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Dating the Exodus
The Exodus, as the second book of the Pentateuch or Book of the Law, is a great story from an early time right at the beginning of history. Its inclusion of a wide range of textual artifacts has been often discussed as having close historical parallels. Whether it’s considered literature or history has a lot to do with whether or not it’s properly dated.
What The Bible Story says about the Dates
1.) Exodus references a dynastic change (a Pharaoh who had not known Joseph) around the time of the birth of Moses.
2.) Moses leads the Exodus at age 80 which is 430 years after the Sons of Israel first entered Egypt (Exodus 12:40);
3.) That’s a date which is 40 years before the Conquest the Amarna letters describe and
4.) That’s a date that’s 480 years before the building of the temple in Solomon’s 4th year, (c 974 BC).
5.) That places the arrival of the sons of Israel c 1964 BC which is just a little t00 early.
6.) Taking 974 BC plus 480 years = 1454 BC.
7.) Eighty years before that is 1534 BC in the reign of Ahmose
8.) In Exodus, no one goes into Canaan immediately but rather arrives at a point between Midian and Rephidim called Mt Horab and then spend the next 40 years fighting their way north along the border between Moab and Edom.
Matching internal consistency in the story to geopolitical dynastic changes
1. Baines and Malek "Ancient Egypt" provides the chronology for Egyptian Dynasties.
2.) Ahmose is the founder of the 18th Dynasty
3.) Ahmose is credited with having driven out the Hyksos and having been the first to campaign into Palestine against the then emerging power of the Mittani
4.) His campaigns and those of the pharaohs of his Dynasty took place on the Orontes and Jordan Rivers in a region known as Kadesh between the headwaters of the two rivers.
5.) From 1525 to 1285 BC when a treaty is signed after the battle of Kadesh, the region known as the djadi (the Jordan river watershed in modern Israel and Palestine) is an Egyptian province and the conflict is ongoing.
6.) Given a Biblical date calculated as c 1964 BC for the arrival of the sons of Israel in Egypt, which is a little too early for agreement, some scholars apply a correction for Semitic calendars having a year of 355 days as opposed to Egyptian calendars using 365 days for a year giving an arrival c 1859 BC, an Exodus c 1441 BC in the reign of Thutmosis III and a date for the Conquest of c 1401
7.) Hatshepset who had been regent for Thutmoses III while building her Red Sea fleet wrote extensively of her hatred of the Hyksos as much as thirty years after they left.
8.) 1401 BC is the date when the reign of Amenophis II is ended in favor of Thutmosis IV.
9.) Many contemporary scholars have discussed the forty years of wandering in the desert in terms of archaeology and based on potshards have dated it to be contemporary with Joshua and Judges so that Exodus represents a southern campaign while the stories of Joshua and Judges are ongoing. If the Events of the Conquest are matched with Egyptian campaigns against the Nahrain and especially the King of Kadesh, these begin c
10. Given the story provides Moses birth in a time of Dynastic change it is consistent with the historical facts that it may have occurred around the end of the Hyksos era (1648–1540 BC) and the beginning of the 18th Dynasty
11.) Exodus may have occurred around 1400 BC, providing a consistency with the time of the Amarna letters.
12.) The Amarna letters written ca. forty years later to Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) indicate that Canaan was being invaded by the "Habiru" — whom some scholars in the 1950s to 1970s interpret to mean "Hebrews".
13.) The Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also recorded as having conducted military activities in Canaan some centuries before the Exodus.
14.) Dating Abraham by Genesis 14 would place him in the time of Rim Sin and Shamsi Adad of Mari
15.) Using The Cambridge Atlas of Mesopotamia by Michael Roaf for ANE chronology we would be c 1850 BC
19th Century Speculations
1.) Some archaeologist speculated that Exodus might have occurred during the 13th century BC, as the pharaoh of that time, Rameses II, is commonly considered to be the pharaoh with whom Moses squabbled — either as the 'Pharaoh of the Exodus' himself, or the preceding 'Pharaoh of the Oppression', who is said to have commissioned the Hebrews to "(build) for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Rameses."
2.) The traditional view that Rameses II was the Pharaoh of either the Oppression or the Exodus was speculated as affirmed by the Merneptah Stele. The speculation that "forty years" was a common expression in the Old Testament for "a long period of time", allowed many scholars to avoid consistency with the stories chronology in their speculations and to view the Habiru as members of a social underclass of people present throughout the Ancient Near East at this time, rather than a number of gene oinkos and phratre loosely organized along the borders of Egypt’s provinces as mercenaries, pirates, bandits, and occasional agricultural workers.
3.) Under this scenario, the Israelites would have been a nation without a state of their own who existed on the fringes of Canaan in Year 5 of Merneptah.
4.) It was speculated that this might be suggested by the determinative sign written in the stele for Israel — "a throw stick plus a man and a woman over the three vertical plural lines".
