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36 God’s Generals
fans with which they appear to be fanning air over the flame and brazier. If the Ramses relief is indeed portraying a covered brazier and one in full flame, then it might be an Egyptian portrayal of the pillar of smoke and fire described in Exodus. There is one more tantalizing clue as to the device’s Egyptian origins. When Pharaoh’s chariots approached the Israelite camp near the Reed Sea, they saw the pillar of smoke change into a pillar of fire and shift position. But these ‘miraculous’ events produced no reaction at all on the part of the Egyptian commanders and soldiers, and the Egyptians calmly went into their night encampment and waited for dawn. This suggests that the Egyptians were observing something which they had often seen before, an enemy commander’s
Figure 1. Portion (lower left panel) of the Reliefs of the Luxor Temple Depiction of Ramses’ II Military Camp at the Battle of Kadesh.102
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night water crossing. Exodus 14:24 tells us that the Egyptian pursuit began ‘at the morning watch’, or shortly after daybreak. With the Israelites watching safely from the other side of the marsh, the Egyptians appear to have attempted to follow them across the dry bed of the marsh, but the wheels of their chariots became ‘locked’ so ‘that they moved forward with difficulty’.113 This seems to be nothing more mysterious than chariot wheels caught in the mud. While struggling to free their machines, ‘the waters turned back and covered the chariots and the horsemen’. Perhaps the tide came in and some of the Egyptian troops and horses drowned. The Bible says that every Egyptian died in the Sea of Reeds. Exodus 12:28 tells that ‘not one man remained alive’. The death of an entire Egyptian division of 6,000 men at the hands of a band of Israelite foreigners would hardly have gone unrecorded by the Egyptians or someone else outside the Bible, and cannot be taken as true. But if we recall Manetho’s version of the Israelite saga as the expulsion of the Israelites, the story makes somewhat more sense. The Egyptian
Figure 2. Night Crossing of the Reed Sea
To Goshen
MigdolTo Beersheba
To Sinai
Israelite Camp
Reed Sea
Pharaoh’s Camp
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Map 1. Route of the Exodus
Route of the Exodus According to Numbers 33,
Verses 1-49
N
S
0 25 50
Miles
Succoth
Etham
Migdol
Marah
Elim
SEA OF R
EEDS
Dophkah
SIN
Alush
Hazeroth
Rephidim
SINAI
Rimmon-perez Ezion-geberAbronah
Jotbathah
Hor-haggidgad
Rinoh
Libhah
MakhelothKehelathah
SHEPHER
Kadesh
Hashmonah
Bene-jaakanMoseroth
Hor
HormahBeer-sheba
Dibon-gad
ABAR
IM
Shittim
Iye-abarim
ObothPunon
Zalmonah
Rithmah
Kibroth-hattaavah
SE
A O
F R
EE
DS
N E G E B
E D
O
M
SHUR DESERT
PARAN
DESERT
MOAB
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military recruitment as well as Moses’ division of the people for judicial purposes into units of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens point to a major conclusion: the basis for Israelite political/military organization was not lineage, but territorial organization. Lineage was of lesser importance, since the social organization of early Israel was based on territorial divisions, as was the military draft.130 The revised census figures permit an estimate as to the size of the overall Israelite community at Sinai. Israelite men became eligible for military service at age 20, the same age for military service in Egypt.131 We do not know until what age soldiers remained in
Figure 3. Recalulated Size of Israelite Units (elef) by Tribe and Estimate of Size of Israelite Army (Numbers: 1 and 26)
Numbers 1 Numbers 26 I Chron 12
TribeReubenSimeonGadJudahIssachar
ZebulunEphraimManasseh (Half-tribe)BenjaminDanAsherNaphtali
Units4659457454
574032
35624153
Men500300650600400
400500200
400700500400
Units4322407664
603252
45645345
Men750200500500300
500500700
600400400400
Units(40)
7(40)
6
502018
(40)3
284037
Menxxx100xxx800
200 rd’fim and their men
xxx800xxx xxxxxx600xxx
1000 śārīmn
TOTALS 598 5550 596 5750 329 2300
Source: George E. Mendenhall, “The Census Lists of Numbers 1 an 26” Journal of Biblical Literature 77 (1958): 52-66.
