Galileo Galilei was persecuted because he thought forbidden thoughts; Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake because he held dangerous beliefs. In 17th-century Europe, free thinkers faced persecution. Scientists, philosophers, and religious dissenters risked their reputations, freedom, and even lives to challenge accepted norms. Many saw no future in the world they knew and sought escape to a new world across the Atlantic – America.

It's tempting to depict the journey from the Old World to the New World as a passage from darkness to light. But many migrants felt not that they were abandoning the past, but rather reenacting it. To them, Europe was Egypt, America the Land of Canaan, and crossing the Atlantic, their personal Exodus. This consciousness animated not just the early American settlers but the nation's founders over a century later. Many saw King George III as the embodiment of King Pharaoh, and Benjamin Franklin even proposed the crossing of the Red Sea for the Great Seal of the United States.

The Americans were not alone. When battling for national liberation, the Dutch saw themselves as the new Israelites, the modern-day Exodus story. The English shared similar sentiments, and as the philosopher Michael Walzer showed, many Western peoples struggling for freedom cast themselves as Hebrews defying their Egyptian oppressors.

Notably, when Martin Luther King Jr. demanded full civil rights for all Americans regardless of race, he appealed to the American establishment with Moses' cry: "Let my people go." The metaphor had flipped; the American system, founded by those who saw themselves as breaking free from Egypt, was now perceived as the Egypt from which liberation was needed.

What happened? Here's what didn't – this was not about freedom-seeking leaders and activists reading, studying, analyzing, and interpreting the Exodus story. Rather, they were reliving it.

Every few years, the question resurfaces – "Is Exodus a story true?" That is, does the narrative we tell reflect actual historical events? Among archaeologists and historians, there is no consensus. Perhaps we should rephrase the query. We do not know if the Exodus story is real, but we know that historical events in the West have tried to mirror the Exodus story. Great stories are not measured by how accurately they depict the past, but by how they shape the future.

Two perspectives

The Exodus story, a spectacle of "blood, fire, and pillars of smoke," is a tale of wielding extraordinary power. But perhaps the greater drama is not of the story of power, but of the power of the story – its ability to magnetize human history and seduce those who encounter it into becoming consumed by it, ceasing to merely observe the story and beginning to be the story.

The proven power of the Exodus story is a significant component of the cultural patriotism Zionism sought to cultivate. The Bible is a national book, created by the Jewish people and tells their story, yet this very book shaped the consciousness of vast swaths of humanity. The opening passage of Israel's Declaration of Independence sees the Bible's universal influence as the Jewish people's greatest historical achievement: "In the land of Israel, the Jewish people came into being. Here their spiritual, religious, and political identity was shaped. Here they achieved sovereignty and created cultural assets for all humankind and gave the world the eternal Book of Books." 

In other words, we have a story, and all peoples are invited not only to study it, but to live it. 

Here are two perspectives on the Exodus story: one from within the story, and one on the story itself. From within, it depicts the ancient Hebrews enslaved in Egypt, rebelling, liberating themselves, and marching to freedom – a story of a solitary people navigating a world that seeks to subjugate and, at times, annihilate it. The second perspective is the inverse: The world draws inspiration from the Jewish people, and in moments when nations seek emancipation from their oppressors, they reenact the ancient Hebrew narrative.

It is almost impossible to reconcile these two perspectives: human reality is replete with base, violent impulses directed at Jews that we must defend against and insulate ourselves from. Yet simultaneously, human reality brims with the influence of Jewish ideas, and we have an ancient, biblical mandate to engage with the world and contribute to its repair. Can we hold both views concurrently?

An optical illusion

Not all can hold these two perspectives at the same time. On the far-Right, there are hyper-nationalistic Israelis who seek to withdraw from the world; on the far-Left, there are highly universalistic Israelis who seek to dissolve into it. These two groups are homogeneous; their value systems are built on a single foundational tenet – unbridled nationalism devoid of universal humanism on the extreme Right; universal humanism untempered by nationalism on the post-Zionist Left. Most Israelis are not homogeneous, but rather, hybrids – humanistic and nationalistic concurrently.

One of the profound processes unfolding in Israeli society in recent months is the shared realization of the great optical illusion to which we had fallen victim. We thought Israel was divided in two – nationalists versus universalists; the Right is nationalist, the Left is universalist, and the tension between them is tearing Israel apart. But this is an optical illusion. Throughout months of war, we keep rediscovering that Israel is not divided into two, but three: the mainstream of Israeli society is hybrid.

When we believe the optical illusion that Israel is divided into two, the hybrid Israelis perceive themselves as the moderate, compromising fringe of one of the two groups. But when divided into three, the hybrid Israelis understand that they are not the fringe of either group, but rather, a group unto themselves – not just Israel's largest, but one capable of uniting and leading it.

The paradox of Passover

The emerging Israeli hybridity amidst the harsh war we are embroiled in is also one of the great hopes arising from it. Israeli hybridity is, in essence, Jewish hybridity, which we encounter in the paradox of Passover. On the Seder night, we recount the story of solitary people in a hostile world, one of whose messages is that in every generation, there are those who rise to destroy us – a story that cultivates suspicion of the world and the inclination to withdraw from it. Yet it is this very story that has been embraced by the world and become a universal tale. The paradox of Passover is the paradox of Israel.

