Ron Wyatt, Honest?, Or Deceitful Fraud?, #5

If you thought you heard everything there was to hear in the first four brochures on this subject, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet! The clowns who are promoting Ron Wyatt and company must think the rest of us are gullible, incompetent morons! There are so many fallacious postulations provoked by these inciters of twisted conjecture, it is hard to decide on which part of their pretzel factory presuppositions to address next!

Before I get started with this issue, I would like the reader to understand that I am going to address some of Ron Wyatt’s claims that judicially call for cautious investigation, for the narrative we are given by him and his associates, along with his disciples, simply does not correlate with other established facts. So what you are about to read is highly suspect, and you will see why as we go along!

I will start this paper by citing some remarks made by Jonathan Gray during an Internet Radio interview conducted by Eli James on June 13, 2010. About 40 minutes into the interview, the discussion turns to the Egyptian chariots used while pursuing the Israelites through the Sea of Reeds. Here is part of the exchange between Eli James and Jonathan Gray:

James: “Now isn’t there something – couple – unique features of these chariot wheels that are almost impossible to fake?” Gray: “Yes”. James: “Well let’s talk about those.” Gray: “Right, Ron actually took up part of a chariot wheel, took it off to Nassif Mohammed Hassan, director of Antiquities department in Cairo. And this man (Hassan) without any hesitation said the 18th [???]. Now, we are talking about the traditional counting methods they use; 18th Dynasty which is the Thutmose Dynasty. Of course, we have the name Moses, who was adopted into that family. This is from the time, as you people would say, was the time of Moses. And that is because Moses was there at that time. How are you so quick to make an assessment? He (Hassan) said, ‘Because that was the only time when the eight-spoke wheel was ever used’; eight spokes.” James: “So most wheels had what?...six?” Gray: “Six and four and eight.” James: “Six and four and eight? But you say only during the time of the Exodus was the eight-spoke wheel used?” Gray: “That is correct.” So the reader will get a better comprehension of this conversation, I will quote this same incident from the website:

http://readatsaintandrews.blogspot.com/ (now defunct as of 2024-04-10 - WRF):

“Among those who accompanied Wyatt on many of his excursions is his wife, Mary Nell. She’s concerned about over-exuberance regarding new claims, but the Spring Hill, Tenn., woman tells WorldNetDaily she’s ‘convinced’ there are chariot parts located on a subsurface ‘land bridge’ connecting Egypt to Saudi Arabia through the Gulf of Aqaba.

“She cites Ron’s discovery of a wheel hub that he brought to the surface in the late 1970s as proof. The hub had the remains of eight spokes radiating outward and was examined by Nassif Mohammed Hassan, director of Antiquities in Cairo. Hassan declared it to be from the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt, explaining the eight-spoked wheel was used only during that dynasty around 1400 B.C. Curiously, no one can account for the precise whereabouts of that eight-spoked wheel today, though Hassan is on videotape stating his conclusion regarding authenticity.

“When Mary Nell went diving with Ron, she says it was very easy to assume (wrongly) that every item on the flat bottom had historical significance.” [parenthesis not mine]

It appears the only so-called expert witness that we have on this eight-spoked wheel is one Egyptian by the name of “Nassif Mohammed Hassan”. Now these multi-breed Egyptians are not the best people to consult on things like this. I remember when I was watching TV on either the Learning Channel or one of the Educational channels, they had an archaeological program where they were testing the DNA of some of the early pharaohs of the 18th dynasty. They cut a small sample of bone from one of the mummies and placed it in a grinder which looked somewhat like a blender, except with much greater power. I noticed that when they did this test, they didn’t clean the grinder after the last time they had used it. The bone-grinder had a transparent housing, and the TV viewer could clearly see the residue of the previous DNA test. Then the multi-breed Egyptian at the head of the Egyptian DNA laboratory claimed that the present-day Egyptians were of the same DNA as those of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty, which was a damned lie, for Egypt became a mulatto nation by the time of Jeremiah, and further absorbed the genetics of several arab nations in the first few centuries A.D.! So, why should we believe this multi-breed Nassif Mohammed Hassan, or any other “mule”-person?

Another website that had this same information added a bit more, at:

http://www.2001translation.com/pharaoh.htm

“They found several six-spoked wheels, as well as an eight-spoked wheel. Ron removed the hub of a wheel which had the remains of eight spokes radiating outward from it. He took this to Cairo, to the office of Nassif Mohammed Hassan, the director of Antiquities with whom Ron had been working. Mr Hassan examined it and immediately pronounced it to be of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty. When asked how he knew this so readily, Mr Hassan explained that the eight-spoked wheel was used only during the 18th Dynasty.”

