

            His presentation to our audience was a home run in every way! While the room was filled with people of religious faith and skeptics alike, David’s knowledge of Biblical archaeology proved to be fascinating to all. More than that, he was able to underscore the implications of such archeological discoveries for 21st-century men and women. 

            The bottom line is that we couldn’t have been more pleased with the event. Our expectations for David, based on his stellar reputation, were very high but he even exceeded them. We can’t wait to have him back again!

Jeff Siemon

Area Director – Search Ministries

TIM MAHONEY

(Film and TV Director/Producer)

I am a filmmaker working on a major theatrical documentary film on the Bible. It has been my pleasure and good fortune to have met and now come to work with David Rohl as a result of this film. I must tell you that David has been one of the most powerful communicators I have worked with in the last decade. As a result of that experience, I invited David to come to Minneapolis and speak to several groups.

The first talk was to a small group of forty friends in my studio. It was an engaging evening listening to David, as he shared the evidences and archaeology that relate to the Biblical stories. To this day it is a highlight for many who came because, for the first time, they have a new understanding of the Bible’s historical connections with archaeology.

David also spoke at a large church in one of the Sunday School classes. The audience was between sixty and seventy, and, again, David was very refreshing, with his audience fully engaged, as he showed pictures and talked about the connections between the Bible stories and what had been found in archaeology.

But, the most impressive turnout was an event organised by the local chapter of the national organization Search Ministries. This paid event was held in the morning at a local country club and over five hundred people attended. Again David “knocked the ball right out of the park with a homerun”. The audience was mesmerized as, without notes, he wove the stories of the Bible and archaeology into a powerful visual presentation that left everyone greatly inspired. The response was so positive that numerous requests were made for additional materials.

If your looking for a powerful, engaging, articulate communicator who understands the historical events of the Bible, then David Rohl is your man.

T. Mahoney

Director/ Producer, Mahoney Media Group, Inc., Minneapolis, USA

MARK BOOTH

(Publishing Director of Century – The Random House Group)

David Rohl is the best public speaker I have had the pleasure of working with. As the editor and publisher of all his bestselling books, I have taken the opportunity to hear David speak to large audiences on a number of occasions and have witnessed them fascinated and gripped by his presentations – which, incidentally, are always beautifully illustrated with stunning pictures and graphics.

I remember one occasion at the Royal Geographical Society in London, a difficult event because the audience is extremely well informed – a mixture of academics, explorers and other travellers of the old school, inclined to think they know it all already. David held them all spellbound with his mixture of erudition, revelations of the latest archaeological discoveries and storytelling. 

Storytelling is the key. David Rohl is such a successful author because he has found a way to use the techniques of suspense-fiction in non-fiction writing. He is an articulate and inspiring speaker with a dramatic story to tell. I have no doubt that his pioneering presentations will be of interest to an American audience and, if British and European audiences are anything to go by, David will make a big impact wherever he speaks in the USA

M. Booth

Publishing Director, Century, Random House, London, UK

ANTHONY VAN DER ELST

(Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences)

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.

A. van der Elst

Chairman of ISIS, London, UK

PROFESSOR TREVOR PALMER

(Pro Vice-Chancellor and Senior Dean at Nottingham Trent University, UK)

I first met David Rohl around twenty years ago, and since then have followed, with great interest, the development of his theories concerning the chronology of the ancient world. I have attended several of his lectures and even travelled with him all over the Middle East, and can say, without equivocation, that he has few peers in blending words and pictures to present a clear and thought-provoking argument.

Professor T. Palmer  BA, PhD, FIBiol, CIBiol, FIBMS, ILTM

Nottingham Trent University, UK

PROFESSOR TOM TRIBELHORN

(Dean of St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, Florida)

A consummate communicator, David Rohl’s excellent and informative lectures received an enthusiastic response on our campus. His fascinating and gripping presentations, which included stunning pictures and graphics, held graduate student audiences spell-bound for hours. Rohl possesses the unique gift of being simultaneously popular, academically challenging, and able to talk to a lay public without condescension.

