The Thera Judgment

The Thera Judgment is a tale of events surrounding the second-largest volcanic eruption in recorded history, that of Thera (also known as Santorini) in the 17th century BCE. The book’s prologue describes the discovery by a team of archaeologists of records in Turkey and Egypt that describe this cataclysmic event. Beyond mentioning names strikingly similar despite being from different cultures, the find in Turkey includes tablets inscribed in Linear A – the writing of the early Minoan civilization the narrator had recently succeeded in translating. Luck and timing contribute to a group of archaeologists piecing together the Thera narrative and its affect on three separate cultures (Minoan, Hittite and Egyptian).



Tentative economic links between the Hittite Empire, the Minoan Empire and the truncated Egyptian nation develop into a daring alliance to rid Egypt of their Hyksos conquerors. Meanwhile, a gifted young artist loses her love to the growing volcano, but finds an unlikely suitor from another culture. The Thera eruption provides an exciting climax that yields new romances and political outlooks amid the Bronze Age rubble.