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Line 49: − − == Physical evidence of the Exodus == − A popular criticism of the exodus is that it is not explicitly mentioned in surviving Egyptian records, although this criticism is largely problematic. Firstly, the Egyptians never recorded their defeats, and secondly, virtually all papyri and records of ancient Egypt are no longer available and have been either lost or destroyed. Joshua Berman points out that "Ninety-nine percent of the papyri produced there during the period in question have been lost, and none whatsoever has survived from the eastern Nile delta, the region where the Torah claims the Hebrew slaves resided. Instead, we have to rely on monumental inscriptions, which, being mainly reports to the gods about royal achievements, are far from complete or reliable as historical records. They are more akin to modern-day résumés, and just as conspicuous for their failure to note setbacks of any kind."<ref>https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2015/03/was-there-an-exodus// Was There an Exodus?</ref> Surviving Egyptian records are primarily focused on either recording or mentioning the life of the pharaoh and his companions, or propaganda espoused to promote the Egyptian gods and goddesses. Line 82:
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adding archaeological evidence for the exodus
From the narrative recorded in [[Genesis]] 15:13-18 it appears that the plan of the [[Exodus]] may have been revealed to [[Abraham]] four generations before [[Moses]].In Genesis 15:13 the narrative records that Abraham's descendants will be a stranger in a land that is not their own. The descendants of Abraham will serve the strangers in that land, and these strangers whom Abraham's descendants serve will "afflict them" for 400 years.<ref>Genesis 15:13</ref> In Genesis 15:14, the narrative records that God will judge the nation holding the descendants of Abraham in [[affliction]], "your seed will leave that nation with material wealth".<ref>Genesis 15:14</ref> Genesis 15:15 records that Abraham will die at an old age, and be buried with his father; but after the 4th generation<ref>Genesis 15:16</ref> the things previously hinted at would occur. In Genesis 15:17 the narrative records that the sun went down, but that Abraham saw a smoking furnace and a burning lamp,picturing the "burning bush" of Moses, or the "burning cloud" which lead the Israelites in the Exodus.<ref>Genesis15:17</ref><ref>Exodus 33:7-11</ref><ref name="middletownbiblechurch.org">http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/oldtesta/ot02.pdf</ref> Finally, Genesis 15:18 records that the borders of the land that the descendants of Abraham will immigrate to after the period of affliction. The land borders are recorded as everything from the [[Nile]] river to the [[Euphrates]].<ref>Genesis 15:18</ref> It should be noted that this verse has been a hotbed, as anti-semitic and anti-Israel bigots note this as a claim to an [[Israel]]i push for living space in the Middle East.<ref name="middletownbiblechurch.org"/>
From the narrative recorded in [[Genesis]] 15:13-18 it appears that the plan of the [[Exodus]] may have been revealed to [[Abraham]] four generations before [[Moses]].In Genesis 15:13 the narrative records that Abraham's descendants will be a stranger in a land that is not their own. The descendants of Abraham will serve the strangers in that land, and these strangers whom Abraham's descendants serve will "afflict them" for 400 years.<ref>Genesis 15:13</ref> In Genesis 15:14, the narrative records that God will judge the nation holding the descendants of Abraham in [[affliction]], "your seed will leave that nation with material wealth".<ref>Genesis 15:14</ref> Genesis 15:15 records that Abraham will die at an old age, and be buried with his father; but after the 4th generation<ref>Genesis 15:16</ref> the things previously hinted at would occur. In Genesis 15:17 the narrative records that the sun went down, but that Abraham saw a smoking furnace and a burning lamp,picturing the "burning bush" of Moses, or the "burning cloud" which lead the Israelites in the Exodus.<ref>Genesis15:17</ref><ref>Exodus 33:7-11</ref><ref name="middletownbiblechurch.org">http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/oldtesta/ot02.pdf</ref> Finally, Genesis 15:18 records that the borders of the land that the descendants of Abraham will immigrate to after the period of affliction. The land borders are recorded as everything from the [[Nile]] river to the [[Euphrates]].<ref>Genesis 15:18</ref> It should be noted that this verse has been a hotbed, as anti-semitic and anti-Israel bigots note this as a claim to an [[Israel]]i push for living space in the Middle East.<ref name="middletownbiblechurch.org"/>
== Chronological Placement of the Exodus ==
== Chronological Placement of the Exodus ==
Secondly, Judges 11:26 says that the Israelite's entered the promised land 300 years earlier than the Israel's judge Jephthah. Jephthah is thought to have reigned about 1100 BC,<ref>Rowley, H. H. "The Exodus and the Settlement in Canaan." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 85 (1942): 27-31.</ref> which places the entering of the Israelite's into the promised land at about 1400 BC, and going back 40 years (as the Israelite's wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before entering into the promised land; Numbers 32:13, Joshua 5:6) Judges 11:26 reveals a date for the exodus about 1440 BC, which conforms to the specific dating of 1 Kings 6:1 of the exodus to 1446 BC. Thirdly, 1 Chronicles 6:33-37 lists about 18 generations from the generation of the exodus to the generation of the time of King David. Generations last usually about 25 years, and going back 18 sets of generations, each somewhere around 25 years, the exodus date goes somewhere within the 15th century BC. Bryant G. Wood concludes based on these various passages that the "date of the Biblical Exodus-Conquest is clear. 1 Kgs 6:1 and 1 Chr 6:33–37 converge on a date of 1446 BC for the exodus and the Jubilees data and Judges 11:26 independently converge on a date of 1406 BC for the beginning of the conquest."<ref>Wood, Bryant G. "The Biblical date for the exodus is 1446 BC: a response to James Hoffmeier." JOURNAL-EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 50.2 (2007): 249.</ref>
