SkipCaptcha
1,101
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 73:
Line 73: − + + + + + + + + + + +
expanding exodus historicity considerably, dividing it into subtitles
== Historicity of the Exodus ==
== Historicity of the Exodus ==
There is [https://faithfulphilosophy.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/historical-evidence-for-the-exodus/ substantial historical evidence for the exodus],<ref>https://faithfulphilosophy.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/historical-evidence-for-the-exodus/</ref> which cannot be addressed in its entirety here. 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.
=== Scholarly Opinions ===
There is [https://faithfulphilosophy.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/historical-evidence-for-the-exodus/ substantial historical evidence for the exodus],<ref>https://faithfulphilosophy.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/historical-evidence-for-the-exodus/</ref> which cannot be addressed in its entirety here. An unofficial survey conducted by [[James Hoffmeir]]<ref>Hoffmeier, James K. "Egyptologists and the Israelite Exodus from Egypt." Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective. Springer International Publishing, 2015. 197-208.</ref> examined the views of twenty-five Egyptologists on the historicity of the exodus, where they were asked "Do you think the early Israelites lived in Egyptand that there was some sort of exodus?" Out of the twenty-five respondents, nineteen answered YES, whereas zero answered NO, and the other six simply expressed views from this being 'likely' to 'unlikely'. This revealed that the vast majority of Egyptologists accept the historicity of the exodus.
=== Criticisms ===
A popular criticism of the exodus is that the event is not explicitly mentioned in surviving Egyptian records. Aren Maier complains "For the literal understandings—those that profess that the story occurred, more or less as described in the biblical text—the archaeological and inscriptional evidence does not corroborate most of the story. Why do the Egyptian texts not mention this explicitly? Why do the Levantinetexts (when relevant, such as the el Amarnaletters) not relate to this—or show evidence of the aftermath of these supposed events?"<ref>Maeir, Aren M. "Exodus as a Mnemo-Narrative: An Archaeological Perspective." Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective. Springer International Publishing, 2015. 413.</ref> This criticism however, 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, his companions or militaristic battles, or propaganda espoused to promote the Egyptian gods and goddesses.
Secondly, some historians criticize that there are no archaeological remains of the actual Israelite exodus from Egypt. In the same paper, Maier goes on to say "The same goes for the archaeological remains— Where is the evidence of a large group (even if it was less than 600,000 men as suggested for example by Kitchen traversing the desert (and archaeologists can identify the camps of small groups of ephemeral prehistoric hunter-gatherers)?"<ref>Maeir, Aren M. "Exodus as a Mnemo-Narrative: An Archaeological Perspective." Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective. Springer International Publishing, 2015. 413-14.</ref> The typical translation of biblical text says that there were over 600,000 men who went out of Egypt in the exodus (Exodus 12:37; Numbers 1:46), although there is debate about these translations.<ref>Mendenhall, George E. "The Census Lists of Numbers 1 and 26." Journal of Biblical Literature (1958): 52-66.</ref><ref>Waite, Jerry. "The Census of Israelite Men after their Exodus from Egypt." Vetus Testamentum (2010): 487-491.</ref> The biblical text may reveal that the number of Israelite's was actually considerably smaller. For example, the Book of Deuteronomy says that the Israelite's were the "fewest of all peoples",<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Deuteronomy|chap=7|verse=7}}</ref> showing the biblical text implies there were much less than 600,000 men alone in the Israelite population. Secondly, the Book of Exodus says "I will not drive them out ahead of you in a single year; otherwise, the land would become desolate, and wild animals would multiply against you. I will drive them out little by little ahead of you until you have become numerous and take possession of the land."<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Exodus|chap=23|verses=29-30}}</ref> According to the Book of Exodus, the Israelite's were so few that God could not immediately yield to them the entire promised land, as there were not enough Israelite's to populate the entire region, so He was giving it to them little by little as they increased in numbers. Several scholars believe the biblical text conforms more closely to an exodus population of somewhere between 20,000-50,000,<ref>Humphreys, Colin J. "The number of people in the Exodus from Egypt: Decoding mathematically the very large numbers in Numbers i and xxvi." Vetus Testamentum 48 (1998): 196-213.</ref><ref>Driver, S. R. "An Additional Note to Two Recent Articles on the Number of People in the Exodus from Egypt and the Large Numbers in Numbers I and XXVI." Vetus Testamentum 51 (2001): 3.</ref> rather than 600,000 men alone. This smaller population gives much less reason for us to find remaining archaeological traces of the actual exodus, especially when considering the exodus migration was semi-nomadic, and archaeological traces of nomadic migrations are virtually never found. Thus, there exists no archaeological challenge for the exodus narrative.
=== Evidence ===
Manfred Bietak excavated the Egyptian city of Avaris/Tell el-Dab'a, 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 in which Bietak dated to 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 himself, contrary to Bietak's initial thoughts.<ref name="Petrovich, Douglas 2013">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.
Manfred Bietak excavated the Egyptian city of Avaris/Tell el-Dab'a, 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 in which Bietak dated to 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 himself, contrary to Bietak's initial thoughts.<ref name="Petrovich, Douglas 2013">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.