How do you explain the lack of archaeological evidence for the exodus narrative?

[plo1988]

As far as I can tell there is no evidence for the exodus narrative. No evidence in Egypt of the 10 plagues and the national disaster that they would have caused, no evidence of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, as far as I can tell nothing. All I can really find is the Ipuwer papyrus which is a poem, but it talks about people coming into Egypt, not leaving. It doesn't add up to me how there could be this lack of evidence for such a large number of people leaving Egypt and wandering in the desert, along with what the plagues and loss of slaves would have done to Egypt. It just doesn't add up to me. How can I believe anything else in the Bible if this one thing doesn't make sense to me? I guess the Exodus could just be made up, and if that was made up, why trust anything else in the Bible? Why isn't there any evidence?

[teddyv]

The Hyksos represent an interesting parallel to the Israelites. There is little recorded on them, with some accounts having them as conquerors and others as just a group of Semitic peoples that moved into the area. As far as I recall, the timing of them is not consistent with the Biblical one. 

As to some practicalities, rarely would a king or pharaoh record a defeat, so lack of Egyptian attestation toward that does not bother me.

[Big Boy Stan Murf]

On 9/6/2023 at 2:35 PM, plo1988 said:

How do you explain the lack of archaeological evidence for the exodus narrative?

Just because it hasn't been found yet doesn't mean this even did not take place as the Lord said it did in His Word.

We also need to remember there are some out there that find evidence of biblical events and they cover it up because they are being led by the devil to do so in satan's ongoing effort to deceive as many as he can to not believe what the Lord says in His Word.

[Justin Adams]

recent evidence has been stated

[SavedOnebyGrace]

The source for my reply is: Biblical Archaeology.

Is the biblical Exodus fact or fiction?

This is a loaded question. Although biblical scholars and archaeologists argue about various aspects of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, many of them agree that the Exodus occurred in some form or another.

The question “Did the Exodus happen” then becomes “When did the Exodus happen?” This is another heated question. Although there is much debate, most people settle into two camps: They argue for either a 15th-century B.C.E. or 13th-century B.C.E. date for Israel’s Exodus from Egypt.

So we can accept God's word as true, or question everything in the Bible. Personally, I believe God's word.

A worker’s house from western Thebes also seems to support a 13th-century Exodus. In the 1930s, archaeologists at the University of Chicago were excavating the mortuary Temple of Aya and Horemheb, the last two pharaohs of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, in western Thebes. The temple was first built by Aya in the 14th-century B.C.E., but Horemheb usurped and expanded the temple when he became pharaoh. (He ruled from the late 14th century through the early 13th century B.C.E.) Horemheb chiseled out every place where Aya’s name had been and replaced it with his own. Later—during the reign of Ramses IV (12th century B.C.E.)—the Temple of Aya and Horemheb was demolished.

During their excavations, the University of Chicago uncovered a house and part of another house belonging to the workers who were given the task of demolishing the temple. The plan of the complete house is the same as that of the four-room house characteristic of Israelite dwellings during the Iron Age. However, unlike the Israelite models that were usually constructed of stone, the Theban house was made of wattle and daub. It is significant that this house was built in Egypt at the same time that Israelites were constructing four-room houses in Canaan. The similarities between the two have caused some to speculate that the builders of the Theban house were either proto-Israelites or a group closely related to the Israelites.

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.

Read the whole article for additional evidence.

[Who me]

On 9/6/2023 at 8:35 PM, plo1988 said:

How can I believe anything else in the Bible if this one thing doesn't make sense to me

Please can you explain why this one event has to have outside corroboration? 

You are aware aren't  you that all nations only boasts about there successes and keep very quiet  about there defeats.

Why would Egypt brag about loosing a valuable work force and about the death of so many children etc.

May I suggest that you investigate that which really can falsify  Christianity.

If you can present a reasonable coherent  argument that shows that Jesus did not rise from the dead you will have destroyed Christianity.

There are two problems, fail and you will have only the emotional  argument, " I don't  want to be Christian. "

And very intelligent men have tried and failed.

Lee Strobel an investigative journalist tri3d a d his failure can be read in ' the Case for Christ.'

James Warner Wallace a coldcase detective tried and you can read about his failure in his book or Web site, coldcase christianity.

 

The big question is are you honest enough to try?

[SavedOnebyGrace]

@Who me  I have and recommend both books.

[FJK]

18 hours ago, Who me said:

If you can present a reasonable coherent  argument that shows that Jesus did not rise from the dead you will have destroyed Christianity.

No, only presenting his verified body could destroy Christianity, not some craftily formed argument.

And that cannot be done.

Do you not think Satan -through those under his authority- would have done this at the time if he could have?

[RV_Wizard]

The pharaoh was not defeated by the Jews, he was defeated by God.  He knew it.  However, admitting that to his people would have been blaspheme to the gods they worshipped.  Either the people would have revolted and had him executed or they would seek the true God of the Jews and his empire would crumble.  Why, then, would he acknowledge such a thing to the world?  I would be more suspicious if there WAS a lot of recorded evidence.  That would indicate he freed the slaves willingly; not that he lost to the God of the Jews.  Rather, he would more likely restrict any mention of it to preserve his life and his reign.

There are 333 miracles in the Bible, all of which share a commonality; they defy natural law.  God demonstrated to us many times that He is not constrained by the physical laws of the world He made. The Bible is a book of prophesies. all of which have either come true already or will come true.  The Bible recorded things about our world we didn't know for thousands of years.  As a history book, it's helped archeologists find many lost cities other texts didn't mention.  As God's word, if you read it with an open heart, it will change your life and save you from eternal destruction.  The fool scoffs at wisdom.  The wise man seeks understanding for himself.  I challenge you to read the Bible yourself and not listen to the lame arguments of those who don't understand it.  The Bible is a mystery to the Godless.  The Lord reveals the truth only to those who seek it.

[FJK]

48 minutes ago, RV_Wizard said:

The Bible is a mystery to the Godless.  The Lord reveals the truth only to those who seek it.

That is so very true!

Seek and ye shall find.