Ages in Chaos:

The Exodus: The True Story of Moses and the Pharaoh

According to Velikovsky
By Kemal Menemencioglu

This Article was written for and published in the bilingual Turkish
magazine Consensus.

The struggle of Moses with the Pharaoh of Egypt, who was also his brother; the
deliverance of his people from slavery; the ten plagues of Egypt, the parting of the
Red Sea are related in sacred texts full of miraculous events. It is an integral part
of the religious beliefs of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. But what
can we make of it in this scientific
age with its precise chronology of history? Immanuel Velikovsky in his book
written half a century ago, “Ages of Chaos”, has offered striking and ingenious
solutions. He has presented challenging scientific explanations, which
convincingly solve historical puzzles. Some recent historians have revived this
thesis supported with new evidence.

Immanuel Velikovsky (1895-1979) was born in Russia to a Jewish family. He

graduated from the University of Moscow majoring in ancient history and
sociology, he also received a degree in medicine, and later studied psychiatry in
Vienna under Wilhem Stekel a pupil of Sigmund Freud. Later he studied
cosmology, astronomy, geology, mythology, sacred literature and combined these
disciplines to rewrite history in a series of astonishing books. His most important
theory was that there have been a number of major catastrophes that have shaped
the course of history. However, due to what he termed “collective amnesia”, the
fact that people tend to push unpleasant event into their subconscious, these events
have been forgotten. Science has also tended to ignore these catastrophes, for the
same reason, even though they have left signs everywhere. Modern research has
tended to confirm that these catastrophes have indeed occurred. One example is
the discovery of huge meteor craters in Iraq dated to 2300 B.C.. This is now
believed to have caused the decline of major civilization in the Near East and to
have triggered a dark age that lasted for centuries. It is believed that the Israelites
migrated to the more hospital Nile delta at the end of this era. After some time a
new Pharaoh who had forgotten the period when Joseph was vizier enslaved the
Israelites.
 According to the
Pentateuch / Torah the
Exodus occurred in
1447 B.C. and since
Ramses was
mentioned. It was
assumed that Ramses
II was the oppressive
Pharaoh of the Exodus.
Gigantic monuments of
Ramses’s time fortified
this view in the eyes of
Victorian scholars. It
was assumed that the
Exodus must have
occurred during his time (1279-1213 B.C.). However, there is no historical
evidence to support this view. Nor is there any sign of the catastrophic period
mention in the Pentateuch. Ramses is also mentioned during the time when Joseph
was vizier. But this was hundreds of years before the Exodus. For this reason it
has been reasonably assumed that Ramses is merely a generic term and that
another Pharaoh was in power at the time. Both Velikovsky and the historian
David Rohl in his book “A Testament of Time” have designated the Pharaoh of the
Exodus as Dudimose of the 13th Dynasty. It is claimed that Moses is not a Hebrew
name but means prince or son in Egyptian. For example, Tutmose, son of Thoth
(The Egyptian god); Amenmose, son of Amen (the Egyptian god); Ramose, son of
Ra (the Egyptian god) are all Pharaohs. According to the ancient Egyptian
Historian Manetho, at the time of Dudimose, Egypt met “The Wrath of God” and
signs of a great catastrophe were recently discovered at this period. Also according
to Manetho, Egypt fell week in this period and was easily conquered by the
Hyksos.

According to the Pentateuch, because the Pharaoh did not release the Israelites
from bondage, Egypt suffered a series of ten plagues. These were: 1) Rivers and
water sources turned into blood; 2) Frogs 3) Lice; 4) Flies; 5) Disease and death of
Livestock; 6) Boils; 7) Hail
mixed with fire; 8) Locusts;
9) Darkness; 10) Death of the
first born.

An important argument set

forth by Velikovsky involves
the papyrus of Ipuwer placed
into the Leiden Museum in
the Netherlands in 1828. This papyrus appears to relate events that occurred in the
early ages of ancient Egypt. According to academicians it contains riddles or
prophecies, however it openly relates a number of catastrophes that befell Egypt.
The Nile turning to blood, the waters being undrinkable, the death of animals, the
sky becoming dark, fires, earthquakes, hungry and destitute Egyptians are among
these. If Velikovsky is correct then it disproves the contention that there is no trace
of the events related in the Pentateuch recorded in Egyptian history.

