Why is there no evidence for the exodus?

Question

In ancient Egyptian records?

Answer 1

a - because nearly all of the Egyptian records from that time period that probably existed have not been preserved



b - because nearly all of the Egyptian records that *do* remain and are known are records inscribed upon monuments to rulers and officials.. Normally, one does not memorialize a political official with records of events such as, "Under the reign of this ruler of Egypt, mighty son of the gods, tens of thousands of indentured laborers escaped after Egypt consecutively suffered the ten worst plagues in its history". If you examine the records from that time period that exist, they are almost exclusively (I am tempted to omit "almost") records of **achievements**. Less often you will find records claiming no obvious achievement - mere neutral record of crop yields and the like (though I'm pretty sure you won't find anything like that dated as early as the time of the Exodus).



I challenge you to find a *single* Egyptian record from the period of the supposed Exodus that records a failure or mistake or military loss from the point of view of the Egyptian people!



- Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com/

Answer 2

In the 3rd century BCE the Egyptian historian Manetho wrote that ancient records indicated a rebel priest named Osarseph led a group of lepers that the Pharaoh Amenhotep had expelled from Egypt, and Osarseph's name was later changed to Moses. In the first century CE the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote a work called "Against Apion" in which he discussed Manetho's account of Osarseph being Moses. The Roman historian Tacitus also wrote about the lepers being expelled by the Pharaoh as being the biblical exodus.

Answer 3

The ancient Egyptians, as well as other peoples, have expunged many things from their records that they weren't particularly proud of. A loss of so many slaves wouldn't be something that they would want to go down in the records......



Some pharoahs tried to eliminate all references to some of their predecessors, for example.

The first female pharoah, Hatshepsut's successor tried to destroy all reference to her.

The pharoah Akhenaten (possibly Tutankhamun's father) changed the religion of Egypt to a monotheistic religion, the god Aten, and after his reign, all references to him were destroyed wherever they could be found.



But there were so many references to Hatshepsut and Akhenaten in Egypt, that they didn't succeed in destroying all evidence of these kings.



While I believe that the ancient Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt, and did leave, I don't believe that any god had anything to do with it.



There are some historical events, people and places in the Bible that did exist, but all of that ridiculous hocus-pocus relating to gods and miracles and exaggeration have distorted all of the events mentioned.

Answer 4

According to Egyptologists, Jewish scholars, archeologists, and anthropologists, the Exodus - as it is given - is a myth.



If the Exodus details are accurate, the contingent that walked 10 abreadth would have been over 200 miles long. Quite a few would have died of thirst before the line moved them up to the rare oasis. There should have been SOME pottery shards or petrified poop somewhere if that many died.



There IS evidence, however, that the Jews were in the land of Canaan at the time that the Exodus was supposed to have been happening.



Jewish scholars consider the Exodus a myth.

Answer 5

The evidence is there, particularly when Egyptologists are agreed that the Israelite sojourn in Egypt and exodus from it would be the middle Bronze Age. An archaeologist called David Rohl has written extensively on the evidence in Egyptian artifacts that prove the Habiru (Hebrews) were indeed forced into hard labour in Egypt after a series of weak 13th dynasty pharaohs followed Amenemhat III (who was the pharaoh living at the time of Joseph.)



Rohl has discovered Joseph's palace at Avaris in the part of the Nile delta known in the OT as Goshen. The Hebrews were at first welcome in Egypt and became very influential. Wealthy Semitic graves at the middle Bronze Age level have been found at Avaris. Joseph was entombed in a small pyramid in the grounds of his palace, with a chapel containing his colossal cult statue. This depicts an Asiatically pale fellow with reddish hair adorned with the multicoloured coat of a middle Bronze Age chieftain.



Then the Hebrews became despised and pressed into hard labour. Bronze Age documents have yielded up pharaonic slave lists with Hebrew names, and the tinpot grave goods of an underclass were found at Avaris. Independent dating of Rohl's bold chronology vindicate his dating of Joseph's pharaoh, Amenemhat III at 1678 BC give or take 4 years. The result was 37 out of 39 lunar month-length matches, whereas orthodox chronology scored no better than 21 matches.



The astronomer Dr David Lappin, of Glasgow university, concluded, "Most of the astronomical data... simply do not fit with the orthodox chornology, while the support it gives to David Rohl's new chronology is nothing less than startling." Rohl also found water heights chipped into cliff faces just south of the Nile's second cataract that account for four massive Nile floods that would have made seed-sowing impossible for several years, and famine inevitable. Joseph's God told him of this coming famine, giving him the interpretation to pharaoh's dream, and Joseph was put in charge of preparing for, and surviving the famine, which also lead to Joseph's family moving down to Egypt - the start of the Habiru population in Egypt.



So although the Egyptian records don't relate the historic event of the 10 plagues and the exodus of the despised Habiru, Egyptian records do, indeed, point to the truth of the biblical account. The proud Egyptians would never conceed, in writing, that their gods were humiliated by each of the 10 plagues, and their forced labour work-force left with great wealth! Rohl places the Moses account during Ramesses II rule, with Moses then having to deal with a new pharaoh, Merenptah, at the time of the Exodus. There IS evidence, for those with eyes open to see it and the will to re-arrange chronology according to known facts!



EDIT - No, I didn't say the Egyptians never recorded anything catastrophic to their nation. No record of the Habiru exodus has yet been found; it might never have been recorded, especially as that pharaoh's army was drowned at God's hand, but it also might have been recorded and is awaiting discovery. Please don't try to put words into my mouth.

Answer 6

There is evidence of the Exodus. It is recorded many times in different books of the Old Testament and also the New Testament. Steven, when he is stoned to death and Paul was holding peoples coats, gave a complete history of the Exodus as well as other things. Jesus mentioned Moses getting the Law from God on top of Mount Sinai, which was the last part of the Exodus. I also remember a picture of a carved picture on a rock in Egypt that shows the Israelites being Marched to Egypt as prisoners.



If you don't accept anything as genuine you will never be able to see that the Bible is truthful no matter how much evidence of that there is. I have had many personal I have had many Spiritual experiences that prove that God is real and that the Bible is true.

Answer 7

This belongs in the same category as "no evidence that Nazareth existed in the first century".



In case you don't know, archaeological remains of first century Nazareth have now been found. Irrespective of whther or not the Exodus happened exactly as described, this kind of argument hasn't got a very good track record from the point of view of atheists.

Answer 8

Because it is a fictional story from a book of cult fiction



Or maybe satan hid the evidence lol

Answer 9

plenty of evidences are there