The Timeline

Before we review evidence for Moses and the Exodus, we have to determine when these events should have occurred.  This issue is one of significant debate and is important to determining if the Exodus actually happened.  Most secular historians claim the Exodus, if it occurred, would have been in the mid- to late-13^th century BC.  They base this view on the text of Exodus 1:11 which states that the Egyptians used the enslaved Israelites to build the city of Rameses before Moses led them out of bondage.  Since the city of Rameses was built in the 13^th century, the Exodus must have happened sometime after that.  Unfortunately, they also claim that there is little, if any, evidence of the Israelites in Egypt at that time and that does seem to be the case.

However, most conservative Christian scholars date the Exodus to the mid-15^th century.  They base this view on the text of 1 Kings 6:1 which states that King Solomon built the first Jewish temple 480 years after Israel came out of Egypt.  Since the temple was built circa 966 BC, the Exodus must have occurred in ~1,446 BC.  Once that date is assumed, there is considerable evidence for the Israelites in Egypt.

But how do we address the seeming contradiction between Exodus 1:11 and 1 Kings 6:1?  The general consensus among conservative scholars is that the name “Rameses” used in Exodus 1:11 is a later revision of the biblical text that updated the original city name that had since gone out of use.¹ There are several reasons this could be so.  First, it is not that unusual.  Even today, we see this occur.  For example, we talk about current events in Iran rather than in Persia.  Secondly, the Bible has multiple instances of this same editing, occurring with the cities of Dan, Bethel, Hebron, and Hormah.²  Specific to Rameses, we have further support for this editing from Genesis 47:11.  This text states that Jacob and his sons settled in the land of “Rameses,” hundreds of years before the Exodus.  This additional, even earlier use of Rameses supports the notion that the original name was updated to a more contemporary one for the readers’ benefit.  Finally, archaeological excavations of Rameses show that it was built on the remains of an earlier city.  This earlier one just happens to be Avaris,³ the Egyptian city with a significant Semitic population discussed in our previous article.

Further historical evidence for the early Exodus comes from the Merneptah Stele.  This stone artifact details military conquests of the 13^th century BC pharoah, Merneptah.  It mentions that in the fifth year of his reign (~1,219 BC) he plundered the land of Canaan and “Israel is laid waste and its seed is not.”⁴ Israel is also the only nation mentioned within the land of Canaan, implying it was the dominant power there.⁵  Given the dating of the Merneptah stele, an early, 13^th century Exodus is very unlikely.  The Israelites would not have had enough time to escape, wander the desert for forty years, become established as a known people, and conquer Canaan in only a few decades.

Israel’s Enslavement

In addition to the Papyrus Brooklyn discussed in the previous article, there is much other evidence for the eventual enslavement of Israel in Egypt.  Egyptian Pharaoh Ahmose I is known to have enslaved Semites and Asiatics (the Egyptian description of people from Canaan) in the 16^th century BC.⁶  Examinations of graves and remains in Avaris indicate the Asiatic population transitioned from prosperity to malnutrition and early deaths, consistent with their enslavement.⁷  There is also an increase in infant burials and a population shift toward females, supporting the biblical claim that pharaoh ordered the execution of male Israelite children.⁸  Also, during the 16^th-century BC, the slavery of Asiatics was so common that the Egyptian term for them was synonymous with slave.⁹  The walls of Pharaoh Thutmose III’s 15^th-century BC tomb shows a mural of Asiatic and Semitic slaves making bricks.¹⁰  And Egyptian records and documents describe a brick-making process completely in line with Exodus, including the use of straw and quotas.¹¹  In total, the archaeological evidence is, once again, very consistent with the biblical narrative.

Moses and the Exodus

Additional evidence for Moses and the Exodus is found in a group of Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions discovered at Serabit el-Khadim.  The writings reveal an archaic Canaanite script invented by Semites that were working in the Egyptian turquoise mines there.¹²  This simple fact refutes the charge from critics that Moses could not possibly have written the Pentateuch because there was no alphabetic script available for him to use at that time.  The Serabit el-Khadim writings date back to the 15^th century BC or earlier, proving the critics wrong once again!