5.) The man and woman are the determinative for foreign people while the three parallel lines are the sign for plural giving the meaning many foreign people
6.) This determinative was "typically used by the Egyptians to signify any foreign people with or without a fixed city-state,"
7.) Over the last century a few facts have emerged that create problems for the hypothesis that the Sons of Israel marched across the bitter reeds route to reach Canaan. Not the least would be the fact that the Egyptians fortified all the wells along the route and that it took a couple of weeks to traverse it. It’s also in conflict with the inherent consistency of the story
8.) In the 19th Century these cities were thought to have been built under Seti I and Rameses II.
9.) Some speculated that this might make Merneptah the 'Pharaoh of the Exodus.'
10.) This is considered plausible by those who view the famous claim of the Year 5 Merneptah Stele (ca. 1208 BC) that "Israel is wasted, bare of seed," as propaganda to cover up this king's own loss of an army in the Red Sea.
11.) Unfortunately for this speculation the refers to Syria. Read from right to left it reads s:y:r*i*a 10,000 det people. What some people think is a throw stick is actually the symbol for the number 10,000 and there is no l in the spelling. (Y is never used as an initial consonant in Middle Egyptian Gardiner § 20)(p 456 D50 10,000
apt to be confused with T41 throwstick in Hieroglyphic texts
12.) In the 19th century it was appreciated that the stele commemorated Merneptah's victory over the Libyans and their Sea People allies.
13.) The reference to Canaan which occurs in the final lines of the stele where Syria rather than Israel is mentioned after the city states of Ashkelon, Gezer and Yanoam evidences the Mitanni expansion from the Orontes south along the Jordan through Hamath, Hazor, Yanoam, Beth Shean.
14.) This is another datable textual artifact documented in both the Biblical Conquest and the Egyptian campaign records of Merneptahs predecessors.
15.) It was speculated that given Biblical reference to the Son's of Israel’s settlement in the Goshen and the declaration in Exodus that their numbers had increased it was speculated that there might be enough of them by this time to be labeled a people.
16.) It was speculated that the line "wasted, bare of seed" referred to the time when the infants of the Sons of Israel are said to have been thrown into the Nile when Moses was born.
17.) It was speculated that the birth and/or adoption of Moses during a minor oppression in the reign of Amenhotep III, which was soon lifted, and claims that the more well-known oppression occurred during the reign of Horemheb.
18.) It was speculated that the Exodus followed the reign of Horemheb and occurred during the reign of Rameses I.
19.) This speculation is supported by the Haggada, which speculated that they were oppressed and then re-oppressed quite a few years later by Pharaoh.
20.) There is also an incorrect interpretation of an inscription from the very beginning of Seti I's reign that says that upon the death of Rameses I, many of the Shasu (a word as a collective for many of the nomadic groups of the time) left Egypt, traveled through Sinai, into northern Arabia, and, as recorded in other inscriptions, after about forty years, entered Canaan. The Shasu are documented by archaeologists to have been nomads of the Negev rather than the Sinai.
21. It was speculated that the Bible, Quran, and Haggada all suggested that the Pharaoh of the Exodus died in year 2 of his reign, matching Rameses I.
22.) The speculation that Pi-Tum and Rameses were built during the reign of Rameses I also supported this view.
23.) Seti I recorded that during his reign the Shasu warred with each other, which some saw as a reference to the Midyan and Moab wars.
24.) Seti's campaigns against the Mittani and Nahrain were confused with campaigns against the Shasu and it was speculated that they might be compared with Balaam's exploits. A remote and unverified possibility is that the line "wasted, bare of seed" refers to the time when the infants of Israel are said to have been thrown into the Nile when Moses was born. An unverified theory places the birth and/or adoption of Moses during a minor oppression in the reign of Amenhotep III.
25.)This speculation claims there was oppression during the reign of Horemheb, followed by the Exodus itself during the reign of Rameses I. This speculation by the Haggada, expects that their was constant worker oppression by various Pharaohs. More recent evidence suggests Egyptian workers were highly skilled, certified, unionized and well looked after.
26.) An inscription from the beginning of Seti I's reign says that upon the death of Rameses I, many of the Shasu (a word as a collective for many of the nomadic groups of the time) left Egypt, traveled through Sinai, into northern Arabia, and, as recorded in other inscriptions, after about forty years, entered Canaan. The Bible, Quran, and Haggada all suggest that the Pharaoh of the Exodus died in year 2 of his reign, matching Rameses I. The fact that Pi-Tum and Rameses were built during the reign of Rameses I also supports this view.
27.) Seti I records that during his reign the Shasu warred with each other, which some see as a reference to the Midyan and Moab wars. Seti's campaigns with the Shasu have also been compared with Balaam's exploits.
28.) Today most Egyptologists reject these 19th century speculations as unsuportable.
29.) A more recent and non-Biblical speculation places Moses as a noble in the court of the Pharaoh Akhenaten (See below).
30.) A significant number of 19th and early 20th century scholars, from Sigmund Freud to Joseph Campbell, suggested that Moses may have fled Egypt after Akhenaten's death (ca. 1334 BC) when many of the pharaoh's monotheistic reforms were being violently reversed.
