Pharaohs and Kings: A Biblical Quest (3 Parts)

Synopsis: Originally broadcast in three parts.
Egyptologist David Rohl sets out to prove that Egyptian chronology has been wrongly extended by several centuries and examines how this has distorted our understanding of ancient history. In particular he explores its implications for the early Bible stories.
Rohl suggests a new time frame for Egyptian history, based on evidence from the excavation of the extensive underground burial chambers of the sacred Apis bulls at Saqqara, the discovery of a hidden hoard of mummies near the Valley of the Kings and the major archaeological dig at the Royal Tombs of Tanis.
2: Clay tablets in the British Museum, which may describe the rise to power of the first kings of Israel, Rohl uses his new chronology to contemplate the era when the Israelites conquered the Promised Land (with the destruction of Jericho under Joshua) and the time of the Israelits’ exile in Egypt. Additional evidence comes from the Tell el Daba in the Egyptian delta and from the remains of a statue of a foreigner in an Egyptian to who Rohl identifies as the patriarch Joseph.
Rohl maintains that Rameses II was the same Egyptian king that the Bible says plundered the Temple of Jerusalem and carried off Solomon’s gold. He journeys to Israel to investigate the world of King Solomon and the Israelites..
3: In the British Museum, Rohl examiness clay tablets found a Amarna in Egypt that may be eye-witness accounts of biblical stsories, and concludes that the British Museum may possess a letter from King Saul. Rohl’s chronology provides evidence for the Israelites’ stay in Egypt, for the patriarch Joseph, and for the biblical Land of Goshen at the archaeoological site of Tell el Dabain the Egyptian delta.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video; Videocassette. VHS. col. 3 x 60 min.
Year of production: 1995
Availability: Sale; 1998 sale: £29.99 (inclusive)
Notes: Broadcast on C4 from 3/9/95.
Subjects: Archaeology; Religious studies
Keywords: archaeological investigation; Bible; chronology; Egyptology