Historicity of Exodus

November 3, 2011

Comparative Dates; Israel and Egypt Israel

Sojourn in Egypt, c. 1700-1300 BCE (Migrations in and out of Egypt during this period)

Oppression of the Hebrews

Exodus from Egypt c. 1280 (Moses) Conquest of Canaan, c. 1250 – 1200 BCE

Tribal Confederacy, c. 1200-1020 BCE (Struggle with Canaanites and Philistines)

Egypt

1710 BCE Hyksos domination of Egypt 1580 BCE 18th Dynasty, independence won by: Ahmose I 1310 BCE 19th Dynasty, building and strength, establishment of Delta capital Seti I BCE 1308-1290 Ramsaas II BCE 1290-1224

1200 BCE 20th Dynasty Ramsaas III 1175-1144 Defeat of sea peoples resulting in settlement of Philistines in Canaan

1065 BCE End of Egyptian Empire

The Hyksos Occupation of Egypt and Canaan

Asiatic people, named by Egyptians.

Dominated for century and a half.

Fled to Canaan in 1570 BCE when Ahmose I defeated them.

Egyptian officials often allowed bedouins from stricken areas to enter Egypt and live in the delta.

The Hyksos capital at Avaris was in the very area where the Israelites were reported to have lived.

The Age of Akhnatan (Amarna Age)

Amenhotep IV (1370-135); 9th king of 18th dynasty.

Religious Revolution – “Cult of the Sun God” (Aton).

Sun God was sole God.

Empire begins to crumble away.

Restoration of Order

Haramhab (general) purged Egypt of Aton heresy at close of 14th c BCE

“Any relationship between the supposed monotheism of Akhnaton and the fully developed monotheism of later Israel goes far beyond the evidence.– See Wilson, Burden, pp. 221ff

Egyptian records make no mention of the flight of any Semitic slaves to escape forced labor in the service of the pharaohs.

Exodus 12:37 says 600,000 fighting men went out of Egypt.– total population would be approx. 2.5 million

That population could not have been served by 2 midwives and could not have survived in the desert.

No evidence of battles at significant Egyptian forts located along the route described by the Bible.

No influence of Egyptian influence in the earliest settlements in Canaan.

The Egyptian Coloration of the Narrative

Accurate picture of the life of Asiatics in the Egyptian delta.

Process and quota of brick making. (2,000 bricks from 40 workmen.)

Ramsaas II known for exploiting the foreign population of the country.

Corvee system typical of Egypt.

Time off for religious worship typical.

10 plagues reflect Egyptian religion, reflect judgment and defeat of Egyptian Gods.

“mose” = “is born” in ancient Egyptian– Tutmose, Ramose

– Why would an Egyptian princess give her son a Hebrew name?

Phinehas = southerner or darkskinned one.

Aaron and Miriam

The Date

Exodus 1:11 Construction of Pithom and Ramsaas.

Two Pharaoh who built these cities were:– Seti 1308-1290– Ramsaas II 1290-1224

The Date

Archeological evidence of warlike destructions of several Canaanite cities in late 13th C. – Could relate to Joshua’s conquest.

The Date

Pharaoh Merneptah (1224-1216)

Merneptah Stele

The first actual mention of Israel in any Egyptian document is the stele of Merneptah (1224-1216 BCE).

Pharaoh Mernepta professes to have gained a decisive victory over “the people of Israel”.

The ‘Apiru

Papyrus Leiden 348 speaks of ‘apiru who were used for hauling stones.

They built part of the city of Ramsaas. Also in Akkadian and Ugaritic and Hittite

Is this word ‘ibri’ ? = Hebrew in Hebrew

The ‘Apiru

Cannot = Hebrew because there are too many of them over too broad a time period.

‘Apiru may refer to a class of refugees.

Hebrews

34 times in Bible; 20 refer to Exodus.

Does not refer to the language.– Hebrew midwives.– Pharoah’s daughter finds a Hebrew child.– Two Hebrew men fighting.

(Fictional) account of the birth of Sargon I of Agade (ca. 2371-2316)

(Sargon speaks) I am the child of a priest and an unknown pilgrim from the mountains. Today I rule an empire from the city of Agade.

Because my mother did not want anyone in the city of Asupiranu to know that she had given birth to a child, she left me on the bank of the Euphrates river in a basket woven from rushes and waterproofed with tar. The river carried my basket down to a canal, where Akki, the royal gardener, lifted me out of the water and reared me as his own. He trained me....With the help of Ishtar, divine patron of love and war, I became king of the black-headed people and have ruled for 55 years.

“this is not exactly the sort of story a people would be likely to make up about itself out of whole cloth – ‘we were a bunch of low-class construction workers and domestic slaves for our neighbors...’” Dr James Kugel, Harvard University, “How to Read the Bible.”