Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus (2014)

As Good As It Gets

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This title was recommended to me by Netflix so I gave it a shot.The "documentary" presents itself as a serious attempt to study the Exodus in an historical way; but suddenly you realize what is happening.The serious testimonies from archaeologists and historians that deny the historicity of the biblical narration presented first are contrasted against nut jobs who "can prove" that the exodus really happened.Historic revisionism trying to justify myths.Another piece of evangelical propaganda, don't waste your time watching it.

While the director does not conceal His own assumptions, He does present enough solid archaeological evidence to challenge existing chronology and interpretation. Archaeology is an indefinate science in that it requires human interpretation. All interpretation is flawed. As someone who has conducted in-depth research into the existing chronology, which is based predominantly on the second-hand writings of the Egyptian priest Manetho, I was re-assured to see the film take a fresh approach in considering alternative lines of evidence which are difficult to dispute. The film presents the timeline of Egypt in a new pallitable format so as to enable the layman an insight into the real controversy going on in archaeology. Some critics have accused the director of seeking out experts who agree with His ideas but, that is insulting to the genuine experts in the film, and is not true in all fields. No-one could find a scientist who claims that the sun orbits the earth or that the earth is flat, because science has provem indisputably otherwise. Yet, there are numerous qualified experts, in many fields, who rally to verify the evidence presented in this film. There are times in this film that the mainstream experts actually appear ignorant, and this is not the intention of the director. There is bias in science, on all sides, yet logic and evidence will eventually erode this. What this film does is courageously demand a review of real, overwhelming evidence which appears to validate the Biblical narratives as actual history, painful though that is for some. I recommend this film to all thinking people, religious or not.

This film really highlights some amazing archaeological evidence that will challenge skeptics and encourage believers of the Bible. The evidence is brought forward in a completely non-bias way. The evidence is mainly presented by atheists/agnostics. Watch this film!Experts from all related fields, especially opposing views, are given their full time and respect. I was personally impressed with the no-expense-spared feel of the film. For example, Tim (the filmmaker) travels all over the world, speaks to an enormous number of experts, and shows more than enough evidence for all points made. In many documentaries I have watched I have been left with feelings of disappointment because the topic, or a specific point, was not explored thoroughly enough. I was not left with that feeling to any degree here.

The real hero of this movie is David Rohl, a British archaeologist and Egyptologist. He uses the Bible, not as anything inspirational or even divinely inspired, but simply as one of the best ancient documents to aid his archaeology. He has spent half a lifetime wrestling with the FACT that the Third Intermediate Period in Egyptian history is extremely confusing and poorly understood by modern archaeology, and the FACT that nothing in Egypt's New Kingdom (the Kingdom of the Rameses Pharaohs) matches the Bible story of the Exodus. He has developed a "New Chronology" for the history of Egypt and the Bible story in which things do line up, stunningly so, way back in the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period (Dynasty XIII). Tim Mahoney in his movie simply looks at the evidence and lets the audience draw their own conclusions.The only criticism I have of the movie is that so much is left out. It cries out for a sequel, showing the evidence found for the Red Sea crossing, the Hyksos, the Amarna period during the Kingdoms of Saul and David, King Solomon and his Egyptian princess... and showing the breathtaking correlations with the ancient Hittites, Babylonians, Syrians, Assyrians... even the later Persians, Greeks, and Romans. It all lines up once you get the chronology right! This ought to stun the world and get everyone started on re-writing the history books!