Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>
> Remember, over in Egyptology they are arguing whether Raamses II the
> Great was the pharaoh of the Exodus or the pharaoh who sacked
> Jerusalem after Solomon died, a difference of two and a half
> centuries.


Dear Karl,

The above is not an Egyptological question, it is one of biblical history. 
There are legitimate arguments among Egyptologists about the precise dates 
of both Ramses II and Sheshonq I, within a decade or two. But since there 
are no Egyptian texts of any Pharaoh that mention the Exodus, and Sheshonq 
I's inscription does not mention Jerusalem, any argument about those events 
are basically between biblical scholars, about whether the chronology and 
known deeds of those kings best fits the background of the biblical events 
in question.

Remember, we get our absolute dates for biblical chronology from Egyptian 
and (mostly) Mesopotamian documents, not vise-versa.

Yigal Levin