From: Dwight Burford
"Origins of the Hebrews The World's Oldest Alphabet"
Crowd Funding opportunity to help print two important books on the history of Israel in Egypt.
Note: For $1000, you will get a 5 hour personal on-line conference with the author.
- Printing: Origins of the Hebrews (new book)
- Reprinting: The World's Oldest Alphabet (earlier book)
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/origins-of-the-hebrews-the-world-s-oldest-alphabet#/
Introduction to the Author and the Project
Welcome to the fundraising campaign for Origins of the Hebrews (OOTH) and The World's Oldest Alphabet (TWOA), two books written by Dr. Douglas Petrovich, Professor of Biblical History and Exegesis at The Bible Seminary in Katy, Texas. Professor Petrovich is a biblical scholar, historian, archaeologist, Egyptologist, and epigrapher who specializes in the Israelite sojourn in Egypt and the world's oldest alphabetic script, which was originated by Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who developed this pictographic script by taking 22 signs from the hieroglyphic sign list and using them to represent the consonants in their alphabet. This invention led to our alphabet, which allows you to understand exactly what I am writing.
This campaign is being launched to reprint TWOA: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script, which was published in 2016 but went out of print in the first few months of 2020. At that time, the publisher (Carta, Jerusalem) was planning to reprint the book, but with the onset of COVID, their sales plummeted, because the majority of them come through foreign tourists who buy their books in Israeli and Palestinian shops. COVID obviously brought a halt to tourism, so TWOA was not able to be reprinted. Carta finally just approved the reprinting of TWOA, but they do not have the capital to pay for the printing. Hopefully, this campaign not only will lead to the printing of TWOA, but it will help to revive Carta, even if not completely.
TWOA features the translation and biblio-historical importance of 15 proto-consonantal Hebrew inscriptions dating from 1840-1446 BC, which falls within the 430 years during which biblical chronology requires that Jacob and his descendants resided in Egypt, before the exodus. The book also includes a section on Sinai 115 and its mostly-Middle-Egyptian caption that reads, "6 Levantines, Hebrews of Bethel the beloved," which was inscribed by Joseph's son, Manasseh, under his Egyptian name, Hebeded. Sinai 115, by far, represents the oldest attested non-biblical reference to the Hebrew/Israelite people (1842 BC).
Professor Petrovich's second book, OOTH: New Evidence for Israelites in Egypt from Joseph to the Exodus, is being published for the first time. OOTH is a companion volume to TWOA, and it offers the results of groundbreaking research that provides evidence of Israelites in Egypt from Joseph's day until the exodus, under Moses. This evidence exists in the form of Middle Egyptian inscriptions that name Joseph, Manasseh, Ephraim, Shechem (Manasseh's son), persuasive signs of Joseph's administration as Egypt's vizier, uniquely-Israelite domestic architecture that later is found to distinguish their homes in Canaan, and proto-consonantal inscriptions that name three biblical figures, among other forms of evidence.
The importance of this volume cannot be overstated, because professors in universities around the world have used the lack of any evidence of Israelites in Egypt during the Bible's Egyptian sojourn to ridicule the concept of the historical reliability of the biblical text. With the publication of this book, for the first time ever, powerful evidence is presented that will refute these criticisms for any objective thinker. Students will be equipped with strong argumentation that they can use to rebut the unfair accusations of biased university professors. Jews and Christians who believe in the reality of the Egyptian sojourn and exodus will be vindicated in their conviction that the Bible presents a historical account of these events. These two books go hand in hand to provide a brand new day for the field of biblical history.
The Funding Needed and the Perks to Donors
In order to cover the cost of (1) reprinting TWOA, (2) printing OOTH, (3) artists' drawings, (4) an indexer's work, (5) the shipping of books to consigners, (6) INDIEGOGO fees, and (7) miscellaneous costs, a total of $32,500 needs to be raised. All of this will provide for 1000 copies of both books. This conservative printing represents the exact number of copies of TWOA that were printed early in 2017. Because these 1000 copies sold out by 2020, which reflects the quality of the product, there is no reason to believe that 1000 copies of each book will not sell out, especially considering how 3-5 people (on average) have been writing Professor Petrovich each week to ask how they might find a copy of TWOA, or when OOTH will be in print.
You can help fill this need by contributing any amount toward the campaign. For anyone who donates $500, you will receive a signed copy of OOTH. For anyone who donates $1,000, you will receive a signed copy of OOTH, electronic versions of every one of Professor Petrovich's proto-consonantal Hebrew inscriptions that are documented in TWOA, plus five hours of your own online conference that delves into any area of either book that the donor prefers. Plus, you will be free to invite as many family members and friends that you want to participate in the conference with you.
If the financial goal is not reached, the author will be required to pay a fee of about $1,500, but he will receive whatever amount is raised, nonetheless. If less than $20,000 is raised, as many copies of OOTH that can be printed will be printed. If over $20,000 is raised, then all 1,000 copies of TWOA will be printed, plus as many copies of OOTH as possible. If all $32,500 is raised, then 1,000 copies of each book will be printed. If more than $32,500 is raised, then extra copies of one or both books will be printed, with exact proportions yet to be determined.
Track Record with Crowdfunding Campaigns
The author has attempted only one prior crowdfunding campaign, which was launched in 2016 to raise funds for the initial printing of TWOA. With a campaign that required $28,000 to be raised, a total of $32,400 was received. Therefore, 115% of the required funds came in, allowing for the entire printing of 1000 copies of TWOA to be produced. While Professor Petrovich is quick to note that this is not a reflection of his charm or persuasiveness, he has pointed out that it does reflect the great value in the project (which also had to be the contributors' conviction).
Risks and Challenges
Given that many scholars in the fields of biblical studies and ancient Near Eastern historical studies obstinately oppose the notion of an Israelite presence in Egypt during the first half of the second millennium BC, one risk is that one of the publishers may be pressured to pull the book from scholarly publication. Welcome to the world of "objective scholarship." Fortunately, both publishers have assured the author that they are committed to printing the book, with one writing this before the initial printing of TWOA, "I for one can hardly wait to watch the sparks of debate flying, or better still, the pollination of fruitful thought when your book sees the light of day."
After the book was in print, two ancient Near Eastern scholars indeed attempted to coerce the publisher into pulling the book, which failed. However, they pressured the publisher's North American distributor into (1) not advertising TWOA, and (2) not selling copies of TWOA at shows where they bring copies of their authors' books to sell. Despite these deranged attempts to stop the book from being sold, TWOA sold out every copy that was printed. Books of this nature will be scrutinized as few others in history have been, and thus the care and accuracy with which the project was completed is incalculable. The author spared no expense in attempting to achieve accuracy, which required nine years of work before the project came to complete fruition.
Other Ways To Help with the Project
Some people cannot afford to contribute to the project, but there are other ways to help. Most importantly, you can send the link for the campaign to as many people in your address book as appropriate. This will spread the word and allow for many more people to know about and contribute to the campaign, who never would have known about it, otherwise. Another way to help is simply--but powerfully--to pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would look down on this project with favor and supply all of the needed funds. After all, Psalm 50:10 says that he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Given that these two books essentially make his name great on the earth, it would seem that this is a prayer he would love to answer.
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