Another website reproducing this data added more at:

http://pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/html/chapter11.htm

“We began to thoroughly research the Egyptian chariot and soon discovered that the fact that Ron and the boys found 4, 6 and 8-spoked wheels places the Exodus in the 18th Dynasty according to numerous sources, such as the following: ‘Egyptian literary references to chariots occur as early as the reigns of Kamose, the 17th Dynasty king who took the first steps in freeing Egypt from the Hyksos, and Ahmose, the founder of the 18th Dynasty. Pictorial representations, however, do not appear until slightly later in the 18th Dynasty....’ (From ‘Observations on the Evolving Chariot Wheel in the 18th Dynasty’ by James K. Hoffmeier, JARCE #13, 1976).” I checked James K. Hoffmeier on the Internet, and I couldn’t find a single word he had said concerning chariots in the 18th Egyptian Dynasty, except for referring back to Nassif Mohammed Hassan himself. So it appears to be one man’s opinion, if one can consider such a hybrid a man. The only other related subject that Hoffmeier addressed was how wooden objects can sink to the bottom of the sea.

For a few grains of insight, for what little it is worth, we find at the website: answers.yahoo.com/question/index:

“Have Chariot wheels been discovered at the bottom of the Red Sea? ... Best Answer - Chosen by Voters. No they have not. If you are in search of proof of the passover story understand that the common translation of the Hebrew as being ‘red sea’ is incorrect. They believe that the Hebrews actually traveled further north towards the delta of the red sea and crossed via the delta marshes. ... The correct translation of the Hebrew is Sea of Reeds (i.e. a marsh). In most Torah translations this has been corrected and we now refer correctly to the location as the Sea of Reeds and not the red sea when retelling the passover story. [strike-throughs mine, “marsh” not correct]

“Note: to the person who said wood floats and would not survive being in water, please research Nautical Archaeology. Many a sunken ship from the bronze age has been found in the Mediterranean as well as an intact ship found in Galilee that dates back to Jesus’ time ... yes 2000 years ago ...”

EIGHT-SPOKE CHARIOT WHEELS FIRST

USED BY THE ASSYRIANS ABOUT 700 B.C.

The following documentation is contradictory to the testimony of Jonathan Gray! From The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol. A-C, page 780, under the heading “Chariot” we read in part (as this will be only about 20% of the article, but enough to cover our subject):

“... 1. Chariots in the ancient Near East. Heavy wheeled vehicles drawn by asses were used in Southern Mesopotamia throughout the 3rd millennium B.C. and are represented in finds from Ur, Kish and Tell Agrab. From Tell Agrab dating circa 2500 B.C., comes a small copper model of a war chariot drawn by four asses. It consists of a flat platform, a pole and two disc wheels, and it was driven by a single driver.

“The true chariot which was much lighter was drawn by the faster horse (q.v.). It did not come into use until the 2nd millennium B.C., when folk movements brought peoples from the Southern Russian steppes and introduced the horse to Mesopotamia. The art of warfare was revolutionized by the horse-drawn chariot. The term ‘horse’ occurs in cuneiform inscriptions as an ideogram meaning ‘foreigners,’ and in phonetic form as sisû in 19th century tablets from Anatolia. These folk movements had already reached Asia Minor in the 19th century B.C. As the 2nd millennium wore on, Hittites in Anatolia, Kassites in Mesopotamia and Hyksos in Syria, Palestine and Egypt all gained advantage in warfare by the use of the chariot. The Hyksos were enabled thereby to conquer most of Syria and Egypt between circa 1800 and circa 1600 B.C.

“The disc wheel gave place to the spoked wheel about 1700 B.C. when wheels with four, or more regularly, six spokes, came into use and remained until about the 10th cent. B.C. The Assyrians in the days of Ashurnasirpal II (circa 883-859) began to use eight spokes. Such wheels remained in use down to Persian times. ...” [emphasis mine]

Jonathan Gray places the supposed first use of the eight-spoke Egyptian chariot wheel from before 1400 B.C. – the time of the Exodus – yet the above documentation places its first use more than 500 years later! Both cannot be correct!

