Proof The Exodus From Egypt Occurred

PROOF THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT OCCURRED

I. EVIDENCE HEBREWS WERE SLAVES IN EGYPT

1. The Ibscha Relief from the tomb of Khnumhotep II shows Semitic traders (possibly the Hyksos) coming to Egypt some 4,000 years ago. [Pic - NebMaatRa, Wikimedia Commons]. A papyrus mentions a wealthy Egyptian lord whose 77 slaves included 48 of Semitic origin.

2. By the late Middle Kingdom era, around 3700 years ago, Canaanites had actually achieved absolute power, in the form of a line of Canaanite pharaohs ruling the Lower Kingdom, coexisting with the Egyptian-ruled Upper Kingdom. (These Canaanite pharaohs included the mysterious "Yaqub" (Jacob), whose existence is attested by 27 scarabs found in Egypt, Canaan and Nubia and a famous one found at Shikmona, by Haifa.) The Jews may have been allowed to have their own leaders/”Pharaoh’s” who ruled over Goshen for the first century after Joseph. Joseph probably would have named his father Jacob the first leader over his family.

3. The mysterious group called Hyksos settled in Egypt some time before 1650 B.C. They ruled the Lower Kingdom from the city of Avaris (later called Rameses, Gen. 47:11,27; Ex. 1:11; 12:37,40). Under the Hyksos' wing, the Canaanite population in the delta grew much larger, as shown by findings in ancient Avaris (Tell el-Dab'a). The Canaanite presence is attested by pottery that was in form and chemically derived from Palestine (Bietak 1996: 10). The dominant religious burial practices in Avaris at the time were also Canaanite. The Roman-era Jewish historian Josephus identifies the Hyksos with the Israelites (Apion 1.82-83, 91). He cites the 3rd-century B.C. Egyptian scribe and priest Manetho from Sebennytus, who wrote that after their expulsion, the Hyksos wandered in the desert before establishing Jerusalem.

4. According to the scribe Manetho (Aegyptiaca or History of Egypt), the founder of monotheism was Osarisph, who later adopted the name Moses, and led his followers out of Egypt in Akhenaten's reign. Akhenaten was the heretic Pharaoh who abolished polytheism and replaced it with monotheism, worshiping only the sun disc, Aten. Akhenaten’s older brother Thutmose, who should have been the next Pharaoh, died mysteriously, possibly in the ‘death of the firstborn!’

5. RECORD OF SLAVES MAKING BRICKS.

a. A leather scroll dating to the time of Ramesses II (1303 BC-1213 BC) describes a close account of brick-making apparently by enslaved prisoners of the wars in Canaan and Syria, which sounds very much like the biblical account. The scroll describes 40 taskmasters, each with a daily target of 2,000 bricks (see Exodus 5:6).

b. The tomb of vizier Rekhimire, ca. 1450 B.C., shows foreign slaves “making bricks for the workshop-storeplace of the Temple of Amun at Karnak in Thebes” and for a building ramp. [Wikimedia Commons].

c. Other Egyptian papyruses (Anastasi III & IV) discuss using straws in mud bricks, as mentioned in Exodus 5:7.

d. The Egyptian papyrus Bologna 1094, tells how two workers fled their taskmaster “because he beat them”.

6. MENTION OF YAHWEH. The papyrus Anastasi VI from around 3200 years ago describes how the Egyptian authorities allowed a group of Semitic nomads from Edom who worshiped Yahweh to pass the border-fortress in the region of Tjeku (Wadi Tumilat) and proceed with their livestock to the lakes of Pithom.

7. EVIDENCE OF THE 10 PLAGUES

A papyrus dating to the 13th century B.C. (although original is believed to be much older), called the "Admonitions of Impuwer or the Lord of All"). It portrays a devastated Egypt haunted by plagues, droughts, violent uprisings – culminating in the escape of slaves with Egypt's wealth.

8. ERASURE OF PREVIOUS RECORDS

It was not the practice of the pharaohs to advertise their failures on temple walls for all to see. When Thutmose III came to power, he tried to obliterate the memory of his predecessor, Hatshepsut. She was the princess who pulled Moses from the Nile. Her inscriptions were erased, her obelisks surrounded by a wall, and her monuments were forgotten. Her name does not appear in later annals. https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.713849

II. EVIDENCE OF THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT

A. THE CROSSING. Over the years, many divers searched the Gulf of Suez in vain for artifacts to verify the Biblical account. But archaeologists began suspecting the crossing was at the right arm of the Red Sea, called the Gulf of Aqaba. The Nuweiba beach, large enough to hold the Israelite nation, became the focus of Ron Wyatt. Divers searching the underwater expanse between Nuweiba and Saudi Arabia found chariot wheels encrusted with coral, chariot bodies as well as human and horse bones. The wreckage continues to the Saudi coastline opposite Nuweiba. [See documentary, “The Exodus Revealed.”] The crossing here is at most 800 ft. deep, whereas much of the rest of Aqaba is up to 5,000 feet!

B. MOUNT SINAI. St. Paul said that Mt. Sinai/Horeb was in Arabia, not the Sinai peninsula, Gal. 4:24-25. Moses fled Pharaoh to Midian (Ex. 2:15), not to the Sinai peninsula, which was part of Egypt. The peak of Mount Sinai has been identified as Jabal Maqla (“Burnt Mountain.”) It’s 7,631 feet high and its whole peak has been blackened by fire. Nearby is an ancient large altar, a gigantic split rock, and calf pictograms cut in rock. This is undoubtedly the correct location.