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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Year of Exodus
  • Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 07:54:35 +0200

I feel somewhat misrepresented here, which is probably my own fault. In my previous post, I set out to present the "mainstream" view of those scholars, who do assume that there was some sort of historical event that lies behind the Exodus story. This is what I understood Oun Kwon's original question to be about. In other words, "assuming that there WAS an "Exodus", when was it most likely to happen?" For the record, I also think that there must have been SOMETHING behind the story, and that the 13th century, i.e. the reign of Raamses II, is the most likely time for it. I also realize that since there is no hard evidence, my opinion is no more than that, and other opinions, as long as they don't contradict what evidence there is, are also legitimate. I specifically stated that I would let Karl, Jim and others present their own views, and I think that they certainly have.

Yigal Levin
----- Original Message ----- From: "G. Zack" <atdgz AT hotmail.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 12:36 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Year of Exodus




Further to your mention of Hoffmeier and, in partial challenge to Yigal's somewhat categorical claim that there is no extra-biblical support to the Exodus narrative, in a recent article in BAR Hoffmeier does argue for the availability of such evidence, arguing against deniers such as Finkelstein and others.

He points out to recent excavations in the Nile Delta and other Egyptian sources and establishes, e.g. that Delta towns such as Pi'Atoum were not in existence in later centuries and could not be the basis to late narrative projected backwards.

If memory serves I believe that Hoffmeier shows that Ramssess existed as a town only betweem 1275 and 1075 BC.

He uses other places mentioned in the narrative as well as practices of Semetic slave-labour, the practice of mus brick making, harsh quotas and straw deprivation etc. as, again, all pointing to mid 1200 bc as the likely period.

Indeed, if accepted, the numbers would always remain an issue as well as the biblical narrative that claims Exodus as the SOLE demographic source of the emerging Israelite nation, as opposed to being only one component as much evidence suggests, that managed, however, to imprint its lore as central in the Israelites annals known as the Bible.

But away from such "historicity"-- there is, according to Hoffmeier, archaeological and topographical evidence that supports the Exodus narrative as a plausible account of some people's/clans'/families' departure from an abusive sejourn in Egypt circa 1230...

Gad Za'k
Canada

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:50:19 -0800
From: uhurwitz AT yahoo.com
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] Year of Exodus

Yigal has written:

"So, while the match is not perfect, the most logical time for an Israelite
conquest (or whatever historical process came to be described as the
conquest) is around 1200, with the Exodus occuring around 1240 BCE. Of
course, there IS no actual evidence of either..."


There is always the possibility that Exodus does retain general memories.

That some ancestors of Israelites had indeed been in Egypt; that they were
in bondage; and , significantly, picked up there a belief in a single deity
intolerant of other gods, can be supported, though not proven, by much extra-biblical material .

Therefore, one can fully accept the outline of the Exodus story, as well as the
Patriarchs narratives, as Outline History. This was of course done before, see e.g A.Malamat. As for Egypt, no serious discussion of the subject can exclude
the views of K. Kitchen and Hoffmeier.

What is difficult to accept are the large numbers involved in the Exodus narratives;
further, that not all Hebrews had gone to Egypt was assumed by major scholars such as Albright, and Meek a long time ago.

Uri Hurwitz Great Neck, NY








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