His initial research in Egypt, coupled with his subsequent books and TV documentaries, has demonstrated to the public at large an important position: we cannot simply accept the foundations of the conventional chronology as being sufficient – and we have no reason to think the Biblical account is the myth of pious frauds.

Contentious for the truth, Rohl’s thought-provoking presentations on Egyptology and the chronologies of the ancient world confront the status quo with compelling, brilliantly orchestrated, evidence for the veracity of the Old Testament narratives.

Thomas B. Tribelhorn, M.Ed., M.A., D.Min., Ph.D.

Academic Dean and Chair, Doctoral Studies Program

St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, Florida, USA

PROFESSOR DANIEL WARNER

(President of The Virtual Bible)

The issue of the veracity of Bible history is still not settled in scholarly circles and David Rohl has provided excellent arguments to resolve many of the contentious issues, taking the subject of Biblical Archaeology in a new and fascinating direction, which is more progressive than anything offered by any other scholar in the field. David has been a personal friend of mine for several years and I continue to be impressed with the quality of his scholarship, which represents a major contribution to this important subject.


Professor D. Warner BA, MA, PhD

Adjunct Professor of the Old Testament for Dallas and Central Baptist Theological Seminary; President, The Virtual Bible, Orlando, Florida, USA

ANDREW GOUGH

(Business executive for a major computer software company)

As a leading provider of internet solutions to the world’s largest Blue Chip company – IBM – my company, KANA, needed to secure a speaker for its 2002 Customer Day – a corporate event with an unquestionable reputation for quality and sophistication. In that year we decided to hold this prestigious gathering at the British Museum and selected David Rohl as our keynote speaker, because we knew that he would provide us with the perfect mix of consumer recognition and scholarly credibility. Because KANA had invited a major prospective client (subsequently converted into a customer) who was considering investing in IBM and KANA to the tune of $1 billion over the next ten years, our messaging needed to be absolutely right. The keynote speaker had to be 100% believable, since he personified IBM itself for the day. Needless to say, David’s presentation to this lay audience of executives, dealing, as it did, with the complex topic of the origins of Egyptian civilisation, was extremely well received (and understood). IBM and KANA look forward to engaging David Rohl again and again in the future.

A. Gough

KANA, EMEA Director of New Business, London, UK

PETER PARR

(Head of Levantine Archaeology (retired) at the Institute of Archaeology, London)

I have known David Rohl for at least twenty years, as an undergraduate and research student at University College London; as a member of my excavation team at Tell Nebi Mend (ancient Qadesh-on-the-Orontes) in Syria; as a colleague and travelling companion; and as a personal friend. He was outstanding as a student, with an exceptionally profound knowledge of the archaeology of Egypt, the Near East, and the Mediterranean region. Most impressive was his ability to keep up-to-date with current research, and to assimilate new discoveries and ideas into his own work. He already had a highly developed critical faculty and never hesitated to challenge the currently accepted wisdom, ever seeking new answers to old questions, as well as formulating new questions, which he believed archaeology should address.

            Since his student days Rohl has become a successful author of books and maker of films on ancient history and archaeology, all of them exhibiting the quite extraordinary enthusiasm he has always had for the subject, and what can only be described as a passion to disseminate the results of his research among a wide, non-professional public.

P. Parr

Institute of Archaeology, UCL, London

DR PETER VAN DER VEEN

(Biblical scholar, linguist and historian)

I have known David Rohl and been familiar with his work in the fields of Egyptology and Ancient History for more than twenty-five years. In that time I have examined various aspects of David’s innovative theories and found them to be well researched and convincing. I consider David’s work to be of considerable importance to ancient world studies. It certainly deserves the attention of the media for dissemination to the general public.

            David’s public presentations on ancient historical and Biblical topics are excellent and informative. He always gets an enthusiastic response from audiences here in Germany. As an ancient historian and Biblical scholar, I wholeheartedly recommend his work to you.

