1:21:30 - This. This is the key thing for me. It's hard for me to imagine Egypt losing that much labor force in one fell swoop without recording it AT ALL.

I think the most important take-away from this discussion is: there is so little evidence for an exodus-type event of Semitic people that current Egyptologists don't even discuss it among themselves. There is just nothing to talk about in that regard.

I had a seminary prof at an ELCA seminary describe it something like this: the Exodus was probably six guys being chased by an Egyptian chariot, which then got stuck in the mud.

Thank you, Drs Bowen and Bryson! I learned much.

The culture of studying ANE history and religion at Hopkins is to be open and open minded and curious, and to consult primary sources. "What is the evidence for the Exodus?" Horemheb is the key. Jewish memory dates the Exodus precisely to 2448 A.M. That date corresponds to 1313 B.C.E. Horemheb was the Pharaoh when the city Akhenaten built was closed by Horemheb and the people who lived there had to leave. Some, with Horemheb himself, returned to Thebes. Some who left, did not stay in Egypt. They sought a new home. Akhenaten was villified by the Egyptian culture. Merenptah's stele has the earliest reference to those who left and didn't go back with Horemheb. "SRAEL SEED IS GONE". Merneptah was assuring his kingdom that the "despised Akhenaten"'s followers that didn't return with Horemheb and had escaped to the North didn't survive. The followers of Akhenaten that went North refused to return to Thebes were Egyptians (Moses, aka the famous "son" aka MS in Egyptian aka the despised Akhenatenites had to hide from the Egypt that Horemheb restored--Merneptah was leader of the restored Egypt. He came back from his excursion to regain hegemony over the Nine Bows and reported his success on the stele, including his confirmation that the despised people who didn't return with Horemheb didn't need to be overcome, because they didn't survive their "exodus". The Exodus narrative, at its core, is about the Egyptians that went north and they survived by denying and hiding that they were once the people who believed in their Pharoah, who didn't survive himself. The references to Moses and the "S RA EL" people are still identifiable by their having been followers of a true Prince of Egypt. Circumcision was a practice of Egyptians. Wearing fringed linens that were purple was a practice of Egyptians. The notion of a soul that is separate from the flesh is a narrative of the Egyptians. The passing of their great history of knowledge of the powers of speech and writing is a narrative of the Egyptians. And those Egyptians, to this day, survived, by denying they were once the people of the great Prince of Egypt, the adopted son of the house of Amenhotep. There's the kernal of the story that is "evidence" of the Exodus.

However much of Exodus is accurate, the scourge is the “promised land” crap that has cause so much conflict and suffering and that promises more of it on a large scale. Debunking the whole thing can help to reduce the violence.

Sitching jokes are like immortal aliens... They never get old!

my criticism of this lecture is that the professors are being overly generous and kind and therefore people are misinterpreting what they're saying and i'm seeing comments "see dr josh says there's there's evidence!" bc he said there could be a kernel of a possible story... and won't just say outright that there's no evidence. but let's be clear: there's no evidence of a long term israelite settlement in egypt, there's no evidence israel was ever in egypt, there's no evidence israel was enslaved in egypt, there's no evidence of the exodus account whatsoever anywhere in egypt. and people have searched. it's not there. the professors are both being very generous and avoiding just calling exodus false. i'm not an egyotologist but i have studied this specifically as part of my masters thesis and there's just no evidence the book of exodus has any truth whatsoever except that egypt really is a place.

The same concept behind the telephone game. The truth gets more twisted, exaggerated, and conflated as time goes on and as it moves from person to person until it's something completely different from what it originally was.

Although I know you are very kind people, and you don’t want to offend anyone, I don’t think it is necessary to respect anyone’s beliefs if they are untrue, as long as you respect the person who holds them.

If the story was true Egypt would have been destroyed and never recovered. Why do people live in fear of the truth? It's time to get brave and tell the truth with confidence.

The simple, not to say facile, way to handle archaeology with regards to biblical narratives is to simply say that the archaeological record gives cultural context to the literary record. Whether one is a believer or nonbeliever, fundamentalist or universalist, the context is valuable.

This is a free lecture, one of the ways I can learn more on something that isn't my undergrad choice.

I love the Kent Hovind impression. That got me.

The Death Angel passover in the old Ten Commandments movie scared the living daylights out of me when it came out at the Drive-In. I was just a wee kid. Had frigging nightmares.

Also, thumbs up on the production quality you've reached. You've really come a long way since your first videos, nice work, no complains here, perfect!

Who thumbs these down? Keep up the excellent work.

Great video. I don’t think the biblical exodus is real but some smaller event might have inspired the story.

