An enormous amount of research and the synthesization of historical events and archaeological artifacts has led the author to verify Israelite residence in Egypt from 1876–1446 BC. This research is connected to the unexpected discovery of interconnecting archaeological, epigraphical, and iconographical evidence that attests to the presence of Israelites in Egypt over virtually the entire 430 years. By the sheer volume of verifiable evidence of complementary historical data—when comparing the biblical text and the artifactual and epigraphical record—the author attempts to demonstrate convincingly to objective readers that the biblical story of the Egyptian origins of the Israelite ‘nation’ is reliable as a factual account. Never again will students of the Bible have to listen to uninformed university professors denounce the story of Israelites in Egypt without a ready defense for its validity.
“. . . In Origins of the Hebrews, Petrovich calls witnesses to stand before the jury in the attempt to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the Joseph and exodus narratives qualify as accurate history rather than fiction. . . . Petrovich meticulously presents the available evidence. Some of it either has been previously unknown or purposely has been ignored by many scholars. . . . In Origins of the Hebrews, the author builds upon that prior volume [of his, The World’s Oldest Alphabet] and adds a treasure trove of pertinent evidence regarding the presence of the Hebrew people in Egypt.”
From the Introduction by William D. Barrick, Th.D.,
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, The Master’s Seminary
Douglas Petrovich (Ph.D., M.A., Th.M., M.Div.) serves as Professor of Biblical History and Exegesis for Brookes Bible College (St. Louis, Missouri) and resides in Richmond, Texas. He formerly taught biblical studies and ancient Near Eastern history and archaeology at The Bible Seminary (Katy, Texas), ancient Egypt at Wilfrid Laurier (Waterloo, Canada), and served as a professor and administrator at Shepherd’s Theological Seminary (Cary, North Carolina) and Novosibirsk Biblical-Theological Seminary (Siberia, Russia). Doctor Petrovich earned a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, with a major in Syro-Palestinian archaeology and a first minor in ancient Egyptian language (hieroglyphics). His interests include ancient Mesopotamian archaeology, biblical history, ancient Egyptian history, and the languages of the ancient Near East.