The story of Israel's exodus out of Egypt has long been dismissed by most in the skeptical community. However, in his book Introducing Christianity to Mormons, Eric Johnson draws on the work of archaeologist Titus Kennedy and shares 4 discoveries from Egypt that support the biblical account.
They are as follows:
1. The Papyrus Brooklyn: A papyrus manuscript discovered in Egypt from the seventeenth century BC-a century or two before the Exodus-contained Hebrew servant names. The list showed how Hebrews lived in Egypt before the Exodus.
2. Tomb of Rekmire: A mural from the time of the Exodus in 1450 BC discovered in Egypt depicts bricks made with mud and straw. Another text known as the Louvre Leather Roll shows how a certain number of bricks were required to be manufactured even with a lack of materials or the slaves were punished.
3. Nomads of YHWH: Hieroglyphic inscriptions date to 1400 BC and describe the "land of the nomads of YHWH," the earliest evidence of Yahweh, the most intimate name for God. These were written on the walls of two different Egyptian temples as well as a temple pillar and showed how the only people who worshiped Yahweh were the Israelites.
4. Merneptah Stele: Dated 1219 BC, this is a ten-foot-high Egyptian stone monument with 28 lines of hieroglyphics describing military campaigns by Pharaoh Merneptah. There is a section on the stele that spells "Israel" in Egyptian hieroglyphs referring to a group of people, not a country.1
Johnson concludes:
"It is realistic to believe that a 40-year exodus of God's people did take place. Of course, faith is required for some biblical events...but there is so much evidence to make belief in the biblical people and the places reasonable."2
Courage and Godspeed,
Chad
Footnotes:
Footnotes:
1. Eric Johnson, Introducing Christianity to Mormons, p. 49-50.
2. Ibid.
Comments
Godspeed
Please provide the relevant data that demonstrates that any or all of these 4 finds are false and I will happily remove them from the post.
Respectfully