Dating the Theran Eruption: Archaeological Science Versus Nonsense Science

Abstract

Various attempts have been made to ascribe the story of the Exodus to a particular time and place. The most common proposal is to place the Exodus just before the period of the Judges and the United Monarchy at the time of the collapse of Egyptian power around 1130 BC, with Moses and his followers taking the opportunity to flee Egypt then (or in one version, leave the Egyptian controlled area of Canaan to move up to the central highlands, pausing en route to receive the Ten Commandments). A less common but still noteworthy attempt has placed the Exodus at the time of the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt around 1525 BC, occasionally accompanied by the suggestion that the parting of the Red Sea described in the biblical accounts is a reflection of the tsunami (giant waves) which followed the massive eruption of the volcano on the island of Thera (Santorini) at that time. This interpretation has been buttressed by an Egyptian inscription known as the Ahmose Tempest Stele of this date. The purpose of this paper is to assess the arguments for and against placing the eruption of the Theran volcano at c. 1525 BC and for associating the Ahmose Tempest Stele with the eruption.