The frequent apologies during the Hovind impression only made it funnier!

The title of this video is EVIDENCE FOR THE EXODUS?, a subject I wish to address, but NOT so much from an Egyptian perspective, rather, from an archaeological perspective. The 1960s and 1970s saw teams of archaeologists from Israel searching the Sinai and Negev looking for archaeological evidence of the Exodus. They found NOTHING. What were they looking for? They were seeking pottery sherds of either circa 1446 BC (based on 1 Kings 6:1) or circa 1260 BC and the Ramesside Period (based on Israel's building a treasure city called Rameses). They found neither. Having personally accepted their findings, I asked myself the following question: What, then, is behind the Exodus account of (1) Golden Calf Worship, (2) Moses' smashing the Ten Commandments at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and (3) Where are Israel's encampments? I also realized I needed to explain WHY archaeologists OVERLOOKED these historical kernels embedded within the fictional Exodus account. I found the answers to my new question. By circa 1890 AD Sir Finders Petrie of England, had created Pottery Typologies to date sites by. This system is still used today, with modifications, and archeologists still use Pottery Typologies to date archaeological sites by. I came to realize that the Iron Age Israelites (1200-562 BC) DID NOT HAVE ACCESS to Petrie's Pottery Typologies, and thus they had no way to date correctly the archaeological artifacts littering the Sinai and Negev. I concluded that they had guessed at an Exodus date, 1446 BC (cf. 1 Kings 6:1) and, consequently, THEY HAD MISDATED _EVERYTHING_ IN THE SINAI AND NEGEV AS CIRCA 1446 BC! They also explained away the presence of artifacts as being the physical evidence of Israel's 40 years wanderings. The camps of Israel were everywhere and in plain open view! They turned out to be nomadic camps consisting of stone circle foundations for huts and smaller nearby stone circles for goat corrals. These temporary sites exist in the hundreds all over the Sinai and Negev, and were all misdated to circa 1446 BC. Archaeologists, using Petrie's Pottery Typologies, realized these nomadic camps were of differing ages: Calcolithic/Stone Age (5000 BC) Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, and Iron Age Age periods. It is my understanding that the Iron Age Israelites regarded these goat corrals as the physical evidence Israel must of had cattle, sheep and goats when she left Egypt. Archaeologists had overlooked these nomadic campsites because they were focused on pottery debris of 1446 BC or 1260 BC of a large group in the thousands being Israel. They found nothing. To account for the hundreds of temporary nomadic stone circle sites, the Iron Age Israelites explained them away as physical evidence of a huge hoard of Israelites wandering aimlessly in the Sinai and Negev. As of today (18 June 2023) the site of Mt. Sinai is not agreed upon by a consensus of archaeologists. Why? Archaeologists demand physical proof, pottery debris of a large encampment circa 1446 BC or 1260 BC, and NO site has this debris. I have identified Gebel Serabit el Khadim as one of two sites that are what is behind Mt. Sinai. Why? It has evidence of being a site holy to both Egyptians and Asiatics, who worshipped an Egyptian bovine goddess called Hat-Hor (Hathor in some scholarly texts). Her devotees worshipped her annually with drunken, naked, boisterous, song and dance to thereby emulate her. In myth she takes on different forms, as female cow with udder, suckling Pharaoh as a male calf, in texts, she is identified as the mother of Pharaoh, who is called a Golden Calf. Tomb art shows a solar bark with Horus seated in human form with a hawk's head, in front of Horus, on four legs, is a male calf with a polar star hovering over its back. Old Kingdom Pyramid texts have Pharaoh Pepi (Dynasty 6) pleading: "O Horus, do not leave me boatless, for I am a GOLDEN CALF, BORN OF HEAVEN." The Egyptians identified the Golden Calf with the sun at sunrise, riding a solar bark, on an invisible river Nile, in heaven. Hat-Hor means "House of Hor." So Hat-Hor is not only the heaven Horus makes his home in, she is the Heaven that gives