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Friday, June 26, 64

Dear Dr. Federn:

Finally I have received the detailed list of arguments for placing the 22nd Dynasty to immediately after the 18th. I will use it for my work—the arguments that I put together and you detailed and the arguments that you have added but before this I will offer this evidence to Albright, Wilson and Säve-Söderberg. The latter wrote a letter to a correspondent of mine, on June 2, who mailed him xerox copies of E. Ralph (C14). All of them have the same counterargument—the cultural development—and here, I think, I stand on a firm ground. To Wilson I wrote on June 10, full four or five months late, and have not heard yet anyting in reply. Possibly he is away, more probably he was offended by my slow reaction, and possibly he is involved by Bull. Atom. Sc. in that affair, since the Bull. is printed in Chicago on the campus of the University.

I visited Albright last Sunday at his home in Baltimore. We spent together 3½ hours, first hour on RaC and he was amazed at the fact that the trees show the average age of the rings; second hour together with his wife—in reminiscences (they lived in Palestine) and they wished to know about me personal details; the last 1½ hours on the ‘ethical problem’—whether it is ethical for orientalists (who may disagree with me in general) to let the physicists to use false arguments from the domain of oriental studies—and not protest.

Albright found that in W. in C. there was no reason to given the king Toum the name Taoui, and that there was no reason to refer to fleeing slaves. The latter is in some way an eclecticism from Ipuwer, Exodus, etc. Taoui is the name of the residence mentioned in the text. As to Ages in Chaos, more detailed dealing with the naos of Ismailia, Albright finds that I wrote Hy-Taoui where it should have been Ity-Taoui. Yet the calligraphic transcript in Goyon, especially in the text (less clear in the footnote), p.   lets hardly any doubt that the calligrapher was uncertain (fn.) and in error (text), if Albright is right and it should have been Ity, what does it mean Ity-Taoui?

As to the names of the gods (“battles of king Toum in this locality”), I believe as before that the kings, blood and flesh, used the divine names, is not this usage still in evidence in names, theophoric, of later dynasties (like Sethi)? Could you supply me with evidence or argument for my understanding of the king-gods of the Naos? Are all the names in cartouches, or only the name of king Toum, and not Geb or Shu?

We agreed that I will write to Albright which I intend to do today (I can and will write again later), and he will answer me on the issue of Pi-ha-khiroth, and generally on the ‘ethical’ question. Should the answer be satisfactory, I shall be able to use it (in the meantime, I have a statement of M. Hadas on the issue in answer to a vice-president of Sloan foundation, who sent to Hadas a Bull. Atom. Sc.)

It will surprise and please you to know that Albright and I wound up as good and warm friends; he also repeatedly referred to my “brilliant mind” and once used the word “genius”—all of which coming from a man known as a “deprecator.” Also his wife enjoyed our meeting greatly.

Am. Beh. Sc. is going to reprint the article of Bul At. Sc. with parallel notes which I have composed at the request of Dr. DeGrazia. I may send a set to you for perusal.

As to the general pessimistic view that you took as to Ages II, let us first realize that vol. 2 (The Dark Ages), and vol. 4 (The Peoples of the Sea) are strong chapters, and I do not yet know of any difficulty confronting me (as to “to Sais, the king of Egypt”) would be in Hebrew “L’so, l’melech mitzraim,” even if So could stand for Sais. As the sentence is, it is a violation to translate as Albright did, since in Hebrew there is no second Lamed and Sais cannot be a king.

Albright did not know yet of Platon’s discovery. He told me that he would read my Peoples of the Sea (about 20-21 Dyn.) and wished I leave it already, but I chose to postpone, though I had a copy with me.

Now we have to do much progress before your work for the M.D.’s translations will make you busy. Anything that would increase my list of 600 year discrepancy, or ‘Dark Ages’ is welcome. The literature of the last two years may contain a number of such statements.

[5 lines of financial matters omitted — partly illegible]

Who knows, possibly the cylindrical seals from the palace of Cadmos in Thebes will offer some revelation from the true construction of history.

Cordially,

Im. Velikovsky

This moment I have a call from Dr. E. Ralph of C14 Lab in Phila. I asked her to write to Dr. Iskander and to obtain more samples from the tomb of TTA.

P.S. When I received finally some time ago a report of sales from Europa Verlag, the sales of “Ages” were very disappointing (in Switzerland something, in Jerusalem hardly one thousand copies) and the advance not yet covered by sales. Despite this, with my agreement, Doubleday gave them the rights for Oedipus.


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