For the past few years, I have spent a lot of my time trying to establish an accurate Biblical chronology, something I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure. Genesis has been my focus, as its the most controversial. I have also done a fair amount of research on the date of the Exodus and Jacob’s entrance into Egypt.
In establishing this chronology I start with Adam and Eve, who I have dated to c.15,000 BC. I base this mainly on the agricultural context they are put in, as well as data from the GAE. I believe attempts to put them at 60,000 BC, or even earlier are futile, as they don’t fit with the agricultural, and technological setting.
When figuring a date for Noah’s Flood I look to cultural gaps in Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology. One gap in particular that I think fits the bill is the one between the Halaf and Ubaid Periods. Mohammed El Bastawesy wrote a paper in 2013 that theorizes about a large flood in the Near East. He points to wadi canyons around the Persian Gulf as evidence and dates this flood to a time period that fits within the Halaf-Ubaid cultural gap, c.6500 BC. I realize that this date isn’t certain, but I believe it fits, especially because it lines up with the Proto-Sumerian peoples.
As for the Tower of Babel, I find Douglas Petrovich’s argumentation, which would place Babel around 3100 BC, compelling. He points out the rapid expansion at the end of the Uruk period, an expansion that reached far enough to constitute phrases such as “the whole earth”. I do believe Nimrod, who can be identified as Enmerkar, was the orchestrator behind the Tower, as much of Jewish tradition holds to this. Past this, however, I don’t think we can identify the structure that was the Tower.
Dating the birth of Abraham, Jacob’s entrance into Egypt and the Exodus are things I’m a lot less sure of. I can’t seem to make up my mind about the long sojourn or an early or late Exodus, although I lean towards an early Exodus and long sojourn.
I haven’t really had anyone look at my chronology, and didn’t know if there were lines of evidence that I was missing. I’m not looking for someone to tell me that none of it happened in the first place, but rather individuals who are willing to entertain the possibility.