31.) The principal ideas behind this theory were: the monotheistic religion of Akhenaten being a possible predecessor to Moses’ monotheism, and the "Amarna Letters", written by nobles to Akhenaten, which describe raiding bands of "Habiru" attacking the Egyptian territories in Mesopotamia.
20th Century Speculations
1.) David Rohl, a British historian and archaeologist, author of the book "A Test of Time", places the birth of Moses during the reign of Pharaoh Khaneferre Sobekhotep IV of the 13th Dynasty, and the Exodus during the reign of Pharaoh Dudimose (accession to the throne around 1457–1444), when according to Manetho "a blast from God smote the Egyptians".
2.) It has also been suggested that the Exodus did not occur at all. Some archaeologists have claimed that surveys of ancient settlements in Sinai do not appear to show a great influx of people around the time of the Exodus (given variously as between 1500–1200 BC), as would be expected from the arrival of Joshua and the Israelites in Canaan. This suggests that the biblical Exodus may not be a literal depiction.
3.) Since archaeologists have shown that surveys of ancient settlements in Sinai do not appear to show a great influx of people around the time of the Exodus (given variously as between 1500–1200 BC), this disproves the Exodus entirely.
4.) This causes concerns that the arrival of Joshua and the Israelites in Canaan can't have occurred and suggests that the biblical Exodus may not be a literal depiction.
5.) The "Amarna Letters", written by nobles to Akhenaten, describe raiding bands of "Habiru" attacking the Egyptian territories in Canaan.
The evidence from Present Day Archaeology and History
1.) Taken all together The problem with all this earlier speculation is that if you get the date wrong, you get the place of departure wrong and if you get the place of departure wrong you get the route wrong. Not surprisingly no evidence was ever found for all these theories, but its still a problem in that if you are looking for evidence of an historical Exodus c 1285 BC you tend to discard evidence from two centuries earlier
2.) Much of the uncertainty as to what date the Bible gives for the Exodus taking place are created by the speculations as to Pi Rameses being the capital of Egypt during the Exodus and its bricks being made by Israelite slaves.
3.) Long after archaeologists established that it was part of a 12th Dynasty canal system (Baines and Malek "Ancient Egypt") it continued to be assumed that Rameses chased the Israelites out of Egypt.
4.) The speculations that they left from the Delta and made their way into Canaan overland would follow if the Capital of Egypt were in the Delta rather than at Thebes.
5.) In the Biblical time frame it is at Thebes. Thebes had a Red Sea port at Elim, which provided the ingredients used in the mummification process at Karnack, which lies across the Nile from Thebes.
6.) At Elim Nubian Gold made its way across the Red Sea and up the Gulf of Aqaba to Elat where it paid for linen, cedar and parchment from Byblos, Bitumen and naphtha from the Dead Sea, Juniper oil from Zebulon, Frankincense from Punt and Myrrh from Ethi Ophir.
7.) Near Elat, at Timna the Israeli government has encouraged archeological exploration of 13 sites dating from the right period including a Hathor temple, Egyptian faience and pottery. This sort of exploration following the stations of the Exodus as given goes back to the expeditions of Nelson Glueck "Rivers in the Desert" and has been continuously excavated since the 1980's
8.)The speculation that Rameses II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus or that a named state of Israel existed at or around the time of the Exodus is not supported by the Merneptah Stele.
9.) The Sons of Israel or Israelites would have been a loose collection of tribes living among other people without a state of their own who existed on the fringes of Canaan in Year 5 of Merneptah.
10.) The Merneptah stele refers to a foreign people of Syria, 10,000 strong. This is evidenced by the determinative for foreign people, plural a man and a woman over the three vertical plural lines.
11.) As Gardiner points out its as likely t be a finger D50 meaning 10,000 rather than a throw stick T14 also meaning foreign people. Gardiner describes this as gradually evolving from use with the word rebel to use as a determinative for foreign people living in foreign lands. Carol Redmount says it was used by the Egyptians to signify nomadic groups or peoples without a fixed city-state," such as the Hebrew's previous life in Goshen.
- Carol Redmount, 'Bitter Lives: Israel in and out of Egypt' in "The Oxford History of the Biblical World", ed: Michael D. Coogan, (Oxford University Press: 1999), paperback, p.97
- see http://custance.org/old/hidden/4ch2.html
- see http://custance.org/old/hidden/4ch2.html
- Transformations of Myth Through Time, Joseph Campbell, p. 87–90, Harper & Row
- See Did the Exodus Really Happen? by Rabbi David Wolpe
- See Did the Exodus Really Happen? by Rabbi David Wolpe
- Transformations of Myth Through Time, Joseph Campbell, p. 87–90, Harper & Row
- Carol Redmount, 'Bitter Lives: Israel in and out of Egypt' in "The Oxford History of the Biblical World", ed: Michael D. Coogan, (Oxford University Press: 1999), paperback, p.97