The content of the inscriptions is also very interesting.  However, we must note that they are extremely old and worn, so translations are debated since different words can look similar (e.g. consider “see” vs. “sea”).  In the inscription known as Sinai 361, Dr. Douglas Petrovich from the University of Toronto, has translated one of the phrases as “Our bound servitude had lingered. Moses then provoked astonishment.”¹³  Sinai 357 even seems to contain a reference to the biblical “manna” that God provided the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings.¹⁴  If these translations are accurate, they represent a powerful confirmation of the Bible that dates to the same general time as the Exodus.

Other inscriptions, Sinai 349 and 353, seems to contain warnings against following Ba’alat, an ancient pagan goddess equated to the Egyptian deity, Hathor.¹⁵ Hathor was associated with sexuality and was often depicted as a cow with the sun between her horns.  This warning and imagery shed much light on the Exodus story of the Israelites falling back into paganism by worshipping a golden calf and engaging in national debauchery when they thought Moses had left them.  Their actions are consistent with the practices associated with following Hathor.

God’s Judgment via The Ten Plagues

Exodus describes how God punishes the Egyptian Pharoah and the entire nation with ten specific plagues until he agrees to free the Israelites from bondage.  Interestingly, the Ipuwer Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian document that may provide corroboration for these divine judgements.  There appear to be many similarities between Ipuwer and the Exodus plagues and they both describe the utter devastation of Egypt.  A comparison of some of the descriptions is below:

Exodus	Ipuwer Papyrus
“But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground” (Exodus 4:9, NIV) Moses, through God’s power, triumphs over Pharoah	“Behold, Egypt is fallen to pouring of water, and he who poured water on the ground has carried off the strong man in misery” (Section 7) “the king has been deposed by the rabble” (Section 7)
“I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood” (Exodus 7:18, NIV)	“Indeed, the river is blood, yet men drink of it” (Section 2) NOTE: This passage may be a reference to the Nile actually becoming blood or it may be a metaphorical reference to a line from several verses earlier that say dead bodies are being dumped in it.
“the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field” (Exodus 9:3, NIV)	“Indeed, all animals, their hearts weep; cattle moan because of the state of the land” (Section 5)
“festering boils broke out on men and animals” (Exodus 9:10, NIV)	“pestilence is throughout the land, blood is everywhere, death is not lacking” (Section 2)
“the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth” (Exodus 9:23, ESV)	“Behold, the fire has gone up on high, and its burning goes forth against the enemies of the land.” (Section 7)
“Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields both men and animals; it bat down everything growing in the fields…the flax and barley were destroyed” (Exodus 9:25, 31) “They (plague of locusts) devoured all that was left after the hail – everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt” (Exodus 10:15, NIV)	“there is no food” (Section 5) “Indeed, everywhere barley has perished and men are stripped of clothes, spice, and oil; everyone says: ‘There is none.’ The storehouse is empty and its keeper is stretched on the ground” (Section 6)
“At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharoah, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon” (Exodus 12:29, NIV)	“Indeed, the children of princes are dashed against walls, and the children of the neck are laid out on the high ground” (Section 5)
“The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:35-36, NIV)	“Indeed, gold and lapis lazuli, silver and turquoise, carnelian and amethyst, Ibhet-stone and [. . .] are strung on the necks of maidservants.” (Section 3) “Behold, the poor of the land have become rich.” (Section 8)

The copy of Ipuwer has been dated to the 13^th century BC¹⁶.  Most scholars estimate the original was written in the 16^th – 17^th centuries BC but this is not definitive.  There is nothing in the text that requires a specific date and some of the linguistics are similar to writings of the 14^th – 16^th centuries BC¹⁷, consistent with a 15^th century Exodus.

Who was the Pharoah of the Exodus?

In addition to everything we have already covered, there is even more historical evidence that confirms the biblical account of Moses and Pharoah.  If the conservative timeline is correct and the Exodus occurred in ~1,446 BC, the Pharoah at the time should have been Amenhotep II.  What does history tell us about his reign and is it consistent with the Bible?

