Religions > Atheism > Sinai geology and the technical details of the supposed exodus
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Michael Rathbun" |
| Date: |
08 Jan 2004 03:19:49 PM |
| Object: |
Sinai geology and the technical details of the supposed exodus |
Any experts on the geology of the Sinai Peninsula out there? As far as I can
determine, while the landscape is enormously variable, a great deal of it is
relatively standard-issue dry-climate non-sandy desert.
My thoughts on this subject arise from some recent articles in print regarding
the extreme fagility of "desert pavement", the soil surface that forms in arid
conditions, and the persistent, destructive effects of human activities
thereon.
In an article in Science News, for instance, Farouk El-Baz, a geologist at
Boston University, notes that "it would probably take millennia for the wind
alone to resculpt a fully mature desert pavement over the regions damaged by
this year's conflict in Iraq".
So, how about a situation in which two million people and their horses,
cattle, sheep, dogs, oxcarts and other accoutrement spend forty years milling
about on a dessicated and fragile substrate? Even discounting the famous
"Where's the Manure?" problem, shouldn't we be able to see evidence of this
peregrination today, probably even from orbit?
mdr
--
The hits just keep on coming for poor "Nadine". See the sad tale
of email lists gone horribly wrong at <http://www.honet.com/Nadine/>
F - IW AA #2157 GEVNP
.
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| User: "William Barwell" |
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| Title: Re: Sinai geology and the technical details of the supposed exodus |
08 Jan 2004 08:04:55 PM |
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Michael Rathbun wrote:
Any experts on the geology of the Sinai Peninsula out there? As far as I
can determine, while the landscape is enormously variable, a great deal of
it is relatively standard-issue dry-climate non-sandy desert.
My thoughts on this subject arise from some recent articles in print
regarding the extreme fagility of "desert pavement", the soil surface that
forms in arid conditions, and the persistent, destructive effects of human
activities thereon.
In an article in Science News, for instance, Farouk El-Baz, a geologist at
Boston University, notes that "it would probably take millennia for the
wind alone to resculpt a fully mature desert pavement over the regions
damaged by this year's conflict in Iraq".
So, how about a situation in which two million people and their horses,
cattle, sheep, dogs, oxcarts and other accoutrement spend forty years
milling
about on a dessicated and fragile substrate? Even discounting the famous
"Where's the Manure?" problem, shouldn't we be able to see evidence of
this peregrination today, probably even from orbit?
In 1956, Israeli archaeologists examined the sites of Kadesh-Barnea
looking for the Exous. Nothing. Again, from 1976-82, there was a
concentrated excavation of these sites.
Nothing.
They supposedly camped at Kadesh-Barnea for some 38 years or so.
This would have left much. Ashes don't disapear, hearths and ashpits
would remain. Middens with bones, broken pottery, and other debris do not
disappear. Campsites here would have turned into homes, with postholes,
foundations of stones and walls, and other long lasting structures.
After several well done excavations, archaeology has had to pronounce the
truth, there was no exodus as per the OT. Besides a few modest Bedouin
campsites, the earliest large scale remains was a small fort dating to
about 1000 BCE.
At that time occasional religous pilgrimiges apparently were taking place.
See "Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From
by Willian G. Dever, one of the most notable Near Eastern archaeologists
today.
Also "Out of the Desert - Archaeology and the Exodus/Conquest Narratives"
by William H. Steibing Jr.
Yes, you'd see it, not from orbit, but from any airplane.
and on the ground. These sites are at ancient springs.
Its just that the claimed encampments MUST leave certain well know
artifacts. 38 years of fires and meals leaves a LOT of trash, even if you
cut the number of 2 1/2 millions by 25 to 10,000.
Only a few large cities could boast a population that large in 1200 BCE.
Its simply not a credible story.
Its debunked most thoroughly.
To quote Dever:
"There was not so much as a pot shard from the 13th-12th centuries
b.c., the time frame required, as we have seen, for the Exodus.
It would appear the Kadesh-Barnea was not occupied earlier,
but became a pilgrim-site during the Monarchy, no doubt because
it had come to be associated with the biblical tradition, which by then
had begun to take shape. Thus after a hundred years of exploration
and excavation in the Sinai desert, arcaeologists can say little about
"the route of the Exodus", even where dry desert sands would likely have
perserved the evidence. Both a "Northern" and a "Southern" route
have been proposed, but these have been almost entirely speculative."
--
Bush! Chimp or chump?
Cheerful Charlie
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