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Ancient Israelite History begins with the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Unfortunately, this event and its chronology are much-debated mysteries. It has long been believed that the Exodus took place in the reign of Ramses II, but there is no evidence in the archaeological or textual record that Egypt suffered from any major natural disasters during the rule of this monarch, or that there was any mass escape of enslaved Asians at this time. This means that either: a) The Exodus narrative is largely mythological and fictitious; or b) The Pharaoh of the Exodus must have been another king, not Ramses II. Currently most scholars opt for the first of these. Those who prefer the second option believe the Pharaoh of the Exodus may have been Akhenaton or Tutimaios. Tutimaios was the last Pharaoh of the Thirteenth Dynasty. His reign ended in disaster and confusion, with the collapse of the Egyptian nation. The Second Intermediate Period ensued. In every way, Tutimaios makes a much better candidate than Ramses II for the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
After leaving Egypt and wandering in the desert for a generation, the Israelites invaded the land of Canaan, destroying major Canaanite cities such as Jericho and Hazor. The paradigm that has Ramses II as Exodus Pharaoh also has the conquest of Canaan and the destruction of Jericho and other Canaanite cities around 1200 BCE. However, around this time Jericho was an unimportant site, with no great defensive walls such as those crucial to the Conquest narrative. The options are the same as before: Either dismiss the Biblical narrative as mythological and fictitious, or else consider the Conquest as having taken place at a time when Jericho had great walls that were destroyed by an earthquake, a time when the walled cities of Canaan were destroyed. This happened at a time close to the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt.
Further Reading
Tutimaios is found in the ancient Egyptian chronicler Manetho, whose works are preserved in fragments in Josephus, Africanus and Eusebius.
See David M. Rohl, Pharaohs and Kings, ISBN 0609802309
Early Centuries in Canaan
After destroying various Canaanite cities, the Israelites were able to maintain hegemony over the land only for a short time. Over the next few centuries, according to the book of Judges, they were dominated by the Ishmaelites, Midianites, Moabites, and other neighboring peoples. Surprisingly, the Egyptians are not mentioned at all. If the Exodus had indeed taken place in the days of Ramses II or Merneptah, Egypt would have been the greatest threat to the Israelites in Canaan. Also, the time elapsed until the beginning of the Israelite monarchy could only be about two centuries. Instead, we have at least four, perhaps as many as six centuries - and during this whole time Egypt does not even loom in the horizon. It makes more sense to date the period of the Judges to the Second Intermediate Period, when Egypt was under Hyksos domination and had no power over Canaan. The alternative is to dismiss the entire book of Judges as unhistorical fantasy.
The Judges were charismatic Israelite leaders who organized short-lived Tribal coalitions that restored Israelite independence for short periods of time.