Question:
Aside from the bible, what is the evidence for the story of Exodus?
Ruel The Midianite
2008-05-20 14:51:42 UTC
The Egyptian and Syrian Empires kept historical records during that period. Do any refer to the events in Exodus? What about the wars described in the Bible? Is there any archeological evidence?
Seventeen answers:
2008-05-20 19:16:11 UTC
I will mainly avoid the Exodus question except for the following clarifications (to help avoid previously stated misconceptions)



1) There *is* some supporting circumstantial evidence (such as chariot wheels in the Red Sea), but no *firm* (non-circumstantial) supporting evidence.



2) Egyptian records from the time of the Exodus are largely *lacking*, quite the opposite of *complete*, and it was the *general practice* of Pharaohs *not* to record defeats or losses of the type described in Exodus even during periods for which records are more complete. There is firm historic evidence of ancient Egyptian records "covering up" or propagandizing resounding military defeats.





Syrian empire - if you are referring to the Assyrian empire, they would not have kept record of events internal to the Egyptian empire, nor records of the movements of nomads of whom they were almost certainly unaware. The Assyrians did not control Canaan during the reign of the early Middle Assyrian Empire, which is the period in which the Israelites are supposed to have conquered Canaan (roughly 1400 B.C.E. or earlier)





Wars - there is loads of evidence of the wars which occurred from the time of King David onward, and additionally considerable evidence of a conquest of Jericho (and several other Canaanite cities) at approximately the time of the Hebrew occupation of Canaan. There is little other evidence of the Hebrew wars preceding the time of King David. Certainly, there is nothing that could be considered *conclusive* evidence of the wars recorded prior to the time of King David.



Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/bibles/
Hermetic Pilgrim
2008-05-20 15:14:41 UTC
I am unsure what is documented in other cultures, but I can say 100% honestly and categorically that there is not a single shred of documented evidence from Egypt that the Exodus took place. Bearing in mind that the Egyptians were a meticulous people, such a huge social change would have been documented in some form.



But there is nothing, in fact the only thing that even comes close in Egyptian history is the unrelated Hyksos invasion (1648 BC). Furthermore, there is not a single shred of evidence in Egypt that a person called "Moses" existed.



Any academic text on the subject would concur. If any answers state otherwise, demand factual and historical evidence and if that checks out do let me know. In regards to such the following books are excellent resources on the matter:



Christian Mythology by George Every

Testament: Bible and History by John Romer

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt by Ian Shaw

Egypt Under the Pharaohs by Heinrich Brugsch-Bey

Lives of the Pharaohs by Pierre Montet

Ancient Egypt by Maurice Maeterlinck

The Priests of Ancient Egypt by Serge Sauneron
Cher and Cher alike
2008-05-20 15:05:39 UTC
The history channel did a detailed special on just this question. I'm sure the name is on their website. Some caution - the director was a little overzealous at linking things. However, there was plenty of interest, even with out the overzealousness.



The one that struck me, was an actual scientific explanation for how the first born could have been killed. People have died in around areas where natural gasses were admitted from the ground before. In Egyptian society, the first born sleep higher up - where the gas wouldn't have reached and slaves slept further away. That was just one interesting piece.



The people involved, and the critics would be the archeologists with expertise to know the rest of your question.



It is curious that tons of archeological info have been found to verify all sorts of other parts of the Hebrew Bible, but not much for the Exodus story itself. Then again, it might be harder or more impractical to dig where needed for Exodus (say, if people live there now.)



---



On genetics by the first poster, of course Jews and Arabs have genetic links. They are both semites. Even the bible describes them as nations of half brothers (Ishmel and Issac). None of that creates any link to Cananites. The desire to make them Cannaite and "disprove" the bible is a political one to remove the Jewish connection to the region so that only Arabs are allowed.



