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


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Posted (edited)
On 9/6/2023 at 12:35 PM, plo1988 said:

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?

The same way I would explain how after sufficient manna was gathered, the rest vanished. God is a good recycler. Since He was right there in the cloud and fire etc it makes perfect sense that He would not leave a mess as normal mass movements do.

After He fed the many thousands of people loaves and fish notice He told them to gather up the remains? That seems to be just the way He is.

Edited by dad2

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Posted
On 9/6/2023 at 1:35 PM, plo1988 said:

As far as I can tell there is no evidence for the exodus narrative.

On 9/6/2023 at 1:49 PM, teddyv said:

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. 

Plenty of evidence supplied in Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision.

Hyksos was the Greek name for the Amalakites, who, after their defeat by the Israelites, invaded Egypt and brutally ruled over it for around 400 years.

 

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Posted
On 9/6/2023 at 3:35 PM, plo1988 said:

As far as I can tell there is no evidence for the exodus narrative. No evidence

There is a lot of evidence in Archeology for the Bible. It is very easy to see where God's people camped out in the desert because you have to have water. They call that an oasis in the desert and there are only so many of them. 

Go to YouTube where people present physical evidence for many things that we find in our Bible. I was just watching a video about Jericho and how much evidence there is in Jericho. Now they talk about Space Archeology so they can use satellite images to find ancient ruins and to know where is the best place to dig. 

At the temple mount the were putting in a drainage system. They finally got permission to sift through the dirt they removed. They found arrow heads from nations that confirms that they did attack Jerusalem. From the material and the workmanship in the objects they find. They call them artifacts. 

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Posted
On 7/11/2024 at 4:46 PM, WilliamL said:

Hyksos was the Greek name for the Amalakites, who, after their defeat by the Israelites, invaded Egypt and brutally ruled over it for around 400 years.

There's a problem with that idea. 

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/the-expulsion-of-the-hyksos/


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Posted
On 9/6/2023 at 3:35 PM, plo1988 said:

As far as I can tell there is no evidence for the exodus narrative. 

There is abundant overwelmimg evidence. A good place to start would be Bruce Feilers book: "Walking the Bible". You can also see the PBS program that talks about what we read in this book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqljSNh6_kw&t=25s

 


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

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?

 I appreciate your thoughtful questioning and desire for evidence regarding the Exodus narrative. It's natural and important to critically examine historical claims, even those central to religious traditions. Let me offer some perspectives to consider:

From a historical standpoint, the lack of direct archaeological evidence for the Exodus is challenging. But we must remember that absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence, especially for events from over 3000 years ago. The archaeological record from that period is fragmentary, and nomadic peoples like the Israelites would have left few material traces.

That said, there are some intriguing archaeological findings that may relate to the Exodus period, even if they don't provide definitive proof. For example, evidence of Semitic peoples in Egypt during the relevant timeframe has been found, and there are indications of cultural shifts in Canaan that could align with Israelite settlement(Aardsma, 1995, pp. 267–273; Gertoux, 2015).

I'm interested in how narratives like the Exodus shape cultural identity and values. Even if the events didn't occur exactly as described, the story clearly held powerful meaning for the Israelites and continues to resonate today. It speaks to themes of liberation, divine providence, and the formation of a covenant community - ideas that have had an enormous impact on Western civilization.

From a Christian perspective, we recognize that the Bible contains different literary genres, including historical narrative, poetry, and theological reflection. The Church teaches that Scripture is divinely inspired and inerrant in what it intends to teach about salvation, but this doesn't necessarily mean every detail is meant to be read as literal history(Maeir, 2015, pp. 409–418).

Archaeological evidence has corroborated many other biblical accounts, particularly from later periods. The lack of evidence for the Exodus specifically doesn't negate the historical value of the Bible as a whole(Osborne, 2018, pp. 706–722).

Regarding your concern about trusting the Bible, I would encourage you to consider its overall message and impact rather than fixating on the historicity of one particular narrative. The Bible's enduring spiritual and moral teachings, its internal consistency across diverse authors and centuries, and its powerful influence on human culture all speak to its value and credibility.

 I've found it helpful to hold space for both critical inquiry and spiritual openness. Perhaps the Exodus narrative contains a kernel of historical truth that has been elaborated over time for theological purposes. Or perhaps its primary value lies in its spiritual and moral teachings rather than as a strictly historical account.

- Aardsma, G. (1995). Evidence for a Lost Millennium in Biblical Chronology. Radiocarbon: An International Journal of Cosmogenic Isotope Research, 37, 267–273.

- Gertoux, G. (2015). Moses and the Exodus Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence.

- Maeir, A. (2015). Exodus as a Mnemo-Narrative: An Archaeological Perspective. 409–418.

- Osborne, J. F. (2018). History and temporality in Bronze Age Anatolia: the King of Battle narrative in archaeological and historical tradition. World Archaeology, 50, 706–722.


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Posted

It's rather a misconception due to modern education. Looking for evidence is an educated or implanted mindset during our formal education since childhood till graduated from university.

What evidence do you have for Biden or Trump winning the votes in 2020 election? The mass majority has none. Humans don't rely on evidence to get to a truth. They rely on something else which requires us to overcome our own educated mind to find out!

That said. Archaeological evidence gathering is done on extremely rare conditions where the ancient trail has not been overridden by active human activities. Usually this refers to a remote site not accessed by humans for an extended long time. You can't do archaeological research in the center of New York city to tell what happened on top of it 2000 years ago, as most historical trails were already overridden by human activities alongside history itself. Most histories are unsupported by evidence, the more ancient they are the more so. The nature of history, in terms of conveying truth, is by means of and in the form of human testimonies, instead of evidence.


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Posted

In 1882 Alexander Tulloch, an English general and scientist in Egypt, witnessed the parting of a a reedy lake adjacent to the former Goshen, where Israelite slaves worked on building projects for Pharaoh Rameses.  After a strong wind blew all night, Tulloch saw a large path through  the lake where fishing boats had floated the day before.  In Hebrew "Yam Suph" can mean "sea of reeds." So the mracle mgiht have been that this rare windset event happened at precisely the moment the Israelites were fleeing their Egytpian captors.

There is also evidence shortly after the death of Raameses, the Pharaoh of the Exodus, (e. g. the Merneptah Stele) that Israelites suddenly were massively -present in Palestine, whereas they had previously not been present in any significant degree.


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Posted
On 7/4/2024 at 3:19 AM, dad2 said:

The same way I would explain how after sufficient manna was gathered

 Ephesians 3:20

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think


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Posted

I don't need physical evidence 

Psalms 119:160 (KJV)

[160] Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

 

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