birth to a deceased pharaoh in the form of a Golden Calf. (See the Old Kingdom Pyramid texts). That is to say Hat-Hor is a sky-cow-goddess. Tomb art sometimes shows Hat-Hor, in cow form with stars all over her body as a night sky. Other times Hat-Hor is portrayed as a Golden Cow. Her epithet is NUB, which means "Golden One" in Egyptian texts. I understand the Iron Age Israelites, in error, transferred the drunken, naked, riotous, noisey, song and dance associated with Hat-Hor's devotees, to her son, the Golden Calf (a deceased pharaoh). Now, the shattered remains of the Ten Commandments: Near the Hat-Hor shrine are mounts from which copper and turquoise were mined. Near mine entrances, hewen in to living rock of the mounts, were inscriptions in Hieroglyphs asking the gods to protect the miners and help them find rich veins to exploit. Some inscription were in a Proto-Sinaitic script, an ancestor of Hebrew. Erosion and weathering over hundreds of years separated these inscriptions from the living rock, and they fell into the rock scree rubble at the foot of the mounts. It is my understanding that the Iron Age Israelites explained away these shattered stelae as having been smashed by an outraged Moses, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, upon hearing Israel at song and dance honoring the Golden Calf (at the near by Hat-Hor shrine?). These stelae are rectangular in shape with rounded tops as shown in some Christian art forms. Because archaeologists were seeking pottery debris of either 1446 BC or 1260 BC, they overlooked the shattered Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions dated either circa 1800 BC or 1500 BC. That is to say, it is my understanding that Moses' Shattered Ten Commandments have been found and lie in an Egyptian museum for safe keeping. The curators unaware these are probably what lies behind Moses' Ten Commandments. The "breakthrough" for me in solving the puzzle of where were Israel's encampments was made when I read the diary of a devout Christian Pilgrimess called Egeria, circa the 4th/5th century AD. She noted that her Christian guides she had hired, pointed out to her in the valley approaching Mt. Sinai (Gebel Musa) stone circles which they claimed were the remains of Israel's huts and encampents near Mt. Sinai. Archaeologists later excavated these stone circles and the pottery debris was found to be Early Bronze Age (2300 BC), not Moses' world of 1446/1260 BC. I reasoned to myself, if these stone circle camps had been misidentified by Christian guides, WHY COULDNT THEY HAVE BEEN ALSO MISIDENTIFIED MUCH EARLIER BY IRON AGE ISRAEL? These Christian guides had no access to Petrie's Pottery Typologies, so they were guessing in the dark about when these camps had been created! I reasoned the Iron Age Israelites had probably guessed at an Exodus of 1446 BC (cf. 1 Kings 6:1) and misidentified these Early Bronze Age stone circle camps as being by Israel. They would have identified the spacious plain or Er-Raha as where Israel assembled to witness God's descent on Ras Safsafeh (Mt. Sinai of the Bible). Why Ras Safsafeh, not Gebel Musa? Ras Safsafeh blocks the view from the Er-Raha plain of Gebel Musa, and we are told Israel saw God descend on the holy mount. Accordingly, I understand (as of 18 June 2023, aged 80 years) that... TWO SITES ARE BEHIND MT. SINAI: (1) Gebel Serabit el Khadim for the Golden Calf and the shattered Ten Commandments (Proto-Sinaitic Stelae) (2) Ras Safsafeh for God's descent on Mt. Sinai, witnessed from the Er-Raha plain. So, where is the pottery debris on the plain of Er-Raha? In the 1990s bulldozers uncovered the remains of a Chalcolithic settlement in clearing land to build a hotel for Pilgrims to stay at. It is my understanding that the Iron Age Israelites MISDATED AND MISIDENTIFIED THIS SITE AS THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OF ISRAEL'S Witnessing God's descent on Mt. Sinai (my Ras Safsafeh). That is to say, the Bible is identifying Er-Raha and Ras Safsafeh being Mt. Sinai/Mt. Horeb (the Exilic narrator of 562-560 BC being unaware of Gebel Serabit el Khadem and area being what is behind the Golden Calf and the Ten Commandments). For more in-depth details, google "Academia Profile Walter R. Mattfeld."