From The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. A-D, page 780, under the heading “Chariot” we read in part (as this will only be about 10% of the article, but enough to cover our subject):

“... 2. Origin and development. Wheeled vehicles drawn by asses are attested in Mesopotamia as early as the end of the fourth millennium. A copper model of a chariot drawn by four asses found at Tell Aqrab (third millennium) has a single rider with two disk-wheels on which is mounted a body consisting of a simple board continuing the line of the heavy pole astride which stood the driver. ... The earliest spoked wheels are attested in the time of Hammurabi (cf. the Cappadocian cylinder seals). Wheels contained four or six spokes, the latter predominating, until the time of Shalmaneser III. Under Ashurnasirpal II eight-spoked chariot wheels appear (also Syrian?), and were taken over by the Assyrians, where they remain characteristic until the Persian period. Unusual was the twelve-spoked wheel, found only in Elamite chariots. ...” [emphasis mine]

Here we have further testimony bringing into question the sworn word of Jonathan Gray! Can we attribute this to Gray’s gullibility in believing a multi-breed so-called Egyptology expert? The following is what I wrote in my paper, Mexicans Traced To Cain (Satan’s Son):

“One cannot fully comprehend the racial makeup of the arabs and jews unless he understands the history of Egypt from A.D. 639 until the time of Napoleon I in 1798. The history of Egypt during this period is essentially the history of the entire Middle East. Genghis Khan, in his exploits, left a mongol genetic flavor to the population wherever he conquered new territory. Egypt, during this period, found herself under various rulerships. In A.D. 639 the arabs invaded Egypt and came to power. Next were the Fatimids in A.D. 909. After this came the Ayyubids in 1174. Then in 1517 A.D. came the Mamelukes, followed by the Ottomans when Egypt was governed from Istanbul. If you don’t understand the history of the Middle East during this period, don’t pretend you know all about the arabs and jews today!

“In the 1200’s, Genghis Khan sold a company of slaves to the Sultan of Egypt, made up of turks and Circassians (people who inhabited the Caucasus, not to be confused with the White Caucasians), and were also trained as soldiers, to become the Sultan’s bodyguards. Soon the Mamelukes overthrew the Egyptian Sultan and put their own sultan in power. The Mameluke sultans then overran Asia Minor, Syria, and the island of Cyprus. In the wake of all these arab and turk exploits, the various populations were left with a multi-racial flavor as genetic hybrid mutants.” [lowercase “a” & “t” mine]

These are the kind of genetic misfits whom Jonathan Gray trusts to tell him the truth. Also, the Wyatt 24 chromosome story came from an alleged Canaanite-jewish lab (that is, if Wyatt ever had the alleged blood of Christ tested in the first place), and Gray asserts that Wyatt had consulted with one of these modern-day mamzer Egyptians about a wheel hub! It’s tantamount to consulting with the Devil! And what’s more disturbing is, Eli James (a professed Two-seedline Israel Identity believer) buys this kind of bull-feces!

I would also point out to the reader that the chariot of King Tutankhamen is on display in the Cairo Museum today, and it clearly has six spokes on each of its two wheels, as shown in the several pictures I have of it. According to the list of pharaohs of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty, King Tutankhamen followed Thutmose III (the pharaoh of the Oppression) by only about a hundred years (The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt, page 134). Whatever the significance of the six-spoked wheel, whether an improvement in engineering or the latest style, we reach a similar conclusion. Given the elegance of the rest of the goods of Tutankhamen’s tomb, the six-spoked chariot wheel was the best or most fashionable at his time! An outmoded design or inferior style would not have been entombed with the pharaoh! In other words, if the Egyptians had had an eight-spoked chariot at the time of the Exodus, the chariot belonging to Tutankhamen sitting in the Cairo Museum today would have eight-spoked wheels!

LEAVING THE ISSUE OF THE EIGHT-SPOKED WHEEL,

WHERE DID ISRAEL CROSS THE SEA OF REEDS?

If you thought the problem with the eight-spoked chariot wheel was detrimental, wait till you hear that Wyatt and associates searched at the wrong location in order to find any archaeological evidence that Israel ever crossed the Sea of Reeds! So the reader will understand that I’m not just spouting empty words, I would point out that I have a book entitled On The Track Of The Exodus by Lieut.-Colonel C.C. Robertson, D.S.O. with a forward by Rev. E.H. Thorold, C.B., C.B.E. M.A., D.D., Chaplain-General to the Forces, A reprint of the 1936 edition by Gale & Polden, LTD. - London, published by Artisan Sales, by the late E. Raymond Capt. Capt was an accomplished archaeologist and would have been quite careful not to handle any books that would be misleading in his field of endeavor. So what I’m about to reveal, one might entitle E. Raymond Capt vs. Ron Wyatt.