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Dr. Shay Bar is an archeologist, who oversees the monumental Manasseh Hill Country Survey.

Q: Before we talk about your research, can you please share what archaeology drew you in the first place? 

"Archaeology was my childhood hobby. I used to travel to all kinds of ancient sites in Israel from a young age, and I was always intrigued by the life and cultures of ancient times. After many years in the IDF and managing projects in the defense industry, I decided to return to my old love and began to study archeology as a second career. The most uplifting moments in my profession are days of research in the field. At any given moment you reveal, literally, another layer of the heritage of the people and cultures that lived in this part of the country in the past."

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Bar and I met on the occasion of the publishing of a new edition of "The Footsteps of God" by the late archaeology giant Adam Zertal, which, for the first time, includes vital chapters in the research on Judea and Samaria. 

Q: Why the headline "The Footsteps of God" and how does that tie in with Jewish history?

"The book documents the discovery of a group of compound sites, buildings with a rounded outline, from the Iron Age, i.e. the 12th to 10th centuries BCE; The period of the settlement [of Canaan] and the [rule of the] judges according to the biblical chronology, whose external shape resembles the outline of a human foot. Zertal theorized that these sites are the location of the Gilgal sites mentioned in the Bible, where the assembly and worship centers of the ancient people of Israel [took place] upon their return to Canaan before the ritual center moved to Shiloh.

"According to the biblical description, at the sites of Gilgal, the generation of the desert [wanderers] was circumcised after crossing the Jordan River, where [Moses' disciple] Joshua bin Nun's camp stood during the wars of conquest of the land, and that is where the prophets and judges were – for example, that is where King Saul was anointed by the Prophet Samuel, among all the people. In other words, these sites are the beginning of Israel's worship. Zertal's fascinating interpretation of the unique shape of these complexes – also led him to name the book after it."

Q: The word foot, or regel (רגל) in Hebrew, appears in the Bible 244 times, but it has other meanings as well. 

"Correct. Ownership of the land, as mentioned, is a symbol of the existence of the people and the resemblance of the temple['s shape] to a foot. The book shows that the foot has a much greater cultural-spiritual meaning than was previously thought, and connects it – by way of hypothesis – to the physical description of the unique compound sites that were discovered in the field." 

Q: So what is the connection between Gilgal and the shape of a foot in other sites, and why is it that such sites – as far as we know – can only be found in Israel? 

"The connection is conceptual and symbolic. Zertal believed that the builders of the complexes understood well the meaning of the 'foot' in the biblical text, and wanted to perpetuate this idea when they built their places of worship and gathering. Since it is a group or groups of nomads, who are limited in terms of archaeological knowledge and abilities, the different complexes are not identical to each other, and besides common contours, there are also differences between them – for instance, some of them have a road built into the perimeter wall.

"During the research, we tried to find architectural parallels to these complexes. After a comprehensive search in the archaeological literature, we did not find similar buildings in the entire Near East, from Egypt to Iran. Based on what we know now, these sites are a phenomenon unique to the Jordan Valley and eastern Samaria. This is certainly unusual and supports the idea that this is about building the compound wall for a functional purpose only, but there is an additional meaning to the outline of the compounds."

"The longest archeological field study in the world" 

Q: These are fairly large complexes. How come they were discovered quite late in archaeological history? 

"It's important to understand that the area was hardly explored archaeologically until the [1967] Six-Day War. Even after that, only a short survey was conducted in the area. And it did not include a careful walk through the area and documentation of all the ancient sites in it, but mostly a quick pass over sites that already appear on maps, along with random locating of other sites that stood out. 

"Since then, no major archaeological research has been carried out in the Jordan Valley and eastern Samaria, with the exception of a few rescue excavations to develop or preserve sites, or limited scientific excavations. At the same time, several teams of archaeologists began to carry out more rigorous surveys in the various areas of Judea and Samaria. This is how in 1978 began the Manasseh Hill Country Survey, founded by Zertal, a project that continues to this day and is considered, apparently, the longest archeological field study in the world.

"The project includes walking in the entire area [on foot] – about an eighth of the territory of the State of Israel (!) - from Highway 6 in the west, the Jordan River in the east, the Jezreel and Beit She'an valleys in the north and an imaginary line between Nablus and the Dead Sea in the south. We document all the sites that are discovered in the area of northern and eastern Samaria and the Jordan Valley. As part of it, more than 3,200 new sites have been discovered to date, and the history of the region is being revealed. This is how the foot complexes were also discovered."

Q: Does the location of the sites in the landscape carry any significance? 

"Two important characteristics common to all the sites are related to their topographical location and their relationship to their immediate surroundings. The surprising characteristic is the disregard of the builders of the complexes for the topography of the area where they built the sites. Unlike other compounds, which were used for grazing and gathering agricultural produce, the walls of the compounds were built in a way that ignored natural advantages that are usually considered vital in choosing the locations for the construction of various buildings, including the height above the surroundings, for protection or observation purposes; or the slope of the hill, for natural drainage purposes. 

