''The Exodus Decoded'' is a 2006 documentary film by "investigative archaeologist" and filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and producer/director

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

. It aired on April 16 on The History Channel. The documentary proposes naturalistic origins for the

plagues of Egypt In the Book of Exodus, the Plagues of Egypt () are ten disasters that the Hebrew God inflicts on the Biblical Egypt, Egyptians to convince Pharaohs in the Bible#In the Book of Exodus, the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of th ...

as described in the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

Premise

The documentary deals with

The Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...

, the founding story of the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

. While few mainstream historians would consider the

as a reliable narrative, Cameron and Jacobovici present a speculative question as to whether the events as described, particularly relating to the

, could be explained naturalistically. Central to its thesis is the volcanic eruption of Thera/Santorini. A suggested date of 1500 BC is made for the Exodus, during the reign of pharaoh Ahmose I. The "palpable darkness" described as the 9th plague, is hypothetically attributed to the cloud of volcanic ash caused by the Minoan eruption, which is identified as the events described in the Tempest Stele. A conjectural limnic eruption in the Nile Delta, similar to that of the Lake Nyos disaster in 1986, is explored as a further source of mass death. The documentary first aired on Discovery Channel Canada on April 16, 2006.

Reception

As a popular history documentary, ''The Exodus Decoded'' attracted few critiques from mainstream scholars. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' described the use of CGI as "stunning", a view shared by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', which placed the documentary's content firmly in the realms of conspiracy theory. A review in ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

'' noted that none of the arguments made in the film were accepted by mainstream archaeology and that film-maker Jacobovici freely admitted his lack of academic credentials.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Exodus Decoded 2006 films 2006 television films 2006 computer-animated films 2006 documentary films Canadian documentary television films Documentary films about the Bible Films with live action and animation History (American TV channel) original programming Films about the ten plagues of Egypt Historical theories and materials on the Exodus Pseudoscience documentary films Films based on the Book of Exodus Films directed by Simcha Jacobovici 2000s Canadian films

Premise

Reception

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