This is so good. I have been looking for a discussion this in depth for while and this video popped up 😃

I do have to disagree with Dr. Bowen, _slightly,_ that regarding the loss of the Exodus narrative as fact would not be catastrophic for the more orthodox followers of Judaism, Christianity and to a lesser degree Islam. The symbolism of Jesus as both Passover lamb and as the mighty Joshua entering the "Promised Land" is central to Christianity. Obviously the loss of the Exodus story would have political implications of the claims of the state of Israel today. *I am not disagreeing with the premise that these 3 religions are so far removed from the Exodus - it's loss as a viable historic event - **_should_** NOT affect how people view the traditions and culture they experience today via those three faiths.* Any more than the reality that King Arthur is more legend than history should affect how the citizens of Great Britain see themselves. But the reality is - we would likely see irrational reactions - similar to the Reformation/ Counter Reformation.

That Ezra {the person or group} compiled and published the 'lost' writings from a myriad of sources is heavily weighted given the styles of writing, the subjects covered, and the information contained. We also know that he skewed Cyrus' words and deeds to fit his narratives even while Cyrus was alive and well. His "job" was to provide a back story for the sudden influx of thousands of people from Babylon and give them cover for in essence taking over. Needing to fit the Pentatuch into the oral mythologies of his time and given that Judaism was monotheistic, an Egyptian monotheistic revolution would fit perfectly. Especially one where the entire theology was then rejected and it's practitioners banished. Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten fits in nicely in both time and in theme with just a few minor changes in events and names. The Moses origin story closely follows Egyptian mythology, and places him in much the same royal scenario as Amenhotep IV would have lived. No doubt when Amarna was deserted, the inhabitants being the priesthood and the followers of Akhenaten they'd have been banished from Egypt. HIbaru - them damn troublemakers. Something about Akhenaten tic'd them off so much that they took pains to erase him. You can be assured anyone associated with him would have been treated the same. That Ezra played loosely with truth and history has been shown repeatedly. Why wouldn't he take the 'best' of everyone's oral traditoins and bend them to his task. It worked, didn't it?

*Yam Sof?* The water the Hebrews supposedly crossed was Ym Sf, understood as Yam Suf. Yam means sea or lake. Suf means reed, but Sof means end. So it may have had a double meaning *sea/lake of reeds and of the end*. In Exodus, the sea/lake represented the end of that pharaoh (no real pharaoh matches the Exodus) and the end of slavery for the Hebrews. In Egyptian mythology, the Field of Reeds was a place in the afterlife. ChatGPT claims “In Egyptian mythology, the reed represented several aspects and had various symbolic meanings. One of the prominent representations of the reed was as a hieroglyphic symbol… The reed was often used to denote the concept of existence, life, and stability. Additionally, …. In some depictions, Osiris was portrayed holding a shepherd's crook, which had a distinctive curved top resembling the shape of a reed. This association with Osiris further emphasized the reed's connection to life, rebirth, and the afterlife….” Passage thru Yam Suf is also a reversal of the beginning: in the beginning in Genesis 1 the waters were separated to make land for people. In Exodus they were separated to let Yahweh’s people into the Promised Land, start their series of genocides, and form the nation. A major impetus for writing the Exodus seems to have been to encourage the Jews who had recently left the Babylonian Captivity to “rebuild” their nation, even though some people had never left. So the Israelites walked thru the waters of the End/Reeds/Existence (puns are frequently used). It was the end of their slavery and Egyptian rule over them. But it is also a reversal of the beginning: in the beginning in Genesis 1 the waters were separated to make land for people. In Exodus they were separated to let Yahweh’s people into the Promised Land, start their series of genocides, and form the nation. Two pyramids refer to purification in the marsh of reeds. @42:00 “The Monumental Impact of Egypt on the Bible” on the MythVision KZfaq channel. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qrWDZZpimq2qdJ8.html Hebrew has words for swamp and marsh, so if there is a connection between Yam Suf and the cleansing reeds, maybe the Exodus merely refers to a larger body of water. Yam If may refer to the Great Bitter Lake This would make sense literarily, since bitter water is used as a loyalty test in the Hebrew Bible. BibleArchaeology.org the name yam suph is used in reference to the Gulf of Aqaba (Ex 23:31; Nm 21:4; Dt 1:40, 2:1; 1 Kgs 9:26) and apparently the Gulf of Suez (Nm 33:10-11). That makes both legitimate candidates for the sea crossing location… … marshy lakes to the east (of the Isthmus of Suez), and the desert beyond. In antiquity there were five lakes in this narrow strip of land: Ballah Lake, Lake Timsah, Great Bitter Lake and Little Bitter Lake. Marah - bitterness - a fountain at the sixth station of the Israelites (Ex. 15:23, 24; Num. 33:8) whose waters were so bitter that they could not drink them. On this account they murmured against Moses… So the Israelites expressed disloyalty at Marah. But Marah is not a metaphor for the crossing, because only the Israelites are mentioned drinking the water there. Maybe a major impetus for writing the Exodus was to encourage the Jews who had recently left the Babylonian Captivity to rebuild their nation.

