Larry Bruce
Ph.D. MDiv, BA graduate study in philosophy (Woodrow Wilson Fellow). Dissertation (1988): THE ISRAELITE EXODUS AND THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN IN THE EARLY IRON AGE, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Fieldwork with Amihai Mazar at Tel Batash (Timnah).
Phone: (850) 896-8208
Address: 2100 W. Beach Dr., Y101, Panama City, FL 32401
Phone: (850) 896-8208
Address: 2100 W. Beach Dr., Y101, Panama City, FL 32401
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Papers by Larry Bruce
The study attempts to reconcile the biblical traditions of the Israelite Exodus and Conquest with pertinent archaeological data and extrabiblical literature. The hypothesis proposes that a historical Exodus occurred sometime between ca. 1180 and 1140 BCE. A historical Conquest is dated to ca. 1125 BCE.
Current theories of Israel’s origins have been unsuccessful in reconciling the biblical traditions with new archaeological findings dating to the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in the land of Israel. A principal defect of most archaeological reconstructions is that they have insisted upon identifying the Exodus Israelites among the founders of the Settlement. The Settlement was a phenomenon which took place in the highlands of Canaan during the twelfth century BCE.
This work tests the postulate that the Settlement peoples, arriving at the end of the Late Bronze Age and throughout much of the twelfth century BCE, were refugees from northern regions moving into the least desirable lands of Canaan in order to find a haven during turbulent times in the eastern Mediterranean. The Exodus Israelites, during this period, were laboring under the Egyptian corvée in the Nile Delta.
The liberation of the Exodus Israelites, the hypothesis contends, occurred early in the Twentieth Dynasty. The international political background included the rapid decline of the Canaanite culture and the collapse of the Egyptian empire in the southern Levant, as the Sea Peoples ravaged towns along the eastern Mediterranean coastlands. The establishment of the Philistine culture, in the areas formerly held by the Egyptians along the southern coast plain of Canaan, contributed to the retreat of refugees into the relatively uncontested highlands.
According to the hypothesis, the Conquest occurred ca. 1125 BCE. The Exodus Israelites moved into the highlands of Canaan from the east, displacing not only disunited Canaanite groups but diverse ethnic groups which had established themselves in the highlands not many decades earlier.
This study devotes a chapter to Asiatics and Israelites in Egypt. Historical, archaeological, and ethnographic information is employed to establish a context, if not a possible synchronism, for the Israelite presence in the Egyptian Delta. Chapters on the Israelites in the Sinai, Negev, and the Transjordan examine several possible archaeological synchronisms which support the dating of the Exodus and Conquest, as proposed in the hypothesis.
A study of “the” Settlement and other contemporary settlement patterns taking place in Canaan in the Early Iron Age [i.e., early 12th century BC] establishes the context and dating for the appearance of the Exodus Israelites near the close of the twelfth century BCE. A number of archaeological sites are examined.
Evidence from several sites, including biblical Arad and Hormah , Tel Masos, Ai, Gibeon, and others suggest that if the biblical accounts of the wandering experience and the Conquest are based on historical fact, then the events described could have happened no earlier than the dates proposed in the hypothesis. There is additional support for the dates proposed in the hypothesis from sties in the Sinai, the lower Arabah, and the Transjordan.
The evidence considered in the work consistently supports the hypothesis, with only several reservations. These include the prevailing interpretation of the archaeological evidence from Hazor and Lachish. In both cases, however, the excavators’ conclusions are debatable.
The study attempts to reconcile the biblical traditions of the Israelite Exodus and Conquest with pertinent archaeological data and extrabiblical literature. The hypothesis proposes that a historical Exodus occurred sometime between ca. 1180 and 1140 BCE. A historical Conquest is dated to ca. 1125 BCE.
Current theories of Israel’s origins have been unsuccessful in reconciling the biblical traditions with new archaeological findings dating to the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in the land of Israel. A principal defect of most archaeological reconstructions is that they have insisted upon identifying the Exodus Israelites among the founders of the Settlement. The Settlement was a phenomenon which took place in the highlands of Canaan during the twelfth century BCE.
This work tests the postulate that the Settlement peoples, arriving at the end of the Late Bronze Age and throughout much of the twelfth century BCE, were refugees from northern regions moving into the least desirable lands of Canaan in order to find a haven during turbulent times in the eastern Mediterranean. The Exodus Israelites, during this period, were laboring under the Egyptian corvée in the Nile Delta.
The liberation of the Exodus Israelites, the hypothesis contends, occurred early in the Twentieth Dynasty. The international political background included the rapid decline of the Canaanite culture and the collapse of the Egyptian empire in the southern Levant, as the Sea Peoples ravaged towns along the eastern Mediterranean coastlands. The establishment of the Philistine culture, in the areas formerly held by the Egyptians along the southern coast plain of Canaan, contributed to the retreat of refugees into the relatively uncontested highlands.
According to the hypothesis, the Conquest occurred ca. 1125 BCE. The Exodus Israelites moved into the highlands of Canaan from the east, displacing not only disunited Canaanite groups but diverse ethnic groups which had established themselves in the highlands not many decades earlier.
This study devotes a chapter to Asiatics and Israelites in Egypt. Historical, archaeological, and ethnographic information is employed to establish a context, if not a possible synchronism, for the Israelite presence in the Egyptian Delta. Chapters on the Israelites in the Sinai, Negev, and the Transjordan examine several possible archaeological synchronisms which support the dating of the Exodus and Conquest, as proposed in the hypothesis.
A study of “the” Settlement and other contemporary settlement patterns taking place in Canaan in the Early Iron Age [i.e., early 12th century BC] establishes the context and dating for the appearance of the Exodus Israelites near the close of the twelfth century BCE. A number of archaeological sites are examined.
Evidence from several sites, including biblical Arad and Hormah , Tel Masos, Ai, Gibeon, and others suggest that if the biblical accounts of the wandering experience and the Conquest are based on historical fact, then the events described could have happened no earlier than the dates proposed in the hypothesis. There is additional support for the dates proposed in the hypothesis from sties in the Sinai, the lower Arabah, and the Transjordan.
The evidence considered in the work consistently supports the hypothesis, with only several reservations. These include the prevailing interpretation of the archaeological evidence from Hazor and Lachish. In both cases, however, the excavators’ conclusions are debatable.