Dr. P. van der Veen  BaTh, MTh, PhD

Head of the Biblical Archaeology, Wort und Wissen, Germany

CAMI MCCRAW

(Producer at Stretch Productions)

No-one makes Biblical Archaeology come to life like David Rohl! His ability to give a presentation without a written script allows him totally to connect with his audience. He knows Egyptology, archaeology and the Old Testament stories so well that it seems almost effortless as he moves through his presentations, which are also visually stunning.

As a Producer for Stretch Productions in Texas, I was fortunate enough to film David's lecture series ‘The Bible: Myth or Reality?’ in Clearwater, Florida. Stretch Productions has made many programs through the years, but filming David Rohl as he presented the evidence for an historically-based Old Testament was something special, bringing the Biblical stories into focus like no other scholar. Most of us will never have an opportunity to explore all the archaeological sites as David has done, and no-one is better at explaining the evidence so that everyone can understand and appreciate the epic stories from our ancient past.

C. McCraw

Producer, Stretch Productions, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

DR PETER WILLIAMS

(Biblical historian, theologian and Warden of Tindale House, Cambridge University)

David Rohl’s contribution to the study of Old World archaeology has introduced a breath of fresh air to the intellectually stagnant areas of Biblical and Egyptian historical reconstruction. The academic disciplines will almost certainly have more and better students as a result of Rohl’s publications and lectures than they would have without them.

Dr. P. J. Williams  BA, MA, PhD

Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge, UK

JANET SHEPHERD

(Chairman of Sussex Egyptology Society)

Over the years that I have known David Rohl he has proved to be one of the most popular lecturers at Sussex Egyptology Society, one of the largest regional Egyptology societies in the UK. David is a gifted speaker and his brilliantly illustrated talks consistently result in our largest audiences. His knowledge of the ancient world is legendary and his talks and illustrations are based on his own explorations of the Middle East and an in depth study of the Ancient World.

A David Rohl lecture is always an informative, stimulating and exciting event, hugely enjoyed by all who attend. It is not unreasonable to say that David Rohl has been the major stimulus to the remarkable upsurge in Egyptological interest in the UK over the last twenty years.

J. Shepherd

Chairman, Sussex Egyptology Society, Worthing, Sussex, UK

PETER ALLINGHAM

(Managing Director of Ancient World Tours)

I first heard David Rohl lecture on a Nile Cruise in October 1991 and it was like someone turning a light on in a darkened room filled with treasures! The inspirational style, the clarity of thinking and delivery, and the breadth and range of knowledge, not only of Egypt but also of the whole of the Ancient World, was just wonderful. It was in no small part due to the many David Rohl lectures I attended over the subsequent years that my interest in Egypt became such a passion that I founded Ancient World Tours in 1994.

David lectures at many of our events including conferences in Cairo, at Reading University, Highclere Castle (the family seat of Lord Carnarvon, now made famous a second time due to the huge international popularity of the TV series Downton Abbey) and last year at University College London. He has just returned from our prestige ‘Travellers in an Antique Land’ tour to Egypt where he delivered five lectures. David has a great following in the UK and overseas, and we all enjoy his warm, amusing style and stimulating subject matter. I look forward to hearing him again soon.

P. Allingham

CEO Ancient World Tours, London, UK

RHODA PAYTON

(Chairman of the Society for the Study of Ancient Egypt)

David Rohl has a long association with the Society for the Study of Ancient Egypt, since it was first founded in 1992, as a public speaker, author and Egyptologist of the highest calibre.

The quality and delivery of David’s lectures are excellent, showing the great depth of expertise and the passion he has for ancient world studies. His sphere of knowledge is very wide and varied, covering many ancient civilisations, including Ancient Egypt, Babylonia, the Hittite Empire and Greece, along with Israel, Jordan, and the Middle East in general. More than this though, David has the rare ability to hold, enthuse and convey his vast knowledge to all levels of audience, no matter how complex the topic or how knowledgeable they are on that subject. His charismatic delivery, without the aid of notes, holds everyone spellbound and always leaves them wanting more.

David Rohl is held in the highest esteem by historical societies in the United Kingdom and beyond, and the prestige of his name on a programme is enough to fill any lecture theatre. The biggest testimonial of all is the fact that Egyptology societies keep requesting him back to speak again and again.