First, let me thank you for your wonderful channell above all and this most interesting interview, which made me know this amazing Egyptologist, Dr. Karen (Maggi) Bryson, who, as all true sages, including yourself, shares her wisdom and knowledge with charming humbleness, making us learn the subject more easily as well with her graceful and elegant style. I'd also like to thank you for the wonderful links given here! Well, although I do have my own beliefs as an eclectic Taoist, I would never rely on religious texts by themselves to find the reality of what really happened but only on historical science and archaeology, the religious writings may be useful in this context at the most as some sort of literary comparison with the actual archaeological finds and historical documents. Although I'm no scholar and don´t even master any of the old languages of the Middle East, from what I've been able to read in English translations about these subjects, I've been convinced that some of the main myths of the Bible (like Noah's, Job's, etc) were actually inspired on their much earlier Sumerian counterparts and the later, but still older, Babylonian sources. I'm also convinced that the older Canaanite gods El and Asherah (the Ugaritic Ilu and Athirath, according to what I could read in English about them) are the forerunners of what later became the Jewish El and the Queen of the Shabbat in Jewish oral tradition. And, of course, the very findings in the Elephantine Papyri show that even the supposed fundamentalism of Jewish orthodoxy was not followed by all Jews as sternly as the writers of the Jewish scriptures would have us believe, at least not everywhere, since these texts tell of a syncretic Jewish temple which worshiped at least two Egyptian deities along with the Jewish Yaweh: This old scholarly work "The Significance of the Elephantine Papyri for the History of Hebrew Religion" by Stanley A. Cook is available for online reading on the JSTOR site. One can also download 38 pages of the book on a PDF they offer for free there. www.jstor.org/stable/3155577?seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents On page 349, one can read at the end of the first paragraph (which actually begins in the previous page): " ... Life in Elephantine afforded the opportunity for the intermingling of cults, and the papyri reveal the astonishing fact that, although the Jews appear fervent and genuine worshipers of Yahu, so far from practicing the strict monotheism which is characteristic of Jewish prophetism and legalism, they EVEN ADMIT TWO OTHER DEITIES BY THE SIDE OF YAHU (YAWEH), AND THUS AFFORD A STRIKING EXAMPLE OF THAT FREEDOM AND LAXITY AGAINST WHICH THE MORE SPIRITUAL MINDS IN ISRAEL HAD TO PROTEST. ..." Stanley Cook in "The Significance of the Elephantine Papyri for the History of the Hebrew Religion” www.jstor.org/stable/3155577?seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents By the way, I've just found this free PDF with 648 pages, comprising 175 of the documents in this scholarly work: THE ELEPHANTINE PAPYRI IN ENGLISH - THREE MILLENNIA OF CROSS-CULTURAL CONTINUITY AND CHANGE BY BEZALEL PORTEN With J.Joe l Farber, Cary J. Martin, Gunter Vittmannm, Leslie S.B. MacCoull, Sarah Clackson and contributions by Simon Hopkins and Ramon Katzoff www.baytagoodah.com/uploads/9/5/6/0/95600058/the_elephantine_papyri_in_english.pdf I guess both Dr. Maggi Bryson and Dr. Josh himself know about Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman's work 'The Bible Unearthed' (there also video interviews with the authors here on KZfaq and many good articles about it available over the web). www.amazon.com/Bible-Unearthed-Archaeologys-Vision-Ancient/dp/0684869136/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Bible+Unearthed&qid=1593210635&sr=8-1 For those who are not acquainted with their book yet, but would like to have an introduction to the subject, I would suggest this article, whose excerpt below gives a good overview of the core of this topic in the light of these archaeologists' finds, in the article by Assaf Kamer in Ynet: ' ... Prof. Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University, an internationally renowned expert in biblical archaeology, explained the historical background of the biblical Exodus story as revealed from archaeological excavations: "In the Late Bronze Age, from the 15th century to the 12th century BCE, Egypt dominated the Land of Israel. Of course, after 350 or 400 years of Egyptian rule in Israel, influences of Egyptian culture entered the Land of Israel in various areas of everyday life. Then two things happened that are related to that same issue: there was a complete collapse of urban centers and of kingdoms and empires in the ancient Middle East, and Egypt withdrew from Israel!" ...' "... Based on the archaeological finds, the biblical Exodus story's the time period, it was actually the Egyptians who ruled the Land of Israel. There is much material evidence scattered across the country. A prominent example of the Egyptian regime in Israel is the large Ramses fortress, the remains of which are hidden beneath the hilltop of Old Jaffa. ..." In "Did the Exodus really happen? " "Archeological researchers find no evidence that the biblical Exodus as recounted in the Passover story happened, but rather the Egyptians ruled Israel during that period and that it was they who eventually left, though gradually." by Assaf Kamer www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4795318,00.html

Great, thank you Drs Bowen and Bryson

Actual content starts at 10:49.

"People in oral traditions can preserve fairly accurate memories over very long spans of time" (34:30). Citation, please. I'm skeptical of this statement, which one hears all the time. Research shows oral traditions evolve constantly to suit the story-teller's audience.

Finally an Egyptian take on this!