To continue, You've made a leap from Phonecians to Cananites. They both lived in the general region at various times, but they weren't the same peoples or cultures. And Hebrews should share markers with Cananites...the "conqueroring" was over time and the two peoples did interact. There are some interesting finds from the times including an earthquake taking out parts of Jericho. And as I agree Jews and Arabs should share markers (so I don't know why you are going out of your way to reprove that point.). The lingistics is more complicated to say Hebrew is only a dialect of Phonecian, and as a way to denegrate Hebrews to "someone else's cullture". Again, stop with the political annilation through "science." It's hateful. Although thanks for proving the point that Jews were there.



BTW, I'm not one to think the bible happened literally. It's just stunning to find any evidence of these apparent old wives tales. When you can use the bible to locate something...



Dhibag - there's around 14 million Jews worldwide. That's exclusive of the 6 million killed in the Holocaust (Shoah).



Archeological evidence of the Temple has been found, matching the biblical descriptions. I saw it this spring, stones in place, mitkvas, underground plumbing... Again, proving the Temple didn't exist is a political desire as part of the war to detach Judaism from the region so that Israel as be forced ot be removed Israel. Gets silly sounding after a while.
2016-10-09 13:31:43 UTC
there's no archaeological evidence of the Biblical Exodus. in spite of the incontrovertible fact that, there have been 3 distinctive "mini-Exodus" activities that could have stepped forward into those thoughts (basically like how massive the fish is which you caught). the main fashionable one is the Hyksos expulsion that throughout contact basically approximately 3,000 human beings. those Amenists tutor some exciting tell-tale signs and indicators alongside with the monotheistic faith of Pharaoh Akhenaten, and direct parallels between the "Hymn to the Aten" and Psalms 104.
wefmeister
2008-05-20 15:03:22 UTC
The Jews have been celebrating the Passover now for over 3400 years.

How do you explain that?



By the way, have you noticed they have returned to the land, just exactly as Moses predicted, about 3400 years ago?



1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes [a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.



Deuteronomy 30:1-5
Vidocq
2008-05-20 15:06:04 UTC
There is evidence that Hebrews Worked the Pyramids. They leaved but there is no mention (Outside the book of Exodus) of how they leaved. It is believed That Ramses (The Pharaoh during that time) who had no previous dynasty and was said to fought alone against 100 enemies, Destroy the records of The Exodus to hide his Shame (Since during those times Spoke against a Pharaoh meant death, people just went along with it).
2008-05-20 15:01:39 UTC
In the book "Ten More Amazing Discoveries" by George Potter, the author shares his discoveries concerning Mount Sinai and the trail of the exodus. Geographic details match perfectly with the written record.
Distant Love
2008-05-20 17:10:31 UTC
yea but its all hidden and really this is a very complex topic for you to address I believe...see the uniqueness of Israel is the worlds best kept secret and is hidden under secret societies that most people may have heard of but DO NOT know what they actually study in secret. The relationship between God (who is called Yahweh by those that are enlightened) and Israel and we have always had a close and intimate family setting with the creator and not something via hearsay by someone telling that God is a spirit or lives in the clouds...unlike the relationship between Yahweh and those that are not Israel. It wasn't a close relationship like that so when the europeans went over to the middle east they destroyed not only the most impressive building ever built (the temple of Yahweh and the house of Solomon) but also all the treasure cities, stores and libraries that were more extensive than anyone has ever seen, there have been many many discoveries from the time of exodus even from the time of Nimrod locked up in Saddams vault also, to the temple, the ark of the covenant, to the dispora of my people (Israel) into africa and Asia in 70 A.D. there is also recorded evidence that God himself always came to see the children of Israel all the time in the flesh (not Jesus either) and came to live with Israel....Anything from coins, to brazens of gold, bowls and everything else that you could imagine. I have a few articles of discoveries that you could check out from ancient writings, and other sorts of stuff, but to really get the full reality of Israel and all its true glory would be hard for you unless you studied the true name of God and that would take time.....Alot of the popes even have the name of God (Yahweh) written on their tombs, you also have the black madona in russia, several buildings through out europe in Germany, France, Spain, England that also have tons of solid evidence as well. You also have alot of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that also contain written evidence that the children of Israel were there for over 300 years and even ruled the country for 80 years. But you would have to first understand the knowledge of the name in order to really understand what it is that you are looking for cause thats the basis of all "TRUE" Israel and not the little country that people think is Israel, thats not true Israel and has only been a state established by europeans since 1948....you have to be on the inside to really understand it, not someone who thinks they know cause thats not always the truth esp coming from someone you may think is a jew but is not, real Hebrews come from one of the 12 tribes of Israel and in fact haven't been in Israel for almost 2,000 years....
Diane H
2008-05-20 15:26:51 UTC
There has been a lot of speculation on the route of the Exodus and why the traditional site hasn't yielded any archaeological evidence. After all, if two million people wander in a desert for forty years, you'd think that at least something would be found to support it. But, nothing at all has been unearthed in the Sinai Peninsula supporting the biblical account of the Exodus. Various explanations for this range from the idea that it is naturally difficult to find any archeological evidence in a desert of sand to the explanation that the traditional site is the wrong one.



