ExPounder
When it comes to finding ancient documents it's hard to find. In this article, we will look at the evidence for the book of Exodus. Studying Egypt and its history can be confusing and challenging at times. The Pharaoh, names, kings, queens, and the genealogy of people to how the powers ran the population in Egypt at being. One fact we should know about Egyptian Kings and Queens is that they never liked having weaknesses or failures shown to the public. So the best way they showed strength was to have scribes write down the success and greatness of each King and Queen that took power over Egypt. This means that the scribes didn't usually write down the failures of the Pharaohs. They were extremely biased when it came down to what they wrote down. Another way of saying this is that they wrote in order to serve the King. Taking all this into consideration, everything that's found outside of the scribes is rare and should be taken seriously.
I want to start with the fact that there were non-Egyptians in Egypt. In the Papyrus of the northeast region of Egypt there are 95 names documented and out of those 95 names are 45 Semitic names. 10 of the 45 Semitic names are Hebrew names. Some written names are 'Aqoba,' 'Ashera,' 'Ayuvung,' and 'Dawidi-huat.' These names come out as Jacob, Asher, Job, and David. It's already interesting that the names of Hebrews are mentioned in the Papyrus considering the very fact that there are those who say the Hebrews were made up, never existed, or never were in Egypt. This is important to know also when the Egyptians wrote. They tend not to refer to the groups of people in Egypt to their ethnic background. So why are we all worked up that you couldn't find the literal word "Hebrew" in the Papyrus?
A good place in history to look at when it comes to Ancient Egypt is in the lifetimes of these three individuals.
AMENEHAT III
King of Egypt
1818BC - 1770BC
SOBEKNEFERU
Queen who rules as King of Ancient Egypt
1760BC - 1756BC
NEFERHOTEP I
1751BC - 1740BC
When we look at the Old Testament writings we know that the Israelites were prophesied to be enslaved 400 years before it happened.
Genesis 15
1After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. 7 Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8 And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” 9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17 And it came to pass when the sun went down, and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants, I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Another way of knowing if the Israelites were in Egypt is the small details in scripture. We know that Exodus is not the words of a poem or just a story made up. In the Old Testament, people tend to skip over small details and descriptions that can help pinpoint dates and events. Maybe not on the point, but close. For example the story of Cain and Abel. Why did God favor Abels Offering more Than Cains? The majority will end up looking at Hebrews 11:4 which tells us that Abel offered it up with faith rather than just doing it because you were told to do it. Instead of going to Hebrews for the answer, the answer is still in Genesis.
Genesis 4:3-4
"3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,"
Just like looking at Genesis and skipping over small actions and details which result in confusion, we must look at Exodus in the same way to find and pinpoint dates, and events that took place. The first verse to look at is Exodus 5:7-8
Exodus 5:6-9
"6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”
With this verse, we can look at the times when they began using straw and mud to make bricks. We also know that there were stable masters that were responsible for producing about 2,000 bricks. This evidence comes from a scroll that's dated to have been written under the rule of Ramesses II in 1275 BC. When you then compare the writings of the Exodus to this scroll, we find that it writes about common things. The bricks had to be made of straw and mud because, without straw, the mud bricks fell apart or were far more fragile.
Other verses that mention details that are important to know and study are Exodus 1:13-24 where it reads "So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor." When we read this we now know that they worked in mortar, brick, and fields. When we look at the Egyptian Hydrographic on the walls of temples and houses we can see slaves working in all three of these fields of work.
We see Exodus 11:5 & Exodus 1:8 talk about what Christians call the Passover. The Passover is when the Pharaoh did not listen to Moses and Aaron when they told the Pharaoh to "let my people go" for the tenth time. As a result of the Pharaoh not listening, God released the tenth plague onto Egypt. The killing of the firstborn. This last plague finally got to Pharaoh, and he let the Israelites go. Exodus 11:5 reads "and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals."
Exodus tells us there was a way to protect your firstborn from what was to come. We see the instruction in Exodus 12:1-13.
Exodus 12:1-13
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[a] for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt."
Archeologists have found the bones of children and individuals of all ages under the houses of Egyptians and slave houses. These bones were not put in tombs or properly washed and wrapped in clothes; these bones were covered in a hurry to leave or because there were too many to give a proper burial and tomb. They were as if just tossed in. Two mass graves were built to put the dead. One in the South was a mix of genders and ages, and one in the North was the same. The skeletons were children, teenagers, and young adults who ranged from the ages of 7-25yrs old. The majority found were under the age of 15. When they examined the bones, they found many suffered from Spinal fractures and injuries caused by heavy lifting.
Interestingly, when we look at the 13th Dynasty, we can find what is called the 'Asiatic Disease.' Even after this disease and mass graves were made, the Asiatic quarter of Avaris was quickly abandoned. In other words, the people packed up quickly and left everything. These people left their homes without evidence of disease or any illness, unlike the others.
Many believe this is not tied to the Biblical story of Exodus or the Israelites. But that most likely comes from the side that doesn't want to see the Bible be proven. But it also may just be because they haven't discovered enough.
The next verse mentions a small exciting detail. In Exodus 7:10-12, We see the rods were shaped as serpents or snakes.
Exodus 7:10-12
"10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs."
Egyptians have long used the snake in their religious and ceremonial rituals. Many murals, ancient Egyptian paintings and carvings, and written texts portray this animal in connection with ancient Egyptian snake charmers, magicians, and even Pharaohs. In fact, many of the golden burial casts used to intern the ancient Egyptian kings have a sculpture of a snake coming from the forehead of the regal personality. Furthermore, the snake is commonly associated with certain gods of ancient Egypt. In regard to this affinity for the serpentine, the ancient Egyptians often used snakes in charming ceremonies and other practices. Due to this close association with the creature, they would certainly have become quite skilled at capturing, handling, and displaying snakes.
Source: https://apologeticspress.org/egyptian-magicians-snakes-and-rods-1704/