I remember when Philip Augustine made his debut here, he mentioned he was doing academic work on the historical background of Israel’s sojourn in and Exodus from Egypt. Recently, I have been re-reading articles on the matter in “The Oxford History of the Biblical World” (ed. M. Coogan), as well as various online articles.
To be sure, the dating question is not easy. If we take the reference to Pithom and Rameses (Exod. 1:11) at face value, then this acts as a terminus post quem: the Exodus cannot happen before the reign of Ramesses II (assuming these projects were begun under Seti I). However, there are some possible references to Israel in the land of Canaan before this point: e.g. the “Shasu of Yahweh” mentioned in a topographical list at the Temple of Soleb, built by Amenhotep III c. 1400 BC (http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2010/03/08/The-Name-Yahweh-in-Egyptian-Hieroglyphic-Texts.aspx).
Furthermore, the destruction of Jericho as described in Joshua has traditionally been viewed as problematic by scholars. Kathleen Kenyon excavated Tell es-Sultan, a site identified with Jericho, and concluded that it was destroyed c. 1500 BC by the Egyptians, not the Israelites. It was unoccupied after this point until much later. There was a small unwalled settlement nearby, however. This interpretation of the archaeological data presents a problem for the Biblical conservative: either there was no conquest of Jericho, or there was a conquest, but the story that “the walls came tumbling down” is a fiction.
In response to these sorts of problems, David Rohl proposed a “New Chronology”, but this has largely been rejected by other scholars in the field (though they have made some minor revisions as a consequence of his research). Conservative scholars continue to work with the traditional chronology and progress has been made to support the historicity of the accounts in Genesis, Exodus, and Joshua, but there remains a divide between the camp of an early date for the Exodus and the camp supporting a late date. For interesting articles on the subject, see: http://www.biblearchaeology.org/ .
For me, the Exodus is not a negotiable event. I am comfortable with various strands of interpretation within evangelicalism, but denying the Exodus is not something I can support. Exodus has many lessons to teach us, but two of the central ones are that God acts in history and that God is faithful to His people. Once we deny something like this, we start down a slippery slope that divests our faith of its supernatural and historical elements. Once these are stripped away, we have little reason to believe that God will intervene again in the future. If we lose belief in the Atonement and Resurrection, we become, to use the Apostle Paul’s words, “the most miserable of all men” (1 Cor. 15:19).
To be sure, Jesus is the foundation of our faith (Heb. 12:2). Apart from Him, we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5), while through Him, we can do all things (Phil. 4:13). Nevertheless, Christ came through Israel – when we attack the history of Israel, we attack the salvation story of which Jesus is the centre.
All Along the Watchtower 
Didn’t an archaeologist find walls in another location at Jericho after Kathleen Kenyon ? I remember listening to a podcast with Dr. Paul Maier, he referenced it was Kenyon’s professional methods that led to the later discovery.
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Here is an article, after a brief search, let me see if I can’t dig anything else up (pun intended) http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/22/world/believers-score-in-battle-over-the-battle-of-jericho.html
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Thanks for the link. I’ll have a read of this today.
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Quite, Nicholas, the Exodus is not negotiable, and a very good article.
Much of the confusion is, I suspect, baked in the cake, as it were. While events, Creation (in some form) Exodus, coming to Canaan, the Flood, and others, are real, and likely there will be evidentiary material for them, they still have the problem of an oral history written down much later.
We have all, I dare say, played telephone, and while great writers and poets, can make oral history less inaccurate, it will never be the equivalent of stylus on clay, or chisel on stone, for an accurate history of anything.
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Thanks, NEO, and I quite agree, which is why I have no dogmatic opinion about Pithom and Ramesses. It could be the author was using the names those places had in his day, but they went by other names previously. Alternatively, they could be names attached to different sites altogether. Per-itm means “House of Atum”, so that could be a common(ish) place name.
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Indeed, places change names over time, even in America, which is pretty new, so if we’re looking several thousand years back, how exactly are we going to prove much of anything. Actual events are one thing, a settlement’s name is quite something else, particularly is what seems to me to be a largely nomadic society.
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Which reminds me – I don’t know if you follow James Townsend and Son on YouTube. If you don’t, you should check them out. They’re historical re-enactors for 18th century American history, and they run a museum in Indiana. Their Mt Vernon episodes are good too.
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Do hit their website as well. Quite a variety of re-enactor products, in an era not well known. Interesting.
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Yes, I’m impressed by their stock and commitment to craftsmanship. If I had my way, when not dressing in the Greco-Roman manner, I’d wear Restoration clothing. Alas, expensive and considered more than eccentric these days…
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My thing is Victorian/US Civil war. Also a bit eccentric – what do you mean I can’t bring my saber with me? 🙂
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Furthermore, all I need historically are Hebrews leaving Egypt for Canaan–and there is historical evidence for this with hieroglyphics of foreigners making clay bricks. It’s true that there is no settlement patterns in the Sinai desert, but what materialist archaeologists fail to mention is that with a nomadic people–there wouldn’t be..
We also have a settlement patter, not of pots, but with names. The tribe of Levi, generally has Egyptian names. This is explored by Jewish scholar Richard Friedman.
The exodus, if written during the Babylonian exile, could simply be a creation legend of sorts, with a few actual truths in it written generations after the events. It doesn’t detract from scripture.
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One would think that there would be evidence of a million people wandering in the desert. There is. Tons of it. But the Saudis fence it off or destroy it. Just like the US Military denies UFOs, those evil Arabs don’t want the evidence to get out. Their religion would crumble. A few brave souls have wandered the Sinai, which is in the UAR, and have found a burned mountain top. Everything seems to have been burned and blackened. Funny….rocks don’t burn. It gets better. A large upstanding rock has been found that has been split in half and evidence of a big water flow from it can be clearly seen. Accounts in the bible of the Israelites making alters of stone during the wandering….god didn’t want any tools to chisel the rocks for the alter. Nothing altered by mens hands were to be part of gods alters. So they stacked rocks. An important alter mentioned in Exodus was apparently found. The Saudis overlooked this and didn’t destroy it or fence it off. Carvings on rocks of Egyptian things are found on rocks in that desert. Most likely from young people wanting something to do. You know how kids like to draw things.
We don’t need experts and men sitting in university offices to offer up educated guesses. Its all in stone sitting there for all to see.
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I believe the site for Sinai you are referring to is Jebel el Lawz. There is very little support for this identification in the scholarly community, but there are those who agree Sinai is somewhere in southern Jordan or northern Saudi Arabia.
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My mistake: apparently those who made that identification confused Jabal al Lawz with Jabal Maqla. Jabal Maqla means “Burnt Mountain”.
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