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Figure 4. The Israelite Army at Sinai
Israelite Order of Battle MarchLeaving Sinai
(Numbers 10: 11-28)
Scouts
Scouts
EliteHeavy Infantry
Heavy Infantry
Heavy Infantry
Light Infantry
Slingers Slingers Slingers
Archers Archers
ArchersArchers
Light Infantry
Heavy Infantry
Heavy Infantry
Levite Clans of Gershon and Merari With
Tabernacle
Levite Clan of KohathWith Tabernacle
Heavy Infantry
Elite
ScoutsISSACHAR
ZEBULON
GADITES
REUBEN DIVISION
SIMEON (?)
BENJAMITES
MANASSEH
ASHER (?)
NAPHTALI
EPHRAIM DIVISION
DAN DIVISION REAR GUARD
JUDAH DIVISION
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greeting was expressed in the saying ‘waking in life in the tent of Pharaoh’.165 All Egyptian monumental architecture is oriented toward the east, and it is probable that the Jewish religious ritual of praying while facing east at the start of a new day or the ancient Christian practice of burying a corpse with its head to the east to greet the sun on resurrection day may have Egyptian origins as well. The entrance to both Ramses’ compound and the Tabernacle is in the middle of the eastern wall with a path leading to the ‘reception tent’ located in the middle of the walled-off compound. Pharaoh’s tent is twice as long as it is wide, preserving the same ratio as the compound’s outer walls. The ‘reception tent’ of the Tabernacle is also twice as long as its width, preserving the same ratio. In both cases the reception tent leads to a holy of holies that is square, not rectangular like the reception tent.166 The sides of each square are equal to the width of the reception tent in both cases. Figure 4 portrays the layout and relative dimensions of each
Figure 5. Abu Simbel Relief Portraying Ramses II’s War Tent at the Battle of Kadesh
Falcon Gods–Horus
Outer Compound Wall
Eastern Outer Shield Wall
Royal Cartouche
Square Throne Tent
Reception Tent
Path To Tent Compound Oriented To
The East
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Map
2. I
ndo-
Euro
pean
Mig
rati
ons
IND
O-E
UR
OP
EA
N M
IGR
ATIO
NS
FR
OM
1,7
00B
C
Ear
liest
Mig
ratio
ns
Late
r M
igra
tions
Bal
tsG
erm
ans S
lavs
Cel
ts
Italic
sIll
yria
ns Thra
cian
s
Bla
ck S
ea
Indo
-Ary
ans
Caspian SeaE
arly
Indo
-Eur
opea
ns
Atla
ntic
Oce
an
EUR
OPE
AS
IA
NE
AR
EA
STA
FRIC
A
Gre
eks
Med
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n S
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KM
0
20
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Indo
-Eur
opea
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Map 3. Aryan Invasions and Settlement Routes
CHINA
INDIA
AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN
BAY OFBENGAL
ARABIAN SEA
ARYAN INVASION OF INDIA 1,500-250BC
Thar Deseart
*Harappa
Ganges
Deccan Plateau
HINDU KUSH
HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS
Indus
KM 0 500
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Map 4. The Mahajanapadas, 600 BC
KAMBOJA
GANDHARA
KURU
PAN
CH
AL
KOSALA
MALLA
VRIJJI
MAGADHA