The Eruption of the Santorini volcano in the Aegean Island of Thera was believed
to have occurred at that age. Geologists have given such diverse ages as 1638 B.B.
and 1360 B.C. for this catastrophe. Velikovsky claims that a chain of volcanoes
exploded causing the plagues of Egypt. The Santorini explosion is known to have
caused such radical changes such as the end of the Mycenaean civilization. It was
many times more powerful than the eruption of Karakatoa in 1883, which shuck
the world and caused 35 thousands deaths. At the same time mount Vesusius is
believed to have erupted in a huge blast. The Santorini eruption was believed to
have been a thousand time more powerful than a nuclear bomb. In the Pentateuch,
it is mentioned that there as pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night to
guide the Israelites in their journey. Velikovsky believes that the Sinai mountain,
which is volcanic, erupted and as volcanoes appear to be pillars of smoke by day
and pillars of fire by night, this would explain this enigmatic reference.

According to Velikovsky and recent theories, such volcanic eruptions would

explain the darkness, and hail and lightning are known to accompany volcanic
explosions of great magnitude. On a recent event, a river in America turned red.
With the poisoning of waters, frogs and other amphibian reptiles would roam the
land. Later they would die to create flies and lice, which would spread boils and
disease. Recent discoveries of mass graves from this period in the Avaris region
tend to confirm the theory of a plague.

How then can we explain the parting of the Red Sea? Velikovsky suggests that the
Israelites crossed the shallow Sea of Reeds. An earthquake triggered by the
eruptions caused the waters to fall back, and then to rush back to swallow the
chariots of the Pharaoh.

Velikovksy’s claim that there are faults in standard excepted Egyptian chronology
and that there is shift of a few hundred years is confirmed by a number of modern
revisionist historians such as David Rohl. Rohl like Velikovsky offers hundreds of
pages of evidence to support this claim. Other scholars have claimed that most of
the Old Testament, including the stay in Egypt, Exodus, the fall of Jericho, the
Temple of Solomon are works of fiction. Rohl’s answer to this claim is that the
wrong period in history is sought for archeological evidence. If they went a bit
further back all the evidence is there.
 Great catastrophes when
the Exodus occurred
would have resulted in
major migrations.
According to both
Velikovsky and Rohl, the
Hyksos conquered Egypt
shortly after the Exodus.
Egyptian historians call
these people the “Amu”,
and both authors claim
that they are the same as
the Biblical Amalekite
hordes which the
Israelites fought with
and prevailed over. They were also called the Hyksos or Shepard Kings, and
according to Manetho, they conquered Egypt without resistance. Their rule which
was described as cruel and destructive ended after a few hundred years after which
they were driven off by Ahmoses I of the Southern Upper Egypt kingdom, which
was free from their rule. Arab historians such as Mesudi, have related that the
Amalekites fled from their home in Southern Arabia to conquer Egypt and Syria
after violent natural catastrophes such as floods that swept away whole tribes, the
decent of clouds (smoke?) and pestilence of ants. According to Velikovsky the
meaning of Psalms (78:49,50) “He cast upon them [Egyptians] the fierceness of
his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among
them,” should be “He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and
indignation, and trouble, by sending shepherd kings among them.” Because “evil
angels” is spelled “malakhei-roim,” which is close to the spelling of “malakhim-
roim”, which means shepherd kings.

Sacred books claim miraculous powers for Moses. If as Velikovsky claims, the
events that occurred at this tumultuous period had a natural cause, then in my
opinion it by no means diminishes the status of a great and wise leader, who
foresaw them and interpreted them as the wrath of God. The fact that Manetho
mentioned that the Egyptians had suffered the Wrath of God the confirms this
view.

If the theories of Velikovsky are correct, then it not only gives us spectacular new
version of Biblical history, but has a message for us. If catastrophes occurred as
frequently in the past as Velikovsly claimed, then we should be more prepared for
such events in the future.