Secondly, Judges 11:26 says that the Israelite's entered the promised land 300 years earlier than the Israel's judge Jephthah. Jephthah is thought to have reigned about 1100 BC,<ref>Rowley, H. H. "The Exodus and the Settlement in Canaan." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 85 (1942): 27-31.</ref> which places the entering of the Israelite's into the promised land at about 1400 BC, and going back 40 years (as the Israelite's wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before entering into the promised land; Numbers 32:13, Joshua 5:6) Judges 11:26 reveals a date for the exodus about 1440 BC, which conforms to the specific dating of 1 Kings 6:1 of the exodus to 1446 BC. Thirdly, 1 Chronicles 6:33-37 lists about 18 generations from the generation of the exodus to the generation of the time of King David. Generations last usually about 25 years, and going back 18 sets of generations, each somewhere around 25 years, the exodus date goes somewhere within the 15th century BC. Bryant G. Wood concludes based on these various passages that the "date of the Biblical Exodus-Conquest is clear. 1 Kgs 6:1 and 1 Chr 6:33–37 converge on a date of 1446 BC for the exodus and the Jubilees data and Judges 11:26 independently converge on a date of 1406 BC for the beginning of the conquest."<ref>Wood, Bryant G. "The Biblical date for the exodus is 1446 BC: a response to James Hoffmeier." JOURNAL-EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 50.2 (2007): 249.</ref>
== Physical evidence of the Exodus ==
A popular criticism of the exodus is that it is not explicitly mentioned in surviving Egyptian records, although this criticism is largely problematic. Firstly, the Egyptians never recorded their defeats, and secondly, virtually all papyri and records of ancient Egypt are no longer available and have been either lost or destroyed. Joshua Berman points out that "Ninety-nine percent of the papyri produced there during the period in question have been lost, and none whatsoever has survived from the eastern Nile delta, the region where the Torah claims the Hebrew slaves resided. Instead, we have to rely on monumental inscriptions, which, being mainly reports to the gods about royal achievements, are far from complete or reliable as historical records. They are more akin to modern-day résumés, and just as conspicuous for their failure to note setbacks of any kind."<ref>https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2015/03/was-there-an-exodus// Was There an Exodus?</ref> Surviving Egyptian records are primarily focused on either recording or mentioning the life of the pharaoh and his companions, or propaganda espoused to promote the Egyptian gods and goddesses.
Manfred Bietak excavated the Egyptian city of Avaris, and in a geophysical investigations report on Avaris, Bietak noted "Another important matter is the stratigraphy, which shows the abandonment of the site of Tell el Daba/Ezbet Helmy after the reign of Amenhotep II and its reactivation in the late Eighteenth Dynasty."<ref>Bietak, Manfred. "Perunefer: the principal New Kingdom naval base." Egyptian Archaeology 34.2009 (2009): 1-3.</ref> Bietak's excavations reveal an entire abandonment of the Egyptian city of Avaris, a major Egyptian city at the time. Bietak put after the reign of Amenhotep II (during the reign of his successor, Thutmose IV). Scholarly investigation ended up revealing that the abandonment of Avaris actually took place under the reign of Amenhotep II, contrary to Bietak's initial thoughts.<ref>Petrovich, Douglas. "Toward Pinpointing the Timing of the Egyptian Abandonment of Avaris during the Middle of the 18th Dynasty." Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 5.2 (2013): 9-28.</ref> The previously discussed dating of the exodus reveals it to have taken place under the reign of Amenhotep II, and archaeological investigations have shown that the entire Egyptian city of Avaris (biblical city of Rameses) was abandoned during Amenhotep II's reign. This provides a serious parallel for the Israelite abandonment of Egypt under Moses in the reign of Amenhotep II.
Furthermore, after the reign of Amenhotep II, Egypt's military power was greatly diminished, and Egypt was no longer capable of conducting major military expenditures as in the reign of Amenhotep II's predecessor, Thutmose III. Douglas Petrovich states "Once the native Egyptians eradicated the foreign invaders who had dominated their landscape for a century, they quickly moved to rebuild the destroyed city and establish it as a storehouse, eventually to be utilized as a military garrison with weapon-making facilities. Peru-nefer/Avaris became the most vital cog in the unprecedented military campaigning under the reigns of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. Yet during the height of Egypt’s enterprise and glory, her naval base was abandoned mysteriously, and her imperialistic machinery ground to a halt. Egypt suddenly sought to make treaties rather than seize what she desired."<ref>Petrovich, Douglas. "Toward Pinpointing the Timing of the Egyptian Abandonment of Avaris during the Middle of the 18th Dynasty." Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 5.2 (2013): 9-28.</ref> This correlates with the biblical account of the exodus, where God destroys the army of pharaoh once the it is commanded to pursue and destroy the fleeing Israelite's (Exodus 14:26-28).
== The Exodus in Popular Culture ==
== The Exodus in Popular Culture ==