First of all, no archaeological find has ever contradicted the Bible. Archaeology has only confirmed what the Bible says. As has been the case with so many other things in the Bible, as archaeology progresses, they will most certainly uncover evidence in the future. The Bible has yet to be proven wrong by archaeology.



Second, lack of evidence doesn't mean there wasn't an Exodus. However, this is a slippery slope since having a lack of evidence for an ice cream factory on Jupiter doesn't mean that there is one. What we need is evidence and it is fair to say that there should be some evidence for the wanderings of two million people for forty years in a desert.



Third, it may be that the traditional site of Mt. Sinai is incorrect. Gal. Gal. 4:25 says "Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children." Present theories dealing with Mt. Sinai's location have it in the Sinai Peninsula, yet the Bible says it was in Arabia. The problem is that there has been absolutely no archaeological evidence unearthed at that site to verify the Exodus. However, Gal. 4:25 suggests Mt. Sinai be in Arabia, which is now Saudi Arabia, instead of the traditionally accepted Sinai peninsula.



In a recent book titled "In search of the Mountain of God," by Bob Cornuke and David Halbrook (Broadman and Holman, 2000), Bob Cornuke (a Christian) recounts his story of going into Saudi Arabia with his friend Larry Williams (a non-Christian commodities trader). They uncovered evidence of an alternate site where the real Mt. Sinai might be. Bob Cornuke was a police officer, swat team member, and crime scene investigator in Southern California and is the President of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (BASE) Institute BaseInstitute.org. He and Mr. Williams have produced a video and book (available on that site) where they claim to have found evidence in Saudi Arabia to support that Mt. Sinai is located within its borders. Now, I must admit that this has not been verified by any "official" archaeologists, but the video does raise some interesting possibilities.



Mr. Cornuke and Williams claim to have simply let the Bible guide them as they attempted to locate the actual route of the Jews of the Exodus. Through trial and error over several weeks, they followed what they believed was the route as is laid out by the Bible and they found the items described in Exodus 13 - 19 including, springs, a split rock, an altar, an underwater land bridge at the end of the Sinai Peninsula where the people of Israel could have crossed, and much more. The present location of Mt. Sinai, according to the locals in their account, is known as Jabal Al Laws as is traditionally known by them as the mount of Moses. The Saudis have the area fenced off with warning signs in Arabic and English telling people not to enter. If this is so, why would the Saudis not want anyone to know about the place? It might be because if Mt. Sinai is located in Muslim territory then one of the most holy places of the Jewish and Christian religions it could pose serious political problems.



