About the Exodus

[MarkFL]

Hello all,

As most of you are likely aware, the archaeological evidence for the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt as described in the Bible reportedly isn't there (neither in the wilderness, nor in Egyptian records), and I was curious what you all make of this.

I want to make it clear that I am not making any claim one way or the other, as I simply don't know enough about it to do so. I am sincerely interested in what Christians think about it.

 

[psalms 91]

Hello all,

As most of you are likely aware, the archaeological evidence for the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt as described in the Bible reportedly isn't there (neither in the wilderness, nor in Egyptian records), and I was curious what you all make of this.

I want to make it clear that I am not making any claim one way or the other, as I simply don't know enough about it to do so. I am sincerely interested in what Christians think about it.

If I remember right didnt they a couple years back discover a lot of pieces of chariots and other things under an area where the parting of the sea may have happened?

 

[Lamb]

If I remember right didnt they a couple years back discover a lot of pieces of chariots and other things under an area where the parting of the sea may have happened?

Unfortunately Snopes declares that to be false.

I tend to think of things in this way...there are animals throughout the world that people have claimed to have seen but proof wasn't provided at first so those animals were just legends and myths. It took a long time for proof to actually be discovered and those people were no longer laughed at.

 

[Josiah]

Hello all,

As most of you are likely aware, the archaeological evidence for the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt as described in the Bible reportedly isn't there (neither in the wilderness, nor in Egyptian records), and I was curious what you all make of this.

I want to make it clear that I am not making any claim one way or the other, as I simply don't know enough about it to do so. I am sincerely interested in what Christians think about it.

Frankly, I don't see why it matters. And I'm not sure your claim is entirely accurate.... not that I'm an expert in such things (my doctorate is not in ancient Egyptian history or biblical archaeology), but I've seen nonprofessonal TV shows (NOVA sort of things, History Channel stuff) that suggested such may be the case, some at least possible mention of Hebrews, etc.

Now, I think you'd have a point if science proved it did not happen. But I don't think that's the case.



Thank you.


Pax


- Josiah

 

[MarkFL]

I want to stress that I am not making a claim, other than what has been reported has in fact been reported. I make no claims regarding the validity of the findings, even though the more I look into it the more support I find for it.

It matters a great deal to me though...even though I am an atheist, I had always assumed that the exodus happened, and if it turns out that it didn't, then I want to know because I am interested in the truth.

 

[Brighten04]

Just my two mites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnMwW-GAKvA

 

[Lamb]

Bumping this up because I came across an article from the Biblical Archaeology Society:

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/exodus/exodus-fact-or-fiction/
The article “Exodus Evidence: An Egyptologist Looks at Biblical History” from the May/June 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review1 wrestles with both of these questions—“Did the Exodus happen?” and “When did the Exodus happen?”

The article examines Egyptian texts, artifacts and archaeological sites, which demonstrate that the Bible recounts accurate memories from the 13th century B.C.E. For instance, the names of three places that appear in the Biblical account of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt correspond to Egyptian place names from the Ramesside Period (13th–11th centuries B.C.E.). The Bible recounts that, as slaves, the Israelites were forced to build the store-cities of Pithom and Ramses.

A third piece of evidence for the Exodus is the Onomasticon Amenope. The Onomasticon Amenope is a list of categorized words from Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period. Written in hieratic, the papyrus includes the Semitic place name b-r-k.t, which refers to the Lakes of Pithom. Even in Egyptian sources, the Semitic name for the Lakes of Pithom was used instead of the original Egyptian name. It is likely that a Semitic-speaking population lived in the region long enough that their name eventually supplanted the original.

 

[JRT]

The logistics problems entailed by an Exodus, as biblically described, are so formidable as to render it impossible. The bible suggests that 3 to 3.5 million people were involved. This would require 1500 tons of food daily and that would require two, mile long, freight trains daily. Who grew this food and where was it grown? That food needs to be cooked and that would require 4000 tons of wood daily to be carried by about six more mile long freight trains daily. Oh my, what about water? A conservative estimate is that 11,000,000 gallons were needed daily. To carry all this a train of tank cars 18 miles long would be required daily. The nightly camp would have to be roughly 750 square miles. Can you just imagine distributing all that food, wood and water in such a camp? For these reasons I believe that the bible account is mythological in nature. If there actually was an Exodus it must have been very much smaller --- perhaps a few hundred to a few tthousand of people. It also could have consisted of a number of these smaller migrations over several generations.

 

[psalms 91]

The logistics problems entailed by an Exodus, as biblically described, are so formidable as to render it impossible. The bible suggests that 3 to 3.5 million people were involved. This would require 1500 tons of food daily and that would require two, mile long, freight trains daily. Who grew this food and where was it grown? That food needs to be cooked and that would require 4000 tons of wood daily to be carried by about six more mile long freight trains daily. Oh my, what about water? A conservative estimate is that 11,000,000 gallons were needed daily. To carry all this a train of tank cars 18 miles long would be required daily. The nightly camp would have to be roughly 750 square miles. Can you just imagine distributing all that food, wood and water in such a camp? For these reasons I believe that the bible account is mythological in nature. If there actually was an Exodus it must have been very much smaller --- perhaps a few hundred to a few tthousand of people. It also could have consisted of a number of these smaller migrations over several generations.

You discount God in all this, and I accept it as is

 

[Cassia]

You discount God in all this, and I accept it as is

God and manna