subject: Passover in Egypt: Did the Exodus Really Happen? [print this page] Passover in Egypt: Did the Exodus Really Happen?
This question has puzzled biblical scholars, archeologists, and all those interested in solving one of the Old Testament's most intriguing mysteries. Was the story of the Israelites fleeing Egypt after years of slavery history or myth? Were there really 10 plagues that became so progressively terrible that they forced the Pharaoh to finally release all the Israelite slaves? Was there really a leader named Moses, and did he guide this "mixed multitude" for 40 years in the wilderness of the Sinai desert?
Passover is the Jewish festival that celebrates the flight of the Israelites out of Egypt. During this Passover season it is particularly pertinent to wonder, did the Exodus really happen?
Clues and speculations abound regarding alleged evidence discovered for the Exodus, and nearly all have their champions and detractors. It seems that every time a theory is proposed and the Exodus mystery appears to be solved, it is quickly shot down for one reason or another.
Nevertheless, ongoing archeological and etymological investigations into the Exodus have produced some tantalizing items and scholarship. Read the following example and wonder
The Ipuwer Papyrus
How could plagues described in an Egyptian papyrus be so similar to those found in the Bible?
In the early 1800's, a papyrus was found in Egypt called The Admonitions of an Egyptian. It is now in the Leiden Museum in Holland. An Egyptian named Ipuwer wrote it at the end of the Middle Kingdom, around 1650 B.C.E.; scribes copied it in the 19th Dynasty, in the 1200's B.C.E. Below are some of the amazingly similar plagues described in both the Ipuwer papyrus and the Bible. (The biblical plagues befell the Egyptians at the time of Moses and the Exodus, which has been dated sometime between 1570 to 1290 B.C.E.)
IPUWER: The river is blood.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: All the waters of the river were turned to blood. (Exod. 7:20)
IPUWER: Men thirst after water.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: The Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink. (Exod. 7:24)
IPUWER: Gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: And fire came down to earth. (Exod. 9:23)
IPUWER: Everywhere barley has perished.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: And the flax and the barley were smitten. (Exod. 9:31)
IPUWER: The cattle moan because of the state of the land.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: The hand of the Lord is on the cattle, which is in the field. (Exod. 9:3)
IPUWER: Men are few, and he who places his brother in the land is everywhere.The children of princes are dashed against the walls.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: At midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the captive who was in prison. (Exod. 12:29)
IPUWER: Pestilence is throughout the land.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: I have sent forth my hand and smitten you and your people with pestilence. (Exod. 9:15)
IPUWER: The land [was not light or bright]. (This is a guess of translators. It's actually blank on the papyrus.)
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: There was thick darkness (or darkness of gloom) in all the land or Egypt. (Exod. 10:22)
IPUWER: Hair [has fallen out] for everybody.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: He whose hair has fallen out.* (Lev. 13:40)
IPUWER: Gold, lapis lazuli, silver are strung on the necks of maidservants.
EXODUS-LEVITICUS: And they asked of the Egyptians articles of silver and gold and they plundered Egypt. (Exod. 12:35)
*Admittedly this biblical reference about hair falling out occurs after both the writing of Ipuwer and the flight out of Egypt. However, I include it here because in my book, Talking With God: The Radioactive Ark of the Testimony., I explain that the cloud that settled on the ark was radioactive, and one of the effects of close contact was hair loss. Mysteries abound!
The disparity of the dates between the Ipuwer and Exodus documents is enough to convince many scholars that no relation exists between the two. In addition, prevalent theory now claims the papyrus is simply ahistorical. Be that as it may, the similarities are striking, and why they are remains a mystery. Could it be that the scribes who copied the document at the time of the Exodus were experiencing similar calamities to the earlier ones and were using Ipuwer's words to warn the present-day Pharaoh?
The mystery continues
Although the comparisons between the Ipuwer Papyrus and the Bible are tantalizing, Ipuwer alone does not provide absolute evidence for the Exodus and the Passover. For that matter it can't even account for the existence of the Israelites. However, while there is little tangible archeological evidence, there are additional interesting clues. For more clues, see complete article.
Nevertheless, until the mystery is finally solved, we are left to rely on the venerable Passover service to connect us to our past at this holiday season. We must be content to repeat the most pertinent of the famous "Four Questions," which the youngest at the table asks on the first night:
"Why is this night different from all other nights?"