Die hard is to Christmas movies what fireworks are to the 4th of July The best part, and incomplete without it

I have two questions, the answers of which might help here: Q1: when the ancient Egyptians started calling their kings Pharaoh ? Was the term Pharaoh mentioned anywhere in hieroglyphs ? Q2: What ancient Egypt used to be called during the times when these stories were written?

This story of groups of people moving in and out of the settled society reminds me of the way David Graeber speaks about the money & taxing system in Mesopotamia and Assyria. He said people could choose to grow certain more regular standardised plants or animals, but that these would be taxed. Other people could live in the untaxed world and be free, but without certain privileges going along with it. Would that freedom describe the Apiru? And would it follow the original split between Kain and Able, the settled farmer and the (semi)nomad hunter-gatherer-herder?

That awkward silence at the beginning of a recorded livestream. It's like you're not even supposed to be here yet even though the stream was in the past

If Exodus was a retelling of a real event, how come there is no name for the Pharaoh in the story. If this was a real event, surely the very key information of the story, i.e. the name of the very main culprit in the story, would have been mentioned! Such a thing happens to a story, which at the time of its happening is so unimportant, or the story is made up far into future when people do not even remember the names or details.

This is the first I've seen of this episode. Great work Josh, Megan and all your guests. I enjoy how you guys focus on what the scholarship says. Dr Bryson helped to paint an excellent picture, including the complexity of the history and the issues. Thanks. Liked and Subscribed.

Fun fact, today i had to write an article about dance in ancient egypt... Conclusion was "since there is no video evidence, we can only asume how they danced from descriptions and depictions" probably it looked nothing like modern belly dancing as many people want to believe, but that doesnt make belly dancing less fun: buy this stuff"(yeah, i had to write this article for a website that sells egtprian stuff... I try to keep it real about the info, but being entretaining and selling the stuff is the real objective of my boss and its a job after all)

Omg that was hilarious when Josh read the questions as Kent Hovind!! Perfect comparison!!!🤣🤣🤣

That's a staggeringly large number of people in that context. If you take a million people, anywhere in the world, and just try to march them across the country as a group, you'd rapidly run into problems with them feeding themselves, finding water for themselves, etc. etc. And I'm talking about *today*, in the modern world - much less in primitive times. It's hard to imagine that working logistically. At the very least I'd say the burden of proof is on the person who wants to claim it happened without absolutely disastrous consequences (like 80 or 90 percent of them just dying in the wilderness).

Only caught the last part of this live- really interesting. But what was priceless was the Moment Dr Josh realised he was about to start randomly talking in a funny accent, and it was going to get weird. You have to admire him for just pushing through with it - the cherry on the top being the pause to explain to Dr Bryson what was going on, knowing all the time that the more you have to explain the joke, the less funny it is - which, ironically is really funny. Comedy gold.

The fact is that there is zero archaeological evidence for the historicity of the Exodus story as written. ZERO.

27:00 - "Conquered without striking a blow." That sounds to me like an "economic" takeover. They immigrated to the region, were accepted, and settled in and participated in the economy and did so "well," gaining economic power and status and so on. First thing the locals knew, the foreigners were more or less running things. They got fed up with it and eventually ran them off, which the foreign people probably saw as having their wealth "stolen" from them.

Maggie, I once was a Mormon, and as such, I somehow was convinced that the Book of Abraham was a true book of scripture. I am familiar of the comments of Dr. Ritner on the book, but I am curious to learn your academic opinion. I am a retired professor of English and Spanish, but ancient scripture was only a part of my world lit classes, not something i was familiar with. Messnge me should you be willing to share your opinion with me. Thanks.

Maybe a family and some of their friends left Egypt and had a bad road trip, like a Griswald outing. Then because they could write, it became an embellished saga. Thanks for educated way of explinationing.

58:20 - That is *exactly* what some people are saying. There's a group of people out there who take the position that *everything* in the Bible absolutely happened and happened in exactly the way it's stated. Now, I'm fine if scholars just choose to ignore those people (because they're definitely not easy to argue with because of how obstinately they're "dug in"), but they're out there.

I suspect the question regarding a series of plagues 1:58:00 had more to do with the 10 plagues that Moses is supposed to have performed to get the Israelites out of Egypt - not illnesses like the "black death" per-se. Like the plague of locusts or the Nile turning to blood - that sort of thing.

