Let My People Go!: Using historical synchronisms to identify the Pharaoh of the Exodus

by Steven Collins

Historians and Bible scholars have a long history of speculation about the identity of the pharaoh at the time of the Israelite Exodus from Egypt. Indeed, we cannot help but wonder to which of Egypt?s great kings Moses said, ?Let my people go!? Some believe that the answer lies in comparing a selected biblical Exodus chronology (early or late) with a particular version of the Egyptian chronology (high, middle or low), thereby locating the Pharaoh of the Exodus at a point of chronological correlation. But this approach has always proved inadequate from a historiographical perspective. This detailed study reveals that the Exodus events as described in the Bible do, in fact, fit with precision into a corresponding segment of ancient Near Eastern history when sources from Egypt, Hatti, Mittani, Assyria, the Levant, and the biblical narratives are properly understood and superimposed.

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2012

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The debate on if the Bible is historical comes down to one event for proponents on both sides, The Exodus, not only if it happened but when. Let My People Go!: Using Historical Synchronisms to Identify the Pharaoh of the Exodus by Steven Collins combines what the Biblical text says with the historical record that Egyptologists and other historians have pieced together from numerous ancient sources in search of the man who Moses confronted.

Collins begins by examining the variables of the problem at hand from the actual Biblical account of events as well as the geographic extent of place names used, the propagandic nature of Pharaonic Egypt, and the on-the-ground facts that modern Egyptologists have constructed to get at actual history behind the propaganda. Using the Biblical account of the events from the time of Joseph to Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, in particular the consequences and impact of the Exodus events on Egypt, Collins looked to see if they matched up with Egyptian and wider Middle Eastern history at anytime to see if the Bible was historically accurate. Using this “synchronism” method, Collins pinpointed the 18th Dynasty’s rise as an anti-Semitic, due to the foreign Hyksos, empire that reached the Euphrates to it’s suddenly rapid fall internationally with domestic upheaval as seen with Akhenaten to the era that matched most of the points of reference. Collins then eliminated one-by-one the established candidates of the 18th Dynasty, as well as Ramesses II given popular culture, that Biblical scholars and mainstream Egyptologists put forward as the Pharaoh of the Exodus then showed how the “synchronism” timeline didn’t match the historical timeline. Collins ends the main body of the text with establishing Thutmose IV, the last Pharaoh of the powerful Thutmosid empire before it’s dramatic decline under his son Amenhotep III and grandson Akhenaten, as fitting perfectly the events of the Bible to go with the historical record.

In roughly 142 pages filled with text as well as tables and charts, Collins puts forward his case for the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Overall the scholarly portion of this monograph is very good for familiar with the Bible and the general history of the era, yet Collins unfortunately tried to find a middle ground between his main audience of Christians (fundamentalists or otherwise) and general readers that did not work as he explained a tad too much for one and too little for the other. The short length of the book and its layout between the covers were also problematic. In lengthening the book to explain certain things like the avenue of mainstream research he was comparing the Biblical events to and the leading Egyptologists behind them, even if those same individuals find the Exodus dubious; the book’s layout was unfortunately a mess considering it had very informative tables and charts, but those items were times with the text explaining them and at others back in the appendixes resulting the use of numerous bookmarks or looking back and forth.

Let My People Go! is an informative look at the Biblical narrative of the Israelite sojourn in Egypt, the Exodus, and the beginning of the Conquest in comparison to the mainstream view of ancient Egyptian and Middle Eastern history. While Steven Collins brings a lot of knowledge to the subject and does well to bring it across to the reader, his efforts are undercut by length and layout of the book which doesn’t do justice to his argument.

[Leon McNair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let My People Go!
A good book to pair with this reading might be - Israel In Egypt: The Evidence For The Authenticity Of The Exodus Tradition, James K. Hoffmeier


This book was recommended to me by an archaeologist friend of mine whom has contact with the author. She was very passionate about reading this book as it had confirmed in her mind some of the theories she had beforehand.

It was a very interesting read, and a refreshing one that takes no consideration of the Egyptologists' chronology timelines, whether Ian Shaw's Old Chronology or David Rohl's New Chronology, so the consensus and disregard for either timeline makes no difference to the research made in this book. Instead, the book focuses on Egypt's own history pertaining to its dated military campaigns, attitudes, artifacts and hieroglyphs, with the pharaohs of that time, analysing it alongside the Biblical record and synchronistic events that may have resulted in a complete reversal of Egypt's stance on military campaigns and its attitudes. What would a Country and its people, successful in many military campaigns and land-expansions, do when faced with the plagues and mass-exodus of the Bible? Dr. Collins also discusses the aftermath, during Joshua's campaign towards Canaan, in relation to the Armana letters: a desperate plea for Egypt to advance a military to Canaan's rescue, ignored.

[Drmkk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and convincing argument. Using “historical synchronism” Collins shows how Egyptian and Biblical history fit together. Not completely lay reader friendly - too many late/middle/early Bronze Age references but overall understandable argument.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and enjoyable reading. I gave it a 4 star review simply because the many charts / graphs were hard to read due to small print.