As for the archaeology proof, well there is some, but you know it's old news that either you receive as truth or you deny because you don't want to believe it's true.
Okay, we've been over this before, but let me point it out again. There are two possible time periods for the Exodus and the Book of Joshua. One is ca. 1450. The other is ca. 1200. The 1450 date is based on 1 Kings 6:1:
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the LORD.
To the degree that Solomon can be considered historical, he is thought to have begun to rule Israel betweeen 965 and 961. So a date of ca. 960 would be reasonable for his fourth year. An exodus 480 years earlier would be ca. 1440.
The problems with such a date are manifold. First, there should have been a sudden downturn in Egyptian power occasioned by the many plagues, followed by the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Second, there should be archaeological evidence of widespraed destruction of the cities of Canaan as a result of Joshua's conquest ca. 1400. Finally, there should be no Egyptian presence in the Levant from this period until the invasion by Shishak (probably Pharaoh Soshenq, founder of the 22nd. Dynasty) ca. 925. The books of Judges and 1 Samuel list a host of invaders troubling israel during the time before David became king. These include Ishmaelites (Arabs), Midianites, Moabites, Ammonites and Philistines. However, no mention is made of incursions by either the Egyptians or the Hittites.
In point of fact, there was an upturn of Egyptian power starting with the expulsion of the Hyksos and the founding of the New Kingdom by Pharaoh Ahmose I (1570 - 1546) and continuing unbroken to the reign of Akhenaten (1350 - 1334). Under Akhenaten and during the intrregnum following the death of his son Tutankhamun (died 1325) there were Hittite incursions into Syria and the Levant. These were ended when Ramesses II fought the Hittites to a stand-still in the rather muddled battle of Kadesh and re-established Egyptian power in the Levant. There was some weakening of Egyptian power following the death of Ramesses II in 1212; and his son Merneptah (1212 - 1202) had to lead a campaign into Canaan to subdue the peoples there. Egyptian power declined after that, but had a last hurrah under Ramesses III (1182 -1151).
Both history and archaeology tell us that there was a strong Egyptian presence in the Levant from ca. 1480 - ca. 1200, with a brief revival ca. 1180 - 1150. The only widespread destruction of Canaanite cities occurs ca. 1480, and is associated with the invasion of Canaan by Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, who died in 1450. Since none of this fits a scenario of the destruction of Egyptian power and the subsequent permenant absence of Egyptian influence in the Levant until Shoshenq's invasion ca. 925, the biblical date of the Exodus 480 years before the reign of Solomon has been largely discarded.
That leaves us with an Exodus ca. 1200 - 1100, when the Bronze Age power structure was collapsing, Egyptian power was waining, and the region of Canaan was in a state of flux. We also have Merneptah's victory stele ca. 1200, with its mention of a people called Israel among those defeated by Pharaoh Merneptah. Since Israel is already in Canaan according to Merneptah's stela, some have surmised that Ramesses II was the pharaoh of the Exodus - a view made indelible by Yul Brenner's protrayal of him in Cecil B. De Mille's "The Ten Commandments." However, the same problems that plague the 1450 date dog the ca. 1200 Exodus as well. First, there is no evidence of sudden collapse of Egyptian power. In fact, despite erosion of that power, we have revivals of it under Merneptah and Ramesses III. We have archaeological evidence of Egyptian military presence in the Levant under Ramesses III (died 1151). We also have either no evidence of some of the walled cities mentioned in the Book of Joshua or, of those that did exist ca. 1200, no evidence of their destruction at that time.
Thus, when it comes to archaeological or historical support for the Exodus and Conquest narratives of the Bible, there is none. So, Kathy, what is your archaeological evidence to support these biblical narratives?
Robert