From the Publisher’s Forward we read in part: “On the Track of the Exodus, is a well-written book, deserving a wide readership. The author has studied the question of the Exodus in minute detail. He has succeeded in solving many difficulties and problems arising in respect to the traditional route of the Exodus and Mount Sinai. The result of his research presents the most probable location in which the Israelites sojourned during their long stay in the wilderness.”

From the Author’s Preface we read in part: “... My acknowledgments are due to the Admiralty, for permission to publish the sketch map of a section of the Gulf of Suez based upon British Admiralty Chart No. 757; and to the War Office for their reproduction of the map entitled Elim – Zin – Sinai, from a section of Sheet 4 of the 1/250,000 Sinai Peninsula series.

“Mr. G.W. Murray, M.C., Director of Desert Surveys, Cairo, has given untiring help to questions regarding the physical geography of Egypt and Sinai. The topography of the country north of Aqaba is the subject of reports from the Assistant Director of Desert Surveys, Palestine, and the Director of Lands, Transjordania. ...”

Now the British might do many things wrong, but one can be quite certain the British Admiralty will have up-to-date maps with every land topography properly named and located, as well as all navigation obstacles mapped-out perfectly to assure safe sailing. Knowing this, we can be quite sure that the author of this book has used only the best maps available to him. In quoting all of this from this book, you can understand my consternation when I compared Robertson’s maps with those of Ron Wyatt’s on his Internet website. Wyatt has errors all over his map.

What Charles C. Robertson did in his research, which I am not aware of anyone else doing, was that he took into account the day-to-day movement of the 2½ to 3 million Israelites, and carefully identified each campground with Scripture, and then verified that location by the topography of the area. When one contemplates these 2½ to 3 million Israelites moving along on foot with their cattle and pack animals, some pulling two-wheeled carts with the supplies they would need, the problem with logistics is mind boggling! For anyone who would want to simulate such an experience, I suggest that they plan to walk sometime to a nearby town 25 miles away, with no rest stops or restaurants along the way.

Now the body of water we often refer to as the “Red Sea”, if properly translated from the Hebrew, would be the “Sea of Reeds”. Robertson on his map shows that in ancient times that both the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba were designated as the Sea of Reeds. The traditional view, which was also the view of Wyatt, was that the Gulf of Aqaba was the Biblical “Red Sea”. But Robertson, in his meticulous research, determined that it rather had to be the Gulf of Suez. The question at this point is: Upon what information has Wyatt concluded his estimate of where Israel crossed the Sea of Reeds?

At this point, I would invite everyone interested in this subject to obtain a copy of Robertson’s book and compare the contents with the allegations of Ron Wyatt and come to their own conclusions! I will point out, however, if the Israelites crossed through the Gulf of Aqaba at the location Wyatt identifies (according to his map), they could very easily have marched around the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba to the other side. On the other hand, if the Israelites crossed through the Gulf of Suez, as Robertson suggests, it was because they had no place where they could escape from the Egyptians, as the Biblical account verifies. The formidable “Wall of the Ruler” divided Egypt from Arabia roughly along the line of the modern Suez Canal (ANET. p. 19). Hence, in short, under Wyatt’s hypothesis, the Israelites were not trapped and could have escaped the Egyptians, but under Robertson’s premise, the Israelites were trapped without any prospect of escaping the Egyptians other than the intervention of Yahweh. Now I wouldn’t suggest that Robertson is correct on every count, but he displays a whole lot more scholarship than Ron Wyatt!

Also, the factor of a “strong east wind” at Exod. 14:21 is important, as it is compatible with the Gulf of Suez and incompatible with the Gulf of Aqaba. Robertson stated, p. 70: “The Hebrews observed four points of the compass only – north, south, east and west. The east covered all bearings between north-east and south-east. A wind blowing straight up the Gulf of Suez would be termed an east wind. The ‘strong east wind’ of Ex. 14:21, may therefore have driven the sea up the gulf without affecting the coast lands.” In other words, an east wind at the Gulf of Suez would blow the water lengthwise up the channel, while at the Gulf of Aqaba, it would blow crosswise from shore to shore. A little detail Ron Wyatt and company completely overlooked! There are many other holes in Wyatt’s story!