Satellite Imaging

"The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds." - Exodus 12:37, 38

Satellite imagery which was first developed for military objectives has become a new tool for archeologists who want to pin down the locations of long-since forgotten cities—like Beersheba, Hebron, Abel Beth Maacah, Napthali and Tirzah. Some 4,000 years ago, these were as meaningful to people as Manila, Frankfurt, Tokyo or New York.

In ancient days when a city was destroyed in warfare, the survivors were usually taken away as slaves and the city was sacked and burned. The wind and sand began to drift over these ancient cities and they were soon lost to history.

About a foot of silt and debris accumulates for every century, yet where there was an ancient site—called a tell by archeologists—there are tell-tale signs. Satellite imaging makes these stand out vividly and enables scientists to chart transportation routes and identify undiscovered landmarks.

Archaeologists are making some remarkable discoveries which should only enhance our trust in the historical accuracy of the Bible. For example, the exodus of some 2.5 million slaves from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan was one of the greatest migrations ever undertaken by a nation. Can archaeologists help document this move?

According to the Bible, Moses led the group in a rather circuitous path, avoiding the immediate and direct route from the Nile River delta. Jeffrey Sheler explains, "Recent archaeological data are consistent with the Bible’s explanation in Exodus 13:17 about why Moses and the Israelites took the long way to Canaan through the desolate Sinai wilderness rather than following the shorter coastal route: Enemy military posts lay on that path. Egyptian hieroglyphics from about 1300 B.C. at the temple of Amun in Karnak depict a series of Egyptian installations along the coastal route. The modern excavations have uncovered a string of Egyptian citadels...stretching from the Nile delta to Gaza." Archaeologists from Hebrew University agree that the presence of the forts "is perfectly compatible with the Exodus."

Does archaeology prove the Bible? You can’t prove anything to anyone who doesn’t want to accept the evidence. But for those who openly and honestly evaluate the evidence there is a tremendous amount of new discoveries which affirm its historical accuracy. The Bible is history—not a collection of myths or stories that were added centuries after the event.

Resource Reading: Exodus 12