Debate Erupts Anew: Did Thera's Explosion Doom Minoan Crete?

International Herald Tribune ^ | 10-23-2003 | William J. Broad

[blam]

It is my opinion that this explosion provided all the plagues and imagery for the Exodus. The volcano plume would have had to be 30 miles high to have been seen in Egypt, "staff by day, torch by night." The most recent large volcano, Pinatubo in the Phillipines, had a plume 26 miles high. The earthquakes and tsunamis probably caused the 'parting of the sea.'

[blam]

Worldwide tree rings record this event at 1628BC. (+ -)

[SevenDaysInMay]

Bump.

[AnAmericanMother]

This thesis was thoroughly explored by Joseph Alsop in From the Silent Earth, a very clever book that was assigned by my Classical Archaeology professor back in '74 or '75. I have a copy around here somewhere . . .

I'm not sure if it's the same Joseph Alsop who wrote the political column with his brother back in the 50s . . . certainly it's well written and with an immediacy of description that might indicate the journalist.

[what's up]

If it's true that it happened in the early 1400's BC, this would corroborate the theory since the Exodus was probably about this time.

[expatpat]

Interesting connection with Moses et al.

[blam]

"If it's true that it happened in the early 1400's BC, this would corroborate the theory since the Exodus was probably about this time."

I read (somewhere?) that charred grain had been found above this ash layer and under the collapsed walls of Jerico. The charred grain dated within the 1628BC time frame. The accepted date(s) for the Exodus will have to be changed.

[RightWhale]

Worldwide tree rings record this event at 1628BC. (+ -)

What does + or - mean? That they don't know if it was March or October?

[RightWhale]

Where the Red Sea parted, if indeed that was a historical event, the sea is shallow. A tsunami wouldn't have had much room to get going in that region. There was a tidal wave at Valdez during the Good Friday earthquake that moved the water of Prince William Sound substantially, and the associated earth movement would have been impossible to overlook.

[what's up]

If the charred grain is under the walls of Jericho, that would mean a fire took place before Joshua. May not the fire have been in 1628? The Exodus could still have happened, thus, in 1440 BC.

[Grut]

The volcano plume would have had to be 30 miles high to have been seen in Egypt...

A plume 158,000 ft. (30 miles) high could only have been seen in northernmost Egypt, and nowhere else along the eastern Mediterranian coast. The equation is: square root of the altitude in feet times 1.23 equals the distance to the horizon in nautical miles.

It wouldn't have stayed up there very long, either; 30 miles up is a pretty good vacuum. So I doubt it 'led' Moses and the Hebrews anywhere... or if it did, God must have been pissed off at them for not heading for Thera.

Probably the plume left a big impression all around the Aegean that later got incorporated into the Exodus story as 'staff and torch'.

[Poohbah]

If nothing else, it sure didn't do the poor schmucks living on Santorini any favors.

[blam]

"If the charred grain is under the walls of Jericho, that would mean a fire took place before Joshua. May not the fire have been in 1628? The Exodus could still have happened, thus, in 1440 BC."

The grain and the 1628BC ash layer were both under the collapsed wall. The 1450BC date for Exodus is based on the Egyptian Kings List...and more and more researchers are finding that the list is flawed.

[blam]

"What does + or - mean? That they don't know if it was March or October?"

More like years. The cooling that would have affected the trees worldwide took some time after the initial event. (Frankly, I forgot the details and I have that book, Exodus To Arthur, that contains the details, loaned out)

[yarddog]

I think the eruption gave enough warning that the residents escaped. Of course that little favor was balanced by destroying their homes.

[farmfriend]

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[what's up]

I understand the 1628 ash layer and grain are under the wall. What is your point in saying that?

[rmlew]

BTW, I think this explains atlantis as well.

[yarddog]

It has been many years since I was a classics major and I don't even recall us discussing the eruption but I think there was at one time a belief that mainland Greece, particularly Mycenae and Tiryns, simply became the dominant power in the Mediteraranean world.

This was what caused Minoan civilization to decline. I do know there was some similarities between Mycenaean writing and Cretan. I have long forgotten the nuances of Linear A, B etc.

[blam]

"Where the Red Sea parted, if indeed that was a historical event, the sea is shallow. A tsunami wouldn't have had much room to get going in that region. "

Earthquake?

Remember this map that shows the ocean level during the Ice Age? Well, it shows the Red Sea as an isolated body of water and this event (Thera) may have 'reconnected' the dessicated Red Sea to the world's oceans.

BTW, During the Ice Age, the Nile Valley would have looked like the Grand Canyon, a river vally 300-500ft lower than today.