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Is There Any Evidence Outside the Bible to Support the Events Described in the Bible?

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Is There Any Evidence Outside the Bible to Support the Events Described in the Bible? Archaeology and the Bible (1) – The Israelites in Egypt Is there any evidence outside the Bible to support the events described in the Bible? Why are many people so sceptical about the events described in the Old Testament? • The father of historical scepticism: Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) • The modern results N. M. Lemche: “The Old Testament is simply an invented history with only a few references to things that really happened.” “The biblical picture of ancient Israel ... is contrary to any picture of ancient Palestinian society that can be established on the basis of ancient sources.” Wikipedia: “A century of research by archaeologists and Egyptologists has found no evidence which can be directly related to the Exodus narrative of an Egyptian captivity and the escape and travels through the wilderness.” • The archaeologists fight back: Kenneth A. Kitchen, The Historical Reliability of the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 2003) Three problems with Wellhausen and his followers: 1. Historical ignorance 2. Poor methodology 3. Ideological bias The result: “We have a consistent level of good, fact-based correlations right through from circa 2000 BC (with earlier roots) down to 400 BC.” (Kitchen, p. 500) A brief biblical history of the Israelites in Egypt Genesis 12-50 Abraham … Isaac … Jacob … 12 sons, living in Egypt Exodus 1 The Israelites increased in number, a new Egyptian king / Pharaoh arose, who feared the Israelites The Egyptians subjected the Israelites to forced labour (making bricks, working in the fields) Exodus 2-40 God raised up Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt The Israelites escaped through the Red Sea, into the Sinai Peninsula, and on towards Canaan Archaeology and the Bible (1) – The Israelites in Egypt 1 Why is there not more evidence that the Israelites lived in Egypt? 1. “How could the Israelites have escaped through Egypt’s heavily fortified border?” Egypt’s border was only fortified along the coast road, which Israel were commanded to avoid Exodus 13:17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 2. “Why is there no official Egyptian record that the Israelites left Egypt?” “In the sopping wet mud of the Delta, no papyrus ever survives … as the official thirteenth century archives from the East Delta centres are 100 percent lost, we cannot expect to find mentions in them of the Hebrews or anybody else." (Kitchen, p. 466) “As pharaohs never monumentalise defeats on temple walls, no record of the successful exit of a large bunch of foreign slaves (with the loss of a full chariot squadron) would ever have been memorialized by any king.” (Kitchen, p. 246) 3. “Why is there no evidence that the Israelites travelled through the Sinai Peninsula?” The Israelites left in a hurry, pursued by Egyptian army The Israelites expected to be in Canaan in a few weeks or months The Sinai peninsula is vast – 61,000 sq miles! What evidence exists that the Israelites lived in Egypt? Exodus 1:8-14 8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens . They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses . 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick , and in all kinds of work in the field . In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves . 1. The city of Raamses Named after its founder, Ramesses II. Pi-Ramesses in Egyptian; Raamses in Hebrew (Exodus 1:11) “Excavation has opened up the foundations of parts of its palaces …Geophysical magnetometer and other soundings have shown up the clear ground plans of many more buildings … the basis of a city which, with its workshops and storage magazines for palace, temples, and other institutions, could well qualify as one of the ‘store-cities’ of Exodus 1:11.” (Kitchen, pp. 255-256) Archaeology and the Bible (1) – The Israelites in Egypt 2 2. Egyptian kings regularly employed foreign slaves in harsh conditions Two agricultural workers fled from an Egyptian overseer “because he beat them” (Papyrus Bologna 1094) Viceroy Setau was commanded “to take captives from the land of the Libyans to build the Temple of Ramesses II” (Papyrus, c. 1234 BC) Grain rations were given to “the soldiers and the Apiru-folk who drag stone to the great gateway of the Temple of Ramesses II” (Papyrus Leiden 348) 3. The “Louvre Scroll,” describing slaves making bricks for the Egyptians A leather scroll, dated 5 th year of Ramesses II (1275 BC) Description of brickmaking 1. A two-level leadership structure (Egyptian taskmasters and foreign foremen) 2. Daily targets for the Egyptian taskmasters “Total: 12 building-jobs. Also, people are making their quota of bricks in their spells-of-duty ... they are making their quota of bricks daily.” 3. Slaves given time off for religious holidays 4. Low manpower and lack of straw “There are no men here to make bricks, and no straw in the district either.” Archaeology and the Bible (1) – The Israelites in Egypt 3 4. The tomb chapel of the Vizier Rekhmire, depicting Israelite slaves making bricks (c. 1450 BC) How many details can you spot? Dark-skinned and light-skinned slaves Baskets of wet clay being carried Slaves breaking up clay with some kind of tool Wet clay being poured out Slaves making bricks in moulds Bricks drying in the sun Slave measuring bricks Hardened bricks being carried away Egyptian taskmasters with sticks Archaeology and the Bible (1) – The Israelites in Egypt 4 .
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