The purpose of this work is to come to a conclusion as to when the Exodus occurred. We may not come to a definitive answer, but searching for the truth may just be the entire point. Both the late and early dates of the Exodus will be examined and backed up with historical records as well as the Bible. So let us begin and discern if we can the mysteries surrounding the date of the Exodus.
The Victory Stele of Merneptah, better known as the Merneptah Stele, is a stone relief commissioned by the Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah who reigned from 1213 – 1203 BC during the era of the 19th dynasty. The stele was discovered by Flinders Petrie in 1896 at Thebes, and is now housed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The Merneptah Stele is dated to about the year 1205 BC and among it’s many lines of hieroglyphics, the name Israel is found. The majority of the inscription speaks of Merneptah’s military victories, like those over the Libyans for example, but the last two lines mention a campaign in Canaan where is says that Merneptah defeated Israel. The inscription reads thus, “Israel is laid waste, his seed is no more.” And this inscription is the fist mention of Israel outside of the Bible.
Now even though the late date of the Exodus is placed at about 1270 BC and the Merneptah Stele dates back to around 1205 BC, there could still be a continuity in time for the late date for the Exodus given that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years prior to their settlement in Canaan. So, if we subtract 40 from 1270, then we come to the year 1230 BC for an Israelite conquest of Canaan. Giving Israel the time to settle and to build up their armed forces, then 25 years after the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, Merneptah could very well have come against Israel close to the year 1205 BC, of which time the Merneptah Stele was then engraved.
Now if the Exodus took place around the year 1270 BC, then that would place the identity of the pharaoh who ruled over Egypt at that time to be Ramesses II, also known as “Ramesses the Great” who reigned from 1279 – 1213 BC. Interestingly, in our modern day popular culture Ramesses is the chosen pharaoh for the date of the Exodus, which is seen in such movies as Cecil B. DeMille’s classic The Ten Commandments (1956), and even in the animated film The Prince of Egypt (1998). However, in the Biblical narrative the name of the pharaoh of the Exodus is not given. The Bible simply says, “Pharaoh king of Egypt”, but with no personal name attached to that royal title. Now the name Rameses is mentioned in the book of Exodus, but not after a person. Instead Rameses is mentioned as a city located in the northeastern part of the Egyptian delta, not far from Goshen, the district in which the Hebrews lived. And even though the personal name of the pharaoh of the Exodus is not given, the late date theory of the Exodus paralleled with recorded history would place Ramesses II as that pharaoh. So, now that the late date theory of the Exodus has been explored and a case built up for it’s credibility, let us now examine the possibility for an early date of the Exodus.
According to the Bible the Exodus occurred in the mid-15th century BC. For in I Kings 6:1 we read: “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.” So here the Bible tells us that the Exodus took place 480 years prior to king Solomon’s initial construction of the temple. Now Solomon ascended the throne in the year 970 BC, and if we subtract 4 years from his ascension to when he began to build the temple we come to the year 966 BC. Also, when adding 480 years to 966 BC we arrive at the year 1446 BC to be the official date of the Exodus as outlined in the Bible.
In addition to the Bible giving credence to the early date of the Exodus, an ancient Egyptian artifact dating to the mid-14th century BC, may also back up the claim for an early date of Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt. This artifact is called, “The Israel Berlin Statue Pedestal Relief,” better known as the Berlin Pedestal. What is so significant about this artifact is that on the base of the statue there are three name rings which list the three enemies Pharaoh defeated in the territories of Canaan. One of the name rings is partially broken away, but has been reconstructed and it is the name Israel. So given that the Berlin Pedestal dates to around 1350 BC, then this would help to back up the theory of an early date of the Exodus as stated in the Bible. If the Israelites came out of Egypt in 1446 BC then about one hundred years later the children of Israel would have been well settled in the promised land. If there was no Israelite settlement in Canaan before 1350 BC then Pharaoh would not have had any reason to proclaim a victory over them, because at this time Israel would not have yet existed. But when taking into account of the dating of the Berlin Pedestal at 1350 BC, then we see evidence of an Israelite presence in Canaan well before the late date theory. Now that we have built a case in favor of the early date theory of when the Exodus took place, let us look at one last clue that would also support the Exodus taking place in the mid-15th century BC.
According to an Egyptian text known as the Tulli Papyrus, dating from the reign of Tuthmosis III, the text relates how a disk of fire came down from the sky over the land of Egypt. This “disk of fire” appeared over Egypt during the 22nd year of Tuthmosis III’s reign over Egypt, which brings us to the date of 1486 BC for this epic anomaly. What is even more astounding is that when subtracting 1446 BC (the year of the early date of the Exodus) from 1486 BC we come to a figure of 40 years, the same amount of time that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness before they entered the promised land. Going further, if the Bible means that the 480 years after the children of Israel came out of Egypt was dated to when they entered the land of promise, then this time-line fits perfectly with both the Biblical and historical narratives.
Returning to the disk of fire that came down over Egypt in 1486 BC, and when comparing this celestial event to the pillar of fire that came down over Egypt during the Exodus as mentioned in the Bible, we see an uncanny parallel. Now to the scientific historical view the disk of fire was most likely a comet, but from a Biblical perspective it was the supernatural pillar of fire as mentioned in Exodus 14:24, where it says that the Lord looked through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians. Now according to the research of the British author Graham Phillips this comet, or disk of fire was very large and had ten tails, and was possibly witnessed by other surrounding nations. Now this may be a stretch, but if this fiery comet with ten tails was really the presence of God on earth then each tail could represent the ten commandments and the ten fingers of God which wrote those ten commandments on tables of stone.
After testing and examining the two possible dates of the Exodus (the late and early date theories) I would personally veer towards the early date theory as being a more accurate date for the Exodus. In my opinion there is much more historical, Biblical, and scientific research to support the Exodus taking place in the mid-15th century BC rather than the mid-13th century BC. Though the early date theory is not completely air tight, I would still say that it indeed holds much more water when compared to the late date theory of the Exodus. From the Berlin Pedestal, to the Tulli Papyrus, and even from within the pages of the Holy Bible itself we see a strong argument for dating the Exodus to the early date of 1446 BC. This work has been a short expose of events and time-frames that demand much more research and testing if we are to possibly come to a conclusion as to when the Exodus took place. That being said let us continue to seek the truth, and in so doing may the Spirit of Truth guide us into all truth.
References:
Phillips, G. The End of Eden: The Comet That Changed Civilization. (Rochester, Vermont: Bear & Company, 2007).