I must admit that this is speculative at present and it has not been verified. But the video was compelling. Whether or not this is a valid option is yet to be determined and it is supportive of the idea that the traditional location of Exodus route might indeed be incorrect, as Gal. 4:25 seems to suggest.
worldneverchanges
2008-05-20 15:01:48 UTC
There is no evidence. Many of the stories of the Bible were orally passed down and got embellished along the way. The wars may have taken place but not the way the Bible states it. Myths were added to it.
2008-05-20 14:57:57 UTC
There are no ancient documents that mention the campaigns waged by the Israelites or their leaders or Kings, despite the fact the the Egyptians kept detailed records of all their battles.



There is absolutely no archaeological evidence that Moses and his hundreds of thousands of followers wandered the desert for 40 years. Not a single trace.



There is absolutely no archaeological evidence that the Israelites destroyed the Canaanite civilization. However, there is biological evidence that modern Jews and Palestinians are genetically related. They are all descendants of the Canaanites.



Puts quite a strange twist on the revisionist and fictitious history of the Bible, considering that God commanded the Isrealites to kill every living Caananite, every man, woman, and child, including livestock..."save none alive that breatheth." - Deuteronomy 20:16.



===============



wefmeister, the oldest archaeological record of Passover dates from 430 B.C. which ironically coincides perfectly with the release from Babylonian Captivity, the creation of the First Temple (not the second -- King Solomon's temple was imaginary and no evidence of it has ever been found) and the literary forgery of the Bible.



============



Cher, the J2 haplogroup, or Phoneican genetic marker is found not only in Jews, but also Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians. The Phoeneicians, were of course the so-called Caananites of the Bible. Naturally it should come as no surprise that the Isrealites and Caananites share genetic material, because they also shared language (Hebrew is nothing more than a dialect of Phoencian, and all the ealiest examples of written Hebrew are in Caananite script) and they shared Gods: El, Ba'al, and Yahweh.



edit: "You've made a leap from Phonecians to Cananites..." Uhmm... the Phonecians, Caananites, and Punics (or Carthaginians) were all one people. The Greeks called them Phoneicians. The Romans called them Punics. But they called themselves Caananites. Stop relying on the Bible as a history book.



I don't really see how this is related to anti-Semitism. The early history of the Catholic Church is fiction as well. Does that somehow make me anti-Roman?



And your "evidence" of Solomon's temple simply doesn't exist. Even leading Israeli archeologists such as Ze'ev Herzog, Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin, and Lily Singer-Avitz from Tel-Aviv university would agree --- and have you for lunch!!!! Shlomo Sand, a professor of history also from Tel-Aviv University, in his book 'Matai ve’ech humtza ha’am hayehudi?" (When and How Were the Jewish People Invented) argues that the Jews never existed as a "nation-race" that the Exodus and Diaspora were both myths.
2008-05-20 15:13:00 UTC
6 million Jews it is their History.

And yes there is historical facts. But whats the point , You need a sign to believe God . The only sign you will get is sudden destruction

The exodus in 1447 BC ,1407 went over Jordan river. Davids kingdom 1007 BC

Fall in Babylon 587 BC

Babylon falls to the medes and Persians 539 BC

Christ birth 7 BC when Saturn and Venus conjuctioned 3 times that year and will again in 2011ad when Christ come back

33 AD christs death

1948 ad the fig tree blooms again



2011 Christ returns and sudden destruction
No More Abuse
2008-05-20 14:58:51 UTC
Egyptian history
bassdoc
2008-05-20 14:59:30 UTC
As far as I understand there was archeological evidence of Jewish peoples working at the pyramids.

There were there, and then they weren't! Up to you to decide what happened to them.
2008-05-20 15:03:07 UTC
Come on man just because there's no archeologial evidence

doesen't mean it didn't happen. Satan hates the Jews do you really think he going to keep a record of how it happen as proof it happened? I dought it.







God loves you....God bless
2008-05-20 14:59:06 UTC
yes, or it would not have made it past that time period
Jake
2008-05-20 14:58:12 UTC
no course not...

fairytales


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