R. Payton

Chairman SSAE, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK

CAMI MCCRAW

(Moderator of the New Chronology internet discussion group)

I am the creator and list-owner of the ‘New Chronology list’, hosted through Yahoogroups, and entirely dedicated to discussing and debating the work of David Rohl. I live in the USA, and after seeing David’s television special ‘Pharaohs and Kings: A Biblical Quest’ in 1995, my immediate response was to buy the book and then to review the videotape of the program over and over again.

            In 1999, I began the New Chronology internet discussion group to see if anyone else found his work as fascinating as I did. Now, ten years later, the New Chronology group is ranked number 2 out of 247 archaeology groups at Yahoo and has over 2000 members from 40 countries. To date the site has posted 40,000 e-mails. Many of the members are highly respected academics from universities all over the world.

            I respond to many e-mails each week regarding David’s work, but the question I am asked most frequently is "When can we expect David to lecture in the USA?" David has the rare ability to reach many different types of audience because he is both a scholar and, at the same time, respectful of the Bible (which matters to many of his followers). His fascinating work must continue to be disseminated so that it reaches the large and enthusiastic audience interested in the Bible and ancient history.

C. McCraw

Moderator of NewChronology@Yahoogroups.com, Texas, USA

DR DAVID ELLIS

(Geneticist and Director of the Genesis Laboratory, London)

David Rohl is an Egyptologist and scholar of unusual ability and vision. His ideas have important implications, not only for Egyptology, but also for our whole understanding of the history of the ancient Middle East. David is also a gifted populariser, in the best sense of the word. His presentations inspire audiences towards a fascination with ancient history and archaeology. Who knows how many young minds have already been envisioned to become the next generation of scholars, or to be discoverers and curators of the world’s archaeological treasures, thanks to David’s inspiration?

Dr. D. Ellis  BA, MA, PhD

Director, The Genesis Laboratory, London

DR UWE ZERBST

(Co-editor of Biblische Archäologie am Scheideweg? (Hänssler Verlag, 2002) and specialist in scientific dating methods)

Last year I co-edited a voluminous German book discussing David Rohl’s revised chronology. We decided to debate this subject in an open-minded and balanced manner by inviting both proponents and critics to contribute to the volume.

David’s model does offer surprising solutions where the archaeological facts and historical interpretations are found to be in disagreement within the conventional scheme. David Rohl’s inspired attempt to reconstruct the archaeo-chronology of the ancient world may prove to be the decisive historical milestone we have all been searching for.

Dr. U. Zerbst  BA, MSc, PhD

Hamburg, Germany

DR BERNARD NEWGROSH

(Author of Chronology at the Crossroads)

I have known David Rohl for over twenty years. We were brought together because of a common interest in ancient history. David is a gifted achiever in many fields, notably musical composition, photography, documentary-making, writing, ancient history, Egyptology and archaeology (for which he has full academic degrees). Like many top polymaths, his status as an ‘outsider’ does not endear him to the Establishment – but this is a sad reflection on them, not on him. I commend David to you. Not only is he one of the great communicators of our age, he has a Big Idea and it really works!

Dr. B. Newgrosh  BA, MA, PhD

Manchester, UK

MOUNA MOUNAYER

(Television Producer, Director and Archaeologist)

I was an undergraduate student at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL when I met David Rohl on a dig in Syria. From the very first moment I realised that David’s understanding of Egyptian, Biblical and Near Eastern history was going to set him at odds with the academic establishment. This was not due to his lack of scholarship – which no-one can fault. It was simply due to David’s ability to cut through to the core of the complex subjects he researches with a vision and logic that few people can match. 

David’s refreshing approach to Egyptian Chronology is based on years of research which has given him a deep understanding of the history, archaeology, architecture and philology of the Middle East. As an archaeologist and film-maker I know that David Rohl has so much new and exciting information and ideas to impart – all great subjects for television.