Who was the most ancient king or ruler of egypt

:Any connection between "Am Yizrael" and "Amu"? The "People of Yizrael""? Wouldn't those people in Egypt and the Levant be the actual ancestors of eventual "Yizraelites"? I mean just the statistical probability would seem fairly high that all of these influence or add to the eventual Yizraelite population. And the Exodus is supposed to be a "mixed multitude" which makes sense. And "Habiru" being different groups of people or "tribes" would make sense as a very diverse proto-Izrealite population or populations that would all add to the later Hebrew or Yizrealite identity. But in all likelihood, all these groups are probably "proto-Izrealites" to different degrees, as they would likely all influence the population, and genomics of the eventual Am Yizrael.

Maggie is phenomenal.

to be honest I feel this would have gone better. If she started out saying the Exodus didn't happen as we have been taught. And lay out real evidence with pictures supporting data. IMHO

Could the volcanic destruction of the island of Santorini had an effect on the tradition of the Hebrews over a long period of time eventually being written in the Torah

Loved the conversation! Do you think you could convince Dr. Bryson to come back to talk about David Rohl and the Patterns of Evidence documentary? I'd love to hear her thoughts about his New Chronology model.

Has your thesis been published? I love the transition between the 18th and 19th dynasties, and would gladly read a thesis on the reign of Horemheb.

I’ve always had a difficult time with the description of the biblical Exodus and if it really took place at all. I think that if it really happened the way the Bible describes there should be an abundance of archeological artifacts with something as small as a piece of pottery but nothing has been found to validate the Biblical Exodus.The Bible describes the Israelites wondering in the desert for 40 years which I don’t believe because a trip that allegedly took 40 years should have only taken a few weeks up to a month at the most. Also within a 40 year period there would most definitely be some sort of archeological artifacts but there isn’t. I don’t believe the Bible description of the Exodus.

I enjoyed this video. Even as a lay person, I’ve been highly interested in this topic since I was a teen. It started out as an interest in confirming the Hebrew Bible. The first book I read, on this kind of topic, was “Pharoahs and Kings” by David Rohl. Fast forward to my forties, and I’m now an agnostic-atheist. Anyway, I can appreciate your Kent Hovind impression! Lol, to be even more accurate, just speak 3x as fast, because he is a fast-talker ;-)

By the way there are more than one exodus traditions in the bible

No, my 300 pounds stayed 300 pounds. I was able to do that my junior year of high school. Probably did it three or four times, and then once I got distracted from the exercise never returned to that point again. My high school was very small - only 30 people in my graduating class, but I was one of two who were able to press that much around that time.

@1:49 on the alternative translations, it’s: the sea of reeds or the sea of the end.

26:36 That reminds me of the Glorious Revolution when William of Orange was invited to take the throne from James II, because his subjects didn't like that James was a Catholic. William (who was Dutch) pretty much conquered England without a fight. 1:50:30 Indeed. I have read that Viking men wore makeup and yeah if one looks at the clothing of seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe both men and women wore elaborate and colorful clothes. Even military uniforms used to be colorful and bright. Good example are the wonderful uniforms of Napoleonic Wars. And there is this tribe in Africa called Wodaabe, they traditionally have beauty competitions between men not women. And I got to say Wodaabe men are indeed very beautiful. 1:53:15 Aaw, kitty is drunk. She's my favorite god, purrrr.

Lol, that was a spot on Hovind impression, Dr. Bowen.

Im still watching it but i guess it will not come up in the video... I have a QUESTION: how much evidence have been found about interaction between egypt, sumerians and or ancient india? Be it war, commerce or whatever...

From the part that says that the Red Sea open to let them pass…. Who will believe the rest of baloney…

Fantastic job with this! I’ve read a novel called finding Atlantis. Author was John Pelligrino. He covered a story about how the volcano 🌋 on Santorini erupted and the ash, clouds caused a famine. The Egyptians had to let the Habiru go. This was around 1600 bc

Another great stream, hats off to you all. Dr. Bryson was very interesting, informative, fun and I’d like to see her on the channel again. 👍👍👍

The interviews with Dr's Bryson, Reed and Baden have been generally excellent. Just re-listening to this interview and it is just reminding me about how much I liked it the first time.

Josh's Kent Hoving impression kicks ass! I actually talked to Kent Hoving on the phone briefly one time, I called Dinosaur Adventure Land and it went to his cell phone. He really does sound exactly like that, none of it is an act or a show.

Interesting conversation in this event, especially Dr Maggie’s answers showing that beautiful academic restraint, other than religious total affirmation. The idea of 2 to 3 million people walking out of Egypt when demographers seem to suggest the whole global population at that time was roughly 50 million seems a long stretch. This would mean that 4 to 6 percent of the entirety of humanity, packed their bags, gave Pharaoh the finger and bugged out, seems, kindly putting it, implausible. Something may have happened, perhaps on not such great scale. The time distance between event and actual written account would seem to be about 6 to 7 hundred years maybe even 8 hundred, leaving plenty of scope for massive embellishment, especially considering, that the appropriate sciences and arts did not exist at that time. The story is really about God’s deliverance of people and persons from trials and oppression, other than the nitty gritty archaeological fact finding of a long march. The Alabamie Kid.

