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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.

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.

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" (Deuteronomy 7:7), 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" (Exodus 23:29-30). According to the Book of Exodus, the Israelite's were so few that God could not immediately give them the entire promised land, as the population of the Israelite's were few and could not immediately inhabit the entire land, so God gave the land to the Israelite's in small portions at a time while they increased in their numbers, implying a small population of Israelite's. 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 ===

=== Evidence ===