- 50 years ago, the Belgian Egyptologist Claude Vandersleyen translated a stela found just after the end of World War II at Karnak, near Luxor in Egypt. It had been commissioned by Pharaoh Ahmose, and describes a terrible storm in Egypt which calls clearly to mind the Plagues of Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus. In 2014, research at the University of Chicago confirmed a link between the Tempest Stela and the catastrophic eruption of Thera, the volcano on Santorini which destroyed half the island 3500 years ago. The eruption caused long-term damage to the climate world-wide, but hit the south eastern Mediterranean most hard. Did the disaster lead to the mass departure of an entire people ? If the eruption could be accurately dated, this might make it possible to pin a date upon Exodus. Some of the most eminent experts in the relevant fields (climatology, geology, vulcanology, dendrochronology, Egyptology, archaeology and theology) are asked to give their views. As we listen to what they have to say, and learn of recent discoveries and scientific analyses, our perception of one the most dramatic events described in the Bible will evolve.
- 50 years ago, the Belgian Egyptologist Claude Vandersleyen translated a stèle found just after the end of World War II at Karnak, near Luxor in Egypt. It had been commissioned by Pharaoh Ahmose, and describes a terrible storm in Egypt which calls clearly to mind the Plagues of Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus.
In 2014, research at the University of Chicago confirmed a link between the Tempest Stela and the catastrophic eruption of Thera, the volcano on Santorini which destroyed half the island 3500 years ago. The eruption caused long-term damage to the climate world-wide, but hit the south eastern Mediterranean most hard.
Did the disaster lead to the mass departure of an entire people ? If the eruption could be accurately dated, this might make it possible to pin a date upon Exodus. Some of the most eminent experts in the relevant fields (climatology, geology, vulcanologie, dendrochronologie, Egyptology, archaeology and theology) are asked to give their views.
As we listen to what they have to say, and learn of recent discoveries and scientific analyses, our perception of one the most dramatic events described in the Bible will evolve.The starting point of the film is an article written in 2014 by two academics at the University of Chicago whose research led to a new understanding of the Tempest Stela*. They took as their base the translation done 50 years ago by Professor Claude Vandersleyen*. They developed a holistic view of the consequences of the Santorini eruption by linking it to events in Egyptian history. The film begins by essayant to show how much the Stela reflects what it must have been like on the ground, thanks to the expert testimony of the climatologists, geologists, vulcanologues, dendrochronologues, Egyptologists and archaeologists who appear. Most had never met face-to-face, but they knew each other by name. I assembled the pieces of the jigsaw by going to see them one by one. I have tried to compare and contrast their assertions and their discoveries. There are no fictitious images in this film, apart from archive images of real volcanoes erupting, and of storms. Later in the film I compare what science tells us with the analyses of Egyptologists, archaeologists, historians and theologians. When all is said and done, this was real detective work with clues, witnesses and evidence, but taking place 3500 years after the actual incident.
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What is the English language plot outline for The Tempest Stela, Revisiting the Roots of the Exodus (2017)?
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