EvC Forum: The Bible Unearthed

Hi John,

You wrote:

The population of Egypt circa 3000 bc was 1-2 million. By the time the Romans conquered the land, the population had grown to 7 million. Anywhere you place the Exodus, it isn't going to work-- too much vital labor would walk away and Egypt would fall.

That is true, I believe such a calamity would cause Egypt to fall into great distress. If you look at Egypt's history, they did undergo some periods when their power was greatly reduced, especially in the "Intermediate" periods. There is more than one place where you could insert the Exodus into Egypt's history and it would fit with what followed.

I previously wrote:

But how would we differentiate between Egyptian artifacts and Hebrew artifacts if the Hebrew culture had been there for hundreds of years?

And you replied:

Cultural peculiarities such as artistic styles are remarkably robust. These things hang around much longer than things which more directly effect survival, such as subsistence methods. It isn't likely that 200 years would erase these markers.

I still wonder how would we recognize Hebrew artifacts from the sojourn period? When they entered Egypt, they were but a small band. They had no culture of their own that we would recognize. While in Egypt, they may have developed some cultural distinction, but really how much different would it be than that of Egypt?

Then, after the Exodus, you would begin to see their cultural distinction in their artifacts because they had a whole series of events that solidified their religion, government, and lifestyle. But, according to the story, they looted Egypt, no doubt carrying much of Egyptian jewelry etc. into Canaan. This would make picking out and seperating the two rather difficult.

I wrote:

At http://www.christian-thinktank.com/noai.html the author makes a strong rebuttal against Redford's opinion that the archeological record totally discredits the exodus and conquest stories.

and you replied:

The author lists problems which an archeaologist must face. I wouldn't call this a strong rebuttal. Basically, the argument is "These things might have gone wrong." It isn't very convincing. If the author could take some actual sites associated with the Exodus and show that these errors HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN made, that would be much better.

Point taken. But he does apply his argument to analysis of the conquest sites in the section entitled "Survey the data relative to the sites in question (Jericho, AI, Hebron, Taanach, Arad, Tel Masos, Edom, Hesbon)." While it is not directly related to the Exodus per se, it is valuable for the sake of the argument at hand because it demonstrates that analyses of archealogical data is frought with uncertainty.

------------------
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1

4 online now:	kjsimons, nwr, Omnivorous, Tangle
Newest Member:	ChatGPT
Post Volume:	Total: 916,913 Year: 4,170/9,624 Month: 1,041/974 Week: 368/286 Day: 11/13 Hour: 1/1

The Bible Unearthed - Exodus