Reddit reviews Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition

One thing you learn when you study egyptology is that evidence for pretty much anything is quite scant, and the major primary sources we have are laudatory funerary texts of people trying to convince the gods they are worthy of a good afterlife.

There are some Egyptologists who defend the historicity of the exodus. One, for example, is Kenneth Kitchen, an egyptologist who is Professor emiritus and Honorary research fellow at the School of Archeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool. One good book on the topic that attempts to create a defense of the historicity of Israel in Egypt is James K. Hoffmeier's Israel in Egypt: The Evidence of the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition.

Anyway, what do you mean evidence that it never happened? are you referring to primary sources that say "The Israelites were not here"? There may certainly be a lack of evidence, but that does not mean that it didn't happen, only if you would expect there to be more evidence if it did happen, and that can be debated.

This is disputed.

This is sort of one of my pet areas of interest, I've tried to read both the secular side and the Christian side, in the end I think these are the best books on the subject:

Kenneth Kitchen's On the Reliability of the Old Testament - He is one of the world's top Egyptologists and wrote this book to defend the OT.

https://www.amazon.com/Reliability-Old-Testament-K-Kitchen/dp/0802803962

James Hoffmeier's Israel in Egypt and Ancient Israel in Sinai - another one of the world's top Egyptologists.

https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Israel-Sinai-Authenticity-Wilderness/dp/0195155467/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=

https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Egypt-Evidence-Authenticity-Tradition/dp/019513088X/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526660677&sr=1-1&keywords=israel+in+egypt

Provan, Long, and Longman's Biblical History of Israel is very good too:

https://www.amazon.com/Biblical-History-Israel-Second-ebook/dp/B01CUKCXFW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526660730&sr=1-1&keywords=a+biblical+history+of+israel%2C+second+edition

Also, James Hoffmeier edited another book that I would recommend to any Catholic interested in biblical studies:

https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Matters-Matter-Faith-Postmodern-ebook/dp/B007IJY9YO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526660787&sr=1-1&keywords=do+historical+matters+matter+to+faith

There are many bad books out there, but these are very good and trustworthy by good scholars.

Many people will argue from a book called The Bible Unearthed that the Scriptures are not reliable, but quite frankly the arguments used in there are not very good. Kenneth Kitchen refutes them pretty in depth in his book.

How do they know? Granted, there is no direct evidence for Moses or the Exodus independent of the Bible, but it is unrealistic to expect to find direct evidence for everyone who passed through Egypt over three thousand years ago.

It would be a real stretch to argue that we can prove the Exodus historically with such scant information, but James K. Hoffmeier makes a strong case in Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition (Oxford University Press, 1996) that, rather, it fits in with what we know about the period; there is no reason to deny the Exodus so compelling that we can be called unreasonable for accepting it.

The one I've heard the most about for Exodus is Israel in Egypt.

Just watched this today. It seems to be a very bold claim to adjust the chronology by centuries, in opposition with the bulk of modern and previous historians and archaeologists.

I must admit that there were several astonishing moments in the documentary, but it's hard to tell. Documentaries arguing for a specific viewpoint can exaggerate the evidence in favor of their theory and not mention evidence opposed to it.

However, I notice that this documentary was released relatively recently (2015), so I'm hoping that it pushes historians to rethink and reexamine the Biblical Exodus and the timelines surrounding it. Perhaps more will be found in the next few decades?

Either way, I think the documentary helped me feel more comfortable putting this one particular doubt on the shelf for now. Thank you and everyone else for recommending it! I've also picked up a couple books about the Exodus, such as Israel in Egypt.

The historical and archaeological evidence for Moses is skant. I have studied the Bible enough to believe it to be very reliable, so I believe that Moses was a real person.

I checked with a historian who works on the related archeology and Pentateuch studies. Here's what he said:

> there are many Christian and Jewish scholars who do not believe Moses is a myth. The debates about the evidence often boil down to a "glass half full" vs. "glass half empty." Pro-Moses scholars point out the evidence that makes his existence plausible, and anti-Moses scholars point out the lack of direct external proof of his existence. I belong to two consortiums of scholars in Pentateuch studies, each composed of about 20-40 scholars, all of whom believe there was a Moses. They are all internationally qualified Ph.D.'s.

Recommended resources:

The video documentary Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus, which is very balanced and well-done: http://patternsofevidence.com/

Secondly, Kenneth Kitchen's book, On the Reliability of the Old Testament:
https://www.amazon.com/Reliability-Old-Testament-K-Kitchen/dp/0802803962

Thirdly, the work of Egyptologist James K. Hoffmeier:
https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Egypt-Evidence-Authenticity-Tradition/dp/019513088X
https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Israel-Sinai-Authenticity-Wilderness/dp/0199731691

This thread is a troll's best dream come true.

Unfortunately, tents, poles, and poop don't last long in the desert.

http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Egypt-Evidence-Authenticity-Tradition/dp/019513088X

This article (where an atheist slams C. Hitchens) makes an interesting reference to this - and Hitchens' perpetuation of it:

http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/christopher_hitchens_lies_do_atheism_no_favors/

Apparently this guy and his writings complicate matters on the issue:

http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Egypt-Evidence-Authenticity-Tradition/dp/019513088X

James K. Hoffmeier - Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, Oxford University Press