Biblical history can still be traced quite well in extra-biblical sources back to King David. Therefore, the Bible is not completely rejected as a historical source even by atheistic historians. But when it comes to events during the time of the judges and before, things get difficult.

Are there really historical extra-biblical references to biblical events of that time?

Egyptology is a well-studied branch of research and it is believed to have unearthed something about the people of Israel in Egypt at the time of Joseph and Moses. I think she has too. But the sequence of pharaohs and their documentation on inscriptions and papyri is such a complex matter that uncertainties will probably always remain.

“How I love your law! I think about it all day.« (Psalm 119,97:XNUMX) Anyone who loves God's law, the Torah of the five books of Moses, as much as the writer of this Psalm, has certainly asked himself the question: Who were they actually? Pharaohs who ruled in the time of Joseph and Moses? Who was Moses' adoptive mother? Are Joseph, Moses, the ten plagues, and the Exodus not mentioned anywhere in extra-biblical history?

Who was Moses' adoptive mother?

While traditional Egyptian chronology places the beginning of the pharaonic period from 3000 BC, a more recent theory assumes that the pharaohs partly ruled in parallel. This would shrink the time of the pharaohs and would not have come until around 2000 BC. Christ started.

If the traditionalists are correct, then the famous pharaoh Hatshepsut, who posed as a male pharaoh, would indeed be the best candidate for the princess who pulled Moses from the Nile. In this case, Moses may have been the Egyptian Senenmut, who rose from poverty to the highest court positions and was Hatshepsut's closest confidant, but suddenly and inexplicably disappeared from the scene. However, the mummies of his parents »Ramose« and »Hatnofer« (Amram and Jochebed?) were found in a simple grave. Did they die when he was already coregent to Pharaoh and were therefore given an honorable burial by him? But Senenmut's grave was destroyed and his mummy was never found. This would fit in with the fact that Moses' crime and flight had brought disgrace on Egypt and that people wanted to erase his memory.

However, if the new theory is correct, the first Egyptian pharaoh Nofrusobek from the 12th dynasty could have been Moses' adoptive mother. Unlike Hatshepsut, she did not deny her gender as ruler. But she also did not give birth to an heir to the throne. Her father Amenemhat III, who reigned nearly 50 years, long had a co-regent Amenemhat IV, believed by some to be Moses, towards the end of his reign. Because he also suddenly disappeared from the scene again, shortly before Amenemhet III. died. In the absence of a male successor, Nofrusobek ascended the throne.

In any case, Moses' flight to Midian must have raised the issue of succession. Likewise the death of the firstborn in the tenth plague and of the pharaoh in the Red Sea. It would not be surprising, therefore, if the Egyptians had retouched their monumental historiography to conceal this incredible loss of face. Perhaps that is why the Egyptians did not make it easy for scholars to find Moses and the Exodus in extra-biblical sources.

Dating the Ipuwer Papyrus

But the Ipuwer papyrus stands out because of its honest content. For nowhere else in Egyptian records is such