NOTES ON THE DATING OF THE EXODUS
A. Date of the Exodus
1. While there is no direct evidence from Egypt that the ancestors of Israel lived there before Israel came into Canaan, there is indirect evidence in the biblical material which has suggested for some scholars a possible early connection between the ancestors of Israel and Egypt.
* Many Israelites in the Exodus stories have Egyptian names (Moses, Aaron, Hophni, Phineas, Shiphrah, Puah).2. The biblical material is not all that helpful in the matter of the date of the exodus. 1 Kgs 6:1 puts the date of the start of building Solomon's temple (Solomon's 4th year, c. 970 BCE) 480 years after the exodus. This would put the exodus at c. 1450 BCE. Some scholars accept this date. The main problems with it are that documents from Palestine found in Egypt dated to the 15th-14th centuries do not mention Israel in Canaan then. Also the best identifications for the Pharaohs who oppressed Israel in Egypt on building projects come from the 13th century.
* West Semitic groups are known to have spent time in Egypt in the second millennium, especially the Hyksos (18th-16th cent.) and capiru groups in the 15th cent.
* The store cities built by the Israelites in Exod 1:11, Pithom and Raamses, could have Egyptian names (pr-'tm, "house of Atum; and pr-r'mssw) The first could be identified with a tell in the north of Egypt dating to a time which would fit the biblical situation.
Other scholars argue for a date of the Exodus in the 13th cent. Gen 15:13 and Exod 12:40 put the length of stay in Egypt at 400 and 430 years respectively. W.F. Albright and others have suggested the migration of the Hyksos people, a west Semitic group, into Egypt c. 1750 BCE could be a good time to locate the movement of Israel's ancestors there. The Hyksos succeeded in taking over the Egyptian throne at that time so the situation is one that would support the idea of Joseph gaining power in Egypt. If Gen 15:13 and Exod 12:40 are accepted then this would locate the exodus at c. 1320 BCE. (Cf Gen 15:16; Ex 1:2 and 6:14-20 which give the stay in Egypt as 4 generations, 100-150? years)
The most important piece of Egyptian evidence for the dating of the exodus is the Merneptah stele c. 1219 BCE. It records Merneptah's victories in Canaan. Merneptah was Pharaoh from c 1224-1211 BCE. See the extract in this material attached. This points to the presence of a group called "Israel" in Canaan before c. 1219. If the exodus took place just before this, a minimal date, it would suggest the Pharaoh of the oppression was Raamses II (1290-1224 BCE). He was the most prolific builder in Egypt's history. In addition to this, Num 20, 21 refer to the exodus route through the lands of Edom, Moab, and Ammon and portray these people as settled nations. Archaeological evidence from the Transjordan area suggests there was no substantial permanent settlement in the region before the 13th century. Thus a significant group of scholars would argue for a date of the exodus in the first half of the 13th century.
3. Some Egyptian material could suggest indirectly that the exodus was a much smaller event than portrayed in the book of Exodus. There is no reference at all in Egyptian literature to the slavery of large foreign groups, nor to a large group of slaves escaping, nor to the death of a prince at this time, nor to a defeat of a Pharaoh's army at the Reed Sea. These are not insignificant events as told by the Bible and yet they are not found in extant Egyptian literature. On the other hand, we should note Papyrus Anastasi V (c end 13th century; ANET p. 259b) which reports the escape of 2 (!) slaves over the frontier.
In conclusion, this information would suggest:
a. that the exodus took place probably in the early 13th century. However, nothing is certain and it could have been the late 14th century or less likely as early as c. 1450 BCE,But all this works on the premise that the story in the early part of the book of Exodus does in fact portray events that took place in the early history of Israel. As we will see there are other ways of looking at this material and other hypotheses about how the people of Israel became an identifiable group.
b. the exodus could have been a much smaller affair than the books of Exodus-Numbers make out.
B. Josh 1-12 speaks about the whole of Israel invading the land of Canaan in three distinct campaigns:
1. one in Benjaminite territory - Jericho and Ai (6:1-8:29)C. Locating the ancestral narratives.
2. a southern campaign against 5 kings - Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon (ch. 10). Note vv. 40-43.
3. a northern campaign against kings from around Galilee (ch. 11). Note vv. 43-45.
We have noted above that attempts to date the exodus as an historical event have usually focussed on the 13th century BCE, or possibly the 14th century, or even the latter half of the 15th century.
Exod 12:40 claims that the Israelites were captive in Egypt for 430 years. Gen 15:13 puts the stay in Egypt as 400 years (although cf. v. 16 which mentions four generations). This would locate the ancestral narratives in Genesis somewhere between the 17th and 19th centuries BCE.
The scholars whose opinions are quoted in the handout have endeavoured to see if the life style, customs and religion of the ancestors in Genesis fit the period calculated above. They have done this by examining artefacts and written evidence from the period. They want to know to what degree, if at all, the narratives in Genesis reflect the ancient Near Eastern world of the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. They have drawn quite different conclusions.
D. Discussions on the dating of the exodus:
H. WallaceBoadt, Reading the OT pp. 155-164
Miller and Hayes, History of Ancient Israel and Judah pp. 63-69
Bright, History of Israel (3rd ed.) pp. 120-124
de Vaux, Early History of Israel pp. 388-392
Kitchen, K.A. "The Exodus," ABD Vol 2, pp. 700-707