"It seems that the builders were more particular about the external outline, rather than using the topography to their advantage. However, they knew how to build the various sites near and under a natural rocky slope that allows for the occupancy of a large crowd and the viewing of various events that take place within the complex itself. This is also how they saw the foot shape, which can be better seen from high areas. 

"The other compounds that were discovered in the same area were significantly smaller than the foot compounds and served as the home of the nomads in the different periods, and mainly as a barn for keeping their animals. These compounds were almost always built with reference to the topographical location and the natural slope. From this, we can assume that the same groups of people built smaller compounds for the purpose of living, where they took care of the animals on the family level, and significantly larger compounds for the purposes of assembly and worship. Each of the foot compounds is surrounded by a group of such nomadic family compounds."

Q: And what did research in this area reveal about the way of life of the people at the time? 

"One of the most significant facts is that in the period before the Iron Age, the area of the Jordan Valley and eastern Samaria north of Jericho was completely abandoned. Only during the Iron Age was the area filled with the nomadic sites described above. This is an archaeological fact that cannot be disputed, indicating the migration of a group of people to the area in the period in question."

Q: And who were those people? 

"This is an interpretation, but the Bible tells us about the migration of a group of people, the Israelites, to this area at exactly that time. Although many researchers question ancient descriptions of the events in the Bible, here we actually see some support for the biblical description – in terms of the geographical location of the events. Another fact is that the way of life at that time in the Jordan Valley was nomadic. This is how it is described in the biblical text and this is how it is fully reflected in the findings in the field.

"An examination of the foot complexes themselves brings up several architectural and environmental markers that can teach us more about their way of life. First, their construction under a natural slope that allows viewing of a large crowd strengthens the hypothesis that they were indeed used to gather the people for various needs, perhaps even worship, as mentioned. In this way, they are very suitable for describing the happenings at the sites of Gilgal. To this, we can add the built road that fully, or partially, surrounds the site.

"The ritual circle is one of the cultural characteristics that is well reflected in the Bible and in many traditions, such as for example on the holiday of Simchat Torah. In the complex in Argaman, a circular structure resembling a stage was also excavated, which could also have been used for ceremonial or ritual purposes. Another idea is that the phrase 'pilgrimage', which became central to the biblical description with the shift of the center of worship to Jerusalem and the establishment of the Temple, has an earlier origin. Is it possible that the meaning of the expression derives from the ascent to the foot complexes in the valley, and that the expression was preserved even in a later period but its essence has undergone a change? It's possible."

Q: What else did you discover? We know that Gilgal Jericho and Gilgal of Samuel are yet to be discovered, so what is your hypothesis? 

"Today, after we have completed the archaeological survey of the Jordan Valley along its entire length in the Dead Sea, it is possible for the first time to answer the question of the lack of some of the gilgalim. It is important to understand that we survey the area more than 3,000 years after these sites were active. During this time, part of the area had intensive agricultural activity, which very likely completely destroyed many archeological sites. Moreover, the construction of settlements and villages in the area also caused the destruction of ancient sites.

"Therefore, the most realistic possibility is that the sites, assuming they existed, did not survive modern development. Another possibility is that we did not find the sites in the survey, because they were established in the territories after the Six-Day War and mined by the IDF. Our way of trying to minimize the knowledge gaps in the mined areas is to use old and new aerial photographs, as well as conducting surveys in areas that have been cleared of mines, and it is still possible that another compound is buried under these inaccessible areas."

Q: And another possibility might be that you are misinterpreting the Bible. 

"That's right. When the Bible describes the crossing of the Jordan near Jericho or the extensive activity in Gilgal Jericho itself, why do we rush to conclude that it's modern Jericho and Tell es-Sultan, which was its ancient core? Is it possible that the reference is to a wider geographical area – the Jericho steppe or an area beyond Jericho, or precisely the city itself? In the multiple excavations in the mound identified with ancient Jericho, no signs of the miraculous conquest of the gods described in the Book of Joshua were discovered, and no significant settlement from the period that preceded the conquest was even uncovered.

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"On the other hand, by way of hypothesis, if we refer to Jericho as a geographical area and not as a single point in the area, then there are several crossings on the Jordan River that allow passage from east to west, and perhaps that is precisely where the miraculous crossing described in the book of Joshua took place. For example, one of the main crossings is located near a foot complex near Argaman and is still in use today. 

"Another significant point is that today, after the completion of the archaeological survey in the Jordan Valley, no other suitable candidates have been found to be the same Gilgal sites. Although the absence of the find does not necessarily indicate the existence or non-existence of these sites, once again we are left with this group of complexes as the only suitable sites to be the gilgalim until another study proves us wrong."

Q: How much longer is the Manasseh Hills survey expected to last? 

"The project is nearing its end. We are now focusing on completing the last areas in Samaria that have not yet been explored in depth, and on completing the scientific literature of 50 years of research. In addition to this, we are conducting more limited excavations in some of the foot complexes, with the aim of answering specific questions and more precisely issues – such as time of establishment and abandonment of the various website components".

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