Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses

Egypt. Land of the Pharoahs….and of the Bible. Bruce Feiler continues his journey through the greatest stories ever told, by retracing Joseph's path to Egypt after his brothers sell him into bondage. When Joseph interprets the Pharaoh's dreams, he rises from slave to the heights of power and even brings his brothers and father Jacob to live in Egypt. Feiler takes us from the great temple of Karnak in Luxor, formerly ancient Thebes….to the pyramids and sphinx of Giza, and descends into the royal burial tombs in the Valley of the Kings. As he treks by camel, boat, horseback and even pyramid-climbing, he discovers how the ancient Egyptian culture and religion influenced the Israelites during their centuries-long stay in Egypt, especially in the importance placed on dreams and story-telling. Feiler explores the ancient ruins of cities where the Israelites were said to toil under an oppressive pharaoh. Beginning at the shallow waters of the Nile, Feiler retraces the story of one of the Bible's greatest figures, Moses, and his eventual confrontation with Pharaoh to let his people go. Did the Israelites build the pyramids? What could have caused the ten plagues? Was it really the Red Sea Moses crossed? As Feiler confronts these questions, on the very body of water that could have been where the waters were parted, he realizes that it isn't the location, or even the event that's important, but that it was experienced as an act of God.