BAY OF BENGAL
ARABIAN SEA
ASMAKA
CH
ED
I
MATSYASU
RASEN
A
AVANTI
VATSA
ANGA
KASHI
R. GODAVARI
R. TAPTI
R. NARMADA
R. LUNI
R. INDUS
R. SARASVATI
R. SUTLEJR. R
AVIR. JHELUM
Taxila R. CHENAB
R. GANGA
R. YAMUNA
R. BEAS
R. CHAMBAL
R. MAHANADI
MILES0 100 200 300
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Rigveda endowed the animal with divinity. The chariot declined as a true implement of war probably circa 650 BC, although some Indian state armies seemed to have retained it, if only in small numbers, until the third century BC. The Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsan, wrote of his travels in India in which he described the Indian army as having chariots. He noted that ‘the army is composed of foot, horse, chariot, and elephant soldiers...The chariot in which an officer sits is drawn by four horses, whilst infantry guard it on both sides.20 This description is not of a war chariot but a field command vehicle in which the officer sits while guarded by infantry. During a later visit the same Chinese author wrote again of the Indian army,
Figure 6. Ravana in Full Battle Array. (1) Dagger axe, (2) club, (3) mace, (4) lasso, (5) metal trident spear, (6) crescent axe, (7) cane arrow, (8) incendiary arrow, (9) unknown, (10) brownze leaf-point javelin, (11) iron-tipped spear, (12) sickle-sword, (13) sword, (14) battle-axe, (15) trident dagger, (16) club, (17) stimulum (?), (18) composite bow.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1011
12
13
1415
16
17
18
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Map 5. Indian States, 500 BC
PAROPANISADAIARACHOSIA
YAVANAS
GEDROSIA
GANDHARA
ARABIAN SEA
BAY OF
BENGALSATYA
PUTRAS
KERALA PUTRAS
CHOLAS
PANDYAS
PULINDAS
ANDHRAS
KALINGA
MAGADHA
NIGLIVARAMPURVA
RUMMINDEISOHGAURA
Prayaga
SARNATHSAHASRAM
RUPNATHCALCUTTA
Tamralipti
DHAULI
MADRAS
R. KAVERI
Shravana-Belgola
JATINGA-RAMESHWAR
RAJULA-MANDAGIRIYERRAGUDI
R. KRISHNAMASKI
SIDDAPURABRAHMAGIRI
JAUGADA
KAUSHAMBI
GUJARRA
MEERUTDELHI
Mathura
R. SUTLEJ
R. INDUS
BAIRAT
Ujjayini
R. GODAVARI
R. MAHANADI
R. NARMADASANCHI
GIRNAR
SOPARA BOMBAY
TOPRAKALSI
MANSEHRA
Taxila
KANDAHAR
LAMPAKA
SHAHBAZGARHI
LAURIYA NANDANGARHLAURIYA ARARAJ
Pataliputra
Shravasti
R. GANGES
BARABARMAHASTHAN
Ancient TownsMODERN TOWNS
KILOMETRES
MILES
0 200 400
0 100 200 300 400
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Map 6. Raids and Battles in Muhammad’s Arabia
Raids and Battles in Muhammad’s Arabia
Scale0 400 Miles
BYZANTINE EMPIRE(Modern Turkey)
Baghdad
Persia(Modern Iran)
Tabuk
Medina
MeccaEGYPT
ABYSSINIA
Red Sea
Aden
Suhar
Damascus
Jerusalem
HADHRAMAUT
A R A B I A
OMAN
YEMEN
Persian Gulf
BAHRAIN
Expansionunder MuhammadBattle Raids
N
ArabianSea
Dhat al Riqa, 626
Duma al Jandal
Muta, 629
Tabuk, 630
Dhuy Amr, 624Kheibar, 628
Uhud, 625 Bir Maoona, 625Bahran, 624Yathrib, 627
Badr, 624/626Beni Dharma, 623Rabigh, 623 Hunayn, 630
Nakhla, 623Mecca, 630Ta’if, 630
Beni Lihyan, 628
SYRIA
PALESTINE
Med
iterr
anea
n Se
a
Mesopotamia
(Modern Iraq)
Euphrates R.
Tigris R.