MEGA - Make Egypt Great Again! Ok, editing that you caught that too. Guess we think along the same lines.

Hi Dr. Josh, this was a great interview. It would be really interesting to see you do an interview with Egyptologist David Rohl.

I think my biggest memory of this video is going to be "Right?" 🙂

Loved it! My second time through!

What was the music before _"Sweet Home Akkadia"_ ? Actually, I don't think it sounds anything like the Lynyrd Skynyrd song at all. Not even a variation or an inversion. I think to suggest so is grossly insulting to the composer of your theme music. {:-:-:}

Great video, interview, guest and host! Love the show!

If I were 25 yrs younger, I would try to date Dr Bryson....brains and charm!!

Great videos. Contentwise, tonewise, and productionwise. As an amateur-hebraist and bible-enthusiastic your videos are really insightful. All the best from Holland :)

11:30 Content begins after long intro.

Great topic I wish I could have caught this live

What happened to the giant mute button? How will you defend yourself against intruders????

I'd like to thank Digital Hammurabi besides for the great video, for the subtitles in Spanish as well. Dra. Bryson thank you too for your wonderful contribution!

Habiru is mostly likely a compound word from Hapi (Egyptian god, responsible for flooding of Nile, he was also depicted with the head of baboon, like the Hunaman, the Hindu god with the head of an monkey/ape) plus RA (Prominent Egyptian god). Therefore the mischievous nature of the Hapira is probably a play on the primate’s playful and destructive nature.

Dr. Josh, I remember seeing your book on reading cuneiform when I was at a library… I want to say Boston, but I may have actually even borrowed it in Portland but not actually followed through. I love your openness and am all feels over your self-deprecation. I’m pulling for you with your health problems. ❤️❤️❤️

We have letters from the el amarna period were cenaan kings complain that the habiro fight them and cause all sorts of trouble

@1:19:1 There’s very little Egyptian records of failure or loss of wars by pharaohs. Such would be the case of losing one’s slave population, no? Perhaps not recorded?

And Die Hard is a Christmas movie. That’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a demonstrable fact.

How can a person get an Asiatic person confused with a black person from Egypt in that time.

I gave up after 10 minutes of random host comments. Let her tell a story.

The book of exodus is unrealistic

Why does Dr. Bryson steadfastly avoid the terms “Canaan” and “Canaanite?”

Right ?

FYI: The oldest extra biblical reference to Yahweh is in the Sudan at the temple of Soleb from 1400BC written in a stone temple column of a Soleb Amenhotep III 1397-1358BV. It says ‘The land of the Shashu of Yahweh”.

Wonderful episode very well done

The interview would have been half as long if MB hadn't said "right" every third word.

Great video! :)

I just want to know what the lady with the information has to say I'm not interested in your constant interruptions.

It has been said the that Hebrews (Habiru) were known as a warrior class and invited (from the Levant) by Egypt to guard the northern/nw border of Egypt. And when the efforts to create empire were winding down, with nothing for the Hebrews to be doing, a mistrust started to develop of them (maybe in Ramses II time?) based on the thought the Hebrews were disaffected without work to do might turn on Egypt, and did not really consider themselves Egyptians so did not have the dedication Egyptians had to volunteer their time to work on the pyramids. Were the Hebrews and their families living in Egypt for many generations, starting with the reign of Thutmose III?

This is a cool vid even tho i havent read on this field but i see she doesnt think an Exodus didnt happen exactly Michael Hieser has stuff on this and he says some cool things.

*Per Rameses* Doesn’t the Hebrew refer to this as only “Ramses”? It sounds to me as tho the author heard of the town second hand and thought the “Per” (“House”) part was a generic description, just as someone unfamiliar with USA names might hear of Salt Lake City, but refer to it as Salt Lake.

Earlier, plenty evidence for a Semitic migration in the Goshen region during the middle kingdom.

210 years from when Jacob's family arrived in Egypt not 400 +

I learned a lot and really enjoyed this conversation, but the Hovind impression really comes across as rude to your guests. I've thought this before, but this is the first time I've remembered to mention how this seems to diminish the respectability of your show and belittles your guests by seeming to not take them seriously after they've put a lot of thought into their answers over the course of the interviews. Perhaps you can save this for strictly comments after you've thanked your guest at the end of an interview?