2006-07-10-moses_australian

2006-07-10-Moses-Australian TV

Writers Directory

Australian Television Review
A big bang theory for the Exodus—
Can volcano explosion explain 'miracles'?

jewishsightseeing.com, July 10, 2006

By Peter Garas

GORDON, ACT, Australia—Flicking through the channels the other night, I found a program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel that dealt with the biblical story of the Exodus. Titled Moses, it turned out to be a joint production of the British Broadcasting Corporation and The Learning Channel in cooperation with Jerusalem Productions.

Nadim Sawahla played the title role of Moses. This was not intended as a remake of The Ten Commandments, starring Charleton Heston; rather it was a piece of investigative journalism, asking whether there is any historical or archaeological evidence to support the story. Interestingly enough this overview presented some interesting food for thought.

The program:

set the period of the Exodus in a real time setting - this is done by means of archaeological evidence about the time of Ramses II.
asked what else was happening in the known world at the same time - specifically in the Mediterranean area.
asked whether there are natural as opposed to theological explanations for the events

Interestingly, the period in which Ramses II ruled coincided with the massive explosion of the volcano that left behind the island of Santorini. The evidence seems to indicate that the explosion created an ash cloud that went at least 40 kilometres into the atmosphere and drifted south east to the Nile delta.

The program produced by Jean-Claude Bragard suggested that the Santorini explosion explains several of the miraculous events that unfold in the story of the Exodus.

*The pillar of smoke that was followed during the day could well have been the ash plume that extended into the stratosphere and was able to be seen from as far away as the Nile delta.

*The plagues could well have come from the fall of ash into the Nile.

*The crossing of the 'reed' sea and the fact that the chariots of Pharaoh were then inundated could well have arisen from the simply huge tidal wave created by the explosion. The water was initially sucked from the marsh land enabling the slaves to cross on dry land and then as the estimated two meter- tall rush of water returned the chariots were destroyed. Were there enough horses and chariots to equal the number mentioned in the Biblical account? It appears from recent archaeological finds that there were since a stable capable of housing over 500 horses was unearthed in 1997.

All of this would then support the 'natural' explanation for the Exodus.

As a viewer, I should like to add this commentary: If the events surrounding the Exodus were orchestrated by a Divine presence and intervention, then something else needs to be considered: the enormous loss of life that on the one hand won the freedom of the Israelites and at the same time destroyed some of the finest civilizations in the Mediterranean basin at the same time.

If we are all believers in a just and righteous God, then can we live with the fact that to give freedom to the 'Chosen People' the same God wrought this miracle by means of destroying entire civilizations?