Historicity of Exodus November 3, 2011

Comparative Dates; Israel and Egypt  Israel  Sojourn in Egypt, c BCE (Migrations in and out of Egypt during this period)  Oppression of the Hebrews  Exodus from Egypt c (Moses) Conquest of Canaan, c – 1200 BCE  Tribal Confederacy, c BCE (Struggle with Canaanites and Philistines)  Egypt  1710 BCE Hyksos domination of Egypt  1580 BCE 18 th Dynasty, independence won by: Ahmose I  1310 BCE 19 th Dynasty, building and strength, establishment of Delta capital  Seti IBCE  Ramsaas IIBCE  1200 BCE 20 th Dynasty  Ramsaas III  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 ( ); 9 th king of 18 th 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 14 th 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 –Ramsaas II

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

The Date  Pharaoh Merneptah ( )

Merneptah Stele  The first actual mention of Israel in any Egyptian document is the stele of Merneptah ( 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 )  (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.”