M. Mounayer  BA, MA

Firehorse Films, London and Beirut

NAJAT RIZK

(Television Producer, Beirut)

In twenty years of working as both a producer and channel managing director in the Arab World, I have rarely come across anyone as charismatic and knowledgeable as David Rohl. Energetic, disciplined and creative, he sought to make the experience of filming ‘The Egyptian Genesis’ a joy. He was never afraid of interviews where other academics disagreed with him but joined in lively debates where it was obvious that he was more that holding his own with his academic colleagues. As well as researching, writing and presenting ‘The Egyptian Genesis’, David wrote some of the most beautiful music for the series. David Rohl is a multi-talented free-thinker with whom I would love to work again.

N. Rizk

Firehorse Films, Quantum Communications, Lebanon

ROBERT PARTRIDGE

(Editor of Ancient Egypt Magazine, Chairman of the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society and council member of the Northern Branch of the Egypt Exploration Society)

For many years David Rohl has been a regular and popular guest lecturer in Manchester for the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society (which is the largest and oldest of many provincial Egyptology Societies in the United Kingdom). He is well known for his series of books and television programmes on different aspects of Egyptology and Near Eastern ancient history and always attracts our biggest audiences.

            Whilst his ideas and interpretation of the archaeological evidence are not always accepted by some academics, his arguments are persuasive and logical (unlike many theories which feature in books and television documentaries). David has done more than many authors and television presenters to encourage those interested in ancient Egypt to think hard about the evidence before coming to their own conclusions.

            He has also been instrumental in bringing together a team of internationally-known Egyptologists for a major annual conference in the UK where the aim of a full exchange of ideas and information has greatly benefited the study of Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament.

B. Partridge

Chairman of the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society

JIM DUNN

(President (retired) of the Society for the Study of Ancient Egypt)

My wife and I have known David Rohl since 1992. At that time, after obtaining his Egyptology degree at University College London, he was accompanying Thomas Cook Nile cruises as a guest Egyptologist, which is where we first met him. He also founded ISIS – The Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences – of which we are members.

            For the last thirty years David has undertaken a fascinating programme of research into the chronology of the ancient Near East, travelling extensively throughout the region to check and evaluate his historical analysis. I doubt if any other scholar knows the geography and landscapes of the ancient world better than David.

            Since 1995 he has published four scholarly, extremely well set out, and beautifully illustrated books, which have all been big sellers. Whilst encapsulating his research in great detail, these popular books are also very accessible to the general reader. Such clarity and logic displays a rare talent within academia.

            David is also a very popular and challenging lecturer. As the President of the Society for the Study of Ancient Egypt, I can vouch for the fact that his presentations are amongst the most popular in the North-East and are always attended by a high proportion of our membership.

J. Dunn  Ceng, MIEE

Chesterfield, UK

VAL PEARCE

(Secretary of the Society for Interdisciplinary Studies)

David Rohl is a knowledgeable, erudite and charismatic speaker. He has presented several lectures to us over the years, the last being a full-day meeting comprising of three lectures, in September 2009 at the Society’s AGM. His presentations are always clear, stimulating and convincing, accompanied by exceptional visuals. The SIS has no hesitation in recommending David as a speaker.

V. Pearce

Secretary, Society for Interdisciplinary Studies, Luton, UK

MICHAEL BROWN

(Archivist for the Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences)

When David Rohl was invited to speak to our Christian faith group (the ‘brethren in Christ’) in England in 2002, he attracted a large audience of 500 people. His three one-hour lectures were all beautifully illustrated and spontaneously applauded. His talks on ‘Pharaohs and Kings’ were hugely enjoyed by young and old. Our audience had more Biblical knowledge than archaeological education it is true, yet he made a potentially dry and confusing subject come to life, and he enjoyed fielding questions afterwards. We were delighted with his new arguments for the historical accuracy of the Hebrew Bible, and warmly appreciated his presentations.

So I would warmly recommend David Rohl as a speaker to any Christian or ancient history society. His work crosses the boundaries between different interest groups, and is always well presented and accessible to the layman even though deeply researched. I believe we all owe him a huge debt in raising public awareness of the serious historical consequences that arise from placing too much confidence in conventional Egyptian dates. In David, we may even be listening to history in the making!

M. J. H-Brown

Solihull, West midlands, UK