The Bible tells us that Moses initially fled from Pharoah after killing an Egyptian and remained in the land of Midian for forty years until everyone that wanted him executed (which included the Pharoah) was dead.  He only returned once there was a new Pharoah.  Thutmose III is the only Pharoah during this period to have a reign of 40 years or more.  Thutmose’s son and successor happens to be Amenhotep II.¹⁸

Amenhotep’s reign is characterized by a steep decline in military campaigns versus earlier pharaohs,¹⁹ which is consistent with the biblical story of God destroying the Egyptian military in the Red (or Reed) Sea.  In addition, one of his few campaigns is recorded on the Elephantine Stele and it appears to be a large raid to capture slaves, occurring in approximately 1,444 BC, only two years after the Exodus.²⁰  This campaign is entirely consistent with a kingdom that needed some time to rebuild its military and to replenish its slave population.

Excavations in the Egyptian city of Tell El-Dab’a (which is the same site as the city as Rameses and formerly Avaris) reveal, in addition to all previous evidence, that the location was suddenly and mysteriously abandoned after the reign of Ahmenhotep II,²¹ consistent with an Exodus at that time. Archaeologist Bryant Wood is quoted as saying, “The excavations at Tell el-Dab’a have revealed the presence of an ‘Asiatic’ community who first settled as pastoralists, then grew in number as well-to-do entrepreneurs, became subservient to the Egyptians and finally left. This scenario exactly matches what we read in the Bible.²²”

Finally, it is worth noting that Amenhotep II’s successor was his son Thutmose IV.  However, Thutmose was not Amenhotep’s firstborn son.  Thutmose had an older brother, named after Amenhotep, who mysteriously disappeared or died!²³ This exactly mirrors Exodus 12:29 (“At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharoah…”).

Conclusion

The evidence for the biblical story of the Exodus is overwhelming.  Once we assume the correct, 15^th century BC timing, everything starts falling into place.  The critics only believe there is “no evidence” for Israelites in Egypt because they are looking at the wrong time period.  In fact, their argument actually reinforces the earlier date.  There is no evidence for Israelites in Egypt in the 13^th century because they had left 200 years earlier.

 

Notes:

1. Gorg, Manfred. Response to Professor Hoffeier’s Objections.  https://biblearchaeology.org/research/exodus-from-egypt/2954-the-biblical-date-for-the-exodus-is-1446-bc-a-response-to-james-hoffmeier
2. Ibid
3. Mahoney, Timothy and Law, Steve. Patters of Evidence – Exodus.  Thinking Man Media 2015.  117
4. Kennedy, Titus. Unearthing the Bible.  Harvest House Publishers 2020.  74-75.
5. Ibid, Pg. 75.
6. Ibid, Pg. 37.
7. Mahoney, Timothy and Law, Steve. Patters of Evidence – Exodus.  Thinking Man Media 2015.  156-157
8. Ibid, Pg. 159.
9. Kennedy, Titus. Unearthing the Bible.  Harvest House Publishers 2020.  51.
10. Ibid, Pgs. 50-51
11. Windle, Bryan. Top Ten Discoveries Related to Moses and the Exodus.    https://biblearchaeology.org/research/chronological-categories/exodus-era/4919-top-ten-discoveries-related-to-moses-and-the-exod
12. Ibid
13. Turpin, Simon. Evidence for the Mosaic Authorship of the Torah. Answers in Genesis.  10, 2021. https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/moses/evidence-mosaic-authorship-of-torah/
14. Bar-Ron, Michael S. The Exodus Inscriptions at Serabit El-Khadim.  Pg. 25  https://www.academia.edu/45153790/The_Exodus_Inscriptions_at_Serabit_el_Khadim_NOTE_In_light_of_new_evidence_my_aproach_to_Sinai_361_has_changed_A_new_draft_will_be_uploaded_in_June_2022_
15. Ibid, Pgs. 11-23.
16. Kennedy, Titus. Cit. Pg 50.
17. Ibid, Pg. 54
18. Ibid, Pg. 57
19. Ibid, Pg. 57
20. Ibid, Pg. 57
21. Windle, Bryant. Op. Cit.
22. Ibid
23. Kennedy, Titus. Cit. Pgs. 58-59