Chronology Issues:
- It is commonly assumed in scholarly circles in archaeology and Egyptology that there is no significant evidence of Israel's sojourn in Egypt, at least nothing of the scope of what is described in Genesis and Exodus.
- Part of this assumption, however, is based on a particular model of ancient chronology, and that model is disputed. Most secular scholars believe that biblical texts place the exodus events in the 13th century BC, based on place-names like "Rameses." However, the traditional Christian position has usually pointed toward the 15th century BC instead, based on the overall balance of what the biblical texts indicate (and explain the late place-names as being updated by biblical redactors for later readers).
- Currently, there are three models of understanding the relation between biblical and Egyptian chronologies relating to the exodus events: (1) situating them in the 13th century--the most common scholarly position, which offers almost no archaeological evidence of exodus events; (2) situating them in the 15th century, which appears to offer at least some evidence pointing to the plausibility of the exodus; and (3) a recently-proposed revisionist position, which notes that there is widespread and significant historical evidence that points toward exodus events in what is considered the 17th century on the traditional timescale (usually judged far too early to be the biblical event)--but these scholars believe the timescale itself is incorrect, and when adjusted to a proper form, those events would fall in the 15th century, just as the Bible suggests.
- Thus, the resistance among secular scholars against suggesting that archaeology confirms the biblical record is due mostly to the chronological model they are using; whereas a study including other possible models reveals a great deal of potential evidence.
Potential Evidence:
- There is conclusive evidence that Semitic populations (like Israelites) settled in the northeastern Nile delta (the Goshen region).
- In the city of Avaris, this Semitic group started as a small community (70-100 people), then grew in subsequent centuries to be one of the largest settlements anywhere in the ancient world, eventually with multiple towns across the region--exactly the picture of Israelite settlement suggested by the biblical story.
- The archaeological evidence in Avaris, the chief Semitic city, shows that one such Semite became a vizier of Egypt, with the remains of his Palestine-style house being converted to an Egyptian palace, complete with twelve tombs, one of which appears to show the vizier arrayed in Joseph-like clothes.
- There is evidence that the prosperity of these early Semitic settlements was drastically curtailed at some point, and the Semites became one of the lowest classes in Egypt.
- These Semitic populations are described as Apiru (linguistically associated with "Hebrew") in Egyptian texts.
- A list of household slaves from the period shows them to be mostly Semitic, and a few of the names are recognizably Israelite.
- This Semitic population suddenly vanishes from the archaeological record in Egypt, as if they all got up and left the country together.
- An Egyptian text (conventionally dated to the 17th century, but possibly falling in the 15th if the revised chronology is accepted) relates terrifying events that sound directly reminiscent of the plagues in Exodus.
- Place names and customs relayed in the biblical text reflect authentic Egyptian second-millennium BC experiences (i.e., they couldn't have been made up by Israelite scribes trying to create a national legend in the first millennium BC).
- Further, the story itself carries none of the normal hallmarks of a legendary founding epic, being striking for its humility and self-abasement.