Made in Alexandria: The Origin of the Yahweh Cult

[Minimalist]

So this Redford character assumes

Hmmm.... here is the "Redford character's" bio. I'd like to see you compare your qualifications and experience in the subject to his.

Redford received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D from the University of Toronto, and was an Assistant/Associate Professor (1962–1969) and full Professor (1969–1998) at the same university. He moved to Pennsylvania State University in 1998.

Redford was the winner of the 1993 "Best Scholarly Book in Archaeology" awarded by the Biblical Archaeological Society for his work Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times.[1] In the book he argues that the experiences of the Hyksos in Egypt became a central foundation of myths in Canaanite culture, leading to the story of Moses. He further argues that almost all the toponymic details in the Exodus story reflect conditions in Egypt not earlier than the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, the Saite period, namely the 7th century BC. Whoever, Redford argues, provided the author of Exodus with these details had no access to Egyptian material earlier than that date.[2] This view was expounded upon in The Bible Unearthed by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman.

Redford's work in editing The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, published in 2001, earned the American Library Association's Dartmouth Medal for a reference work of outstanding quality and significance. Since 2006 he is also in the editorial board of RIHAO.

You see, far from being a character...even one with a web site, Redford is a recognized expert in the field.

However if they did withdraw it is proper to use the known historical name and say they withdrew to Palestine.

This would be some 6 centuries before the first recorded use of the term "Palestine" by Herodotus.

I just looked into the second Finkelstein book where he weaves a fanciful tale claiming to show Saul, David and Solomon were real people but the stories were distorted.

I read the book some time ago...it is still on my bookshelf. i don't recall this particular characterization but I do recall the anachronism of "Goliath's" armor...which is a dead on description

5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

1 Samuel 17

of a Greek hoplite



a type of fighter which post-dated the ridiculous David/Goliath legend by 3 centuries or so. Further, Greek hoplite mercenaries were employed in the Pharaoh Necho's army but that brings us full circle back to Donald Redford and the Saite Period.