David Rohl

His books A Test of Time (1995) and Legend propose a major revision of the conventional chronology of ancient Egypt, and less radical revisions of the chronologies of Israel and Mesopotamia. These allow him to identify many of the main characters in the Old Testament with people whose names appear in archeological finds.

The first of these books, A Test of Time, was a popular account of his (as yet unsubmitted) doctoral thesis, and explores possible links between archeology and the books of Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. The sequel Legend extends this to Genesis. A Test of Time was published in the USA under the title Kings and Pharoahs.

These claims remain controversial, despite even the suggested changes to the Egyptian chronology being relatively mild compared to some others that have also been seriously suggested.

Brief Biography

Rohl was interested in the past of Egypt since a visit to Egyptian archeological sites at the age of ten. However, in 1969 he enrolled in a photography course, and followed this by joining a rock band in 1970. There followed eighteen years in the music industry. Finally in 1988 he enrolled in an Egyptology degree, and has been working in this discipline ever since.