Because I have an MA in ancient history and my main area of interest is the Near East and Egypt, I expected to find The View from Nebo an interesting read. To some extent I did, but for the most part I found it somewhat confusing. I had expected the author's main thrust to be the newer archaeological data on the biblical period and a clarification of the life and cultures of that period. Instead what I found was an overview of some of that data, of the personalities involved in the research and of the on going problems in the modern Middle East. The author is a journalist rather than an archaeologist, and while her vita might not lend itself to "expert" views on the topic under discussion, it should have led to a less biased view of the overall work in the field. Instead the book seems to wander from topic to topic, starting off well in some parts but then going off the rails or at least onto side tracks all over the Middle East using biblical narrative as justification for the digressions.

I found particularly confusing the author's embarrassing confrontation with modern Egyptian archaeologists and museologists over the Exodus tradition. I wasn't quite sure what had she expected to accomplish other than to irritate her hosts. With an extensive native history of its own, with limited funds for excavation, preservation, presentation, and publication, and with a tumultuous relationship with modern Israel, why would Egypt feel compelled to study or present the history of the Exodus? Were they expected to be "good sports?" Were they expected to emulate the recent papal move, and as to Galileo, apologize? For what? I couldn't help but suspect the trip had functioned as a tax write-off for an exotic vacation.

I was also rather surprised to have the Exodus used to date the explosion on ancient Thera. The occurrence of the Exodus itself is difficult to document; certainly people of Levantine origin crossed and recrossed Egypt's borders in antiquity, and doubtless some of these people contributed genetic material to the creators of the Israelite nation state. That this occurred in the manner in which it was described in the Bible, which is hard put to it to remain consistent with its own narrative, would be--indeed has been--difficult to prove. The event on Santorini (ancient Thera), though it would conveniently explain a lot about the biblical plagues and the tsunami like behavior of the Sea of Reeds, can be dated by geophysical methods and core samples taken from the northern and southern ice sheets. A volcanic event is an indisputable fact of nature, and geologists would place this one at a much earlier date than 1500 BCE. If the author wants to use it to date the Exodus, then the Exodus occurred considerably earlier, the reverse dating is not doable!

What I felt the author did do extremely well in the book was to point out how "history" is reshaped by each new generation to meet it's own needs and philosophy and to point out that historical "truth" is something redefined with each rewriting of the narrative. It reminded me of Shaw's general in the Devil's Disciple. When asked by his aide what history would say when the British army surrendered to the Americans during the civil war, he responded that "History would lie as usual." And again of Napoleon's "History is lies agreed upon." As the author points out, each of the modern day states in the Middle East has chosen its particular brand of historical truth to achieve its own agenda.

This is a lovely book, one that I really enjoyed reading. It made me look at the Bible in a new way, and at the Middle East. What I found most interesting were the connections made thoughout the book between the past and the present, and the way the Bible has stayed relevant throughout the ages even as scholars, historians, and now archaeologists change the way that we view the text. This isn't a dry or academic study -- it is filled with fascinating details about the people and the digs as well as the biblical history -- and the mixture of Bible stories, archaeology, and the modern debates made the book rich and accessible, particularly to someone like me who loves the Bible and history but is not in the professional field. I am going to recommend it to our book group.

I just finished reading the View from Nebo and I loved it. I picked it up not knowing what to expect, and was suprised by how much is going on in the field of archaeology and the Bible. This book is really a history of an idea that has fascinated people for generations - how was the bible created - and it also takes the next step, showing how the Bible is being recreated, by the many archaeological discoveries being made. Some of the discoveries aren't even the kind you'll see on the Discovery channel. No claims about the lost ark or the Garden of Eden by the archaeologists here. Instead what's amazing is how even the little things, like an olive pit or a piece of wheat, help archaeologists reconstruct an entire world. Still, many of the archaeologists in this book are quirky characters and we get to meet them, and see how what's happening in the modern Middle East and inside their own countries affects the way they interpret their material and how the tales of these modern mythmakers are received! I was startled by some of what I learned, and it has made me look at the Bible, and what people say about the Bible, in a different way. I highly recommend this book! Five stars.