The Biblical Exodus and Egyptian Records.

I saw a show on the History Channel the other day about the Biblical exodus. It was fascinating but I do not believe for a second that it actually happened. It is quite the story--plagues, parting of the Red Sea, water turning to blood, food falling from the sky and the execution of all Egyptian male first born children. Here are some of the things I learned from the show. Some of it I knew before and some I didn't:

It's a story that has endured for ages, which is critical to three of the main religions in the world and is known in many cultures. Except one--Egypt herself. That's right, there isn't so much as a word in the Egyptian annals about the exodus. Not only that but there isn't even any record of the Jews being slaves in Egypt!! And there is little to no evidence that Jews were even living in Egypt at all. In addition, there is no evidence of a mass habitation of people in the Sinai desert.

Now, you'd think that the Egyptians would have something to say about such an amazing series of events that occurred in and around their country. Especially being the most powerful empire at the time and being extremely meticulous record keepers. Some claim that the Egyptians didn't want to record the exodus because it was embarrassing yet the records are full of other embarrassing moments in Egyptian history. Everything from civil revolts to famines and scandals.

It makes for a great story and great movies but it most likely never happened. At best (like most of the Bible) it is a story with a tiny grain of truth embellished over time like most legends and myths. Not unlike historical fiction works of today like, "The Da Vinci Code."

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