Thanks to the desire of most archaeologists to go beyond the limitations of their science to draw broad, unfounded conclusions, most of the world now believes that key figures in Torah history never really existed. They want hard evidence, which is what science is about, but in the absence of it, they step too far by concluding that something never happened.
Take Yosef, for example. In his book The Exodus Case, Dr. Lennart Moller advances the theory that the character the Torah calls Yosef, son of Ya’akov (Yisrael), is one and the same person as the fellow the Egyptians called Imhotep. Of course, the only way to prove it would be to have a CSI team come in with their DNA testing equipment and compare the remains of Yosef to the remains of Imhotep.
There’s only one catch. The ancient Hebrews took Yosef’s body and buried it in a mystery location, far away from his initial Egyptian tomb. The body of Imhotep has also never been found and is believed to have “gone missing” not very long after his death. So the two stories fit, but there’s only coincidence and faith to support the linkage on that point.
Yet, in the absence of hard evidence, forensic archaeologists would say, “There was no Yosef, there was no Imhotep.” A more responsible approach would be to say, “There’s no hard, scientific evidence by which we can prove or disprove this theory.” But such humility is rare in the field.
Tags: Uncategorized
Would that not make CSI the longest running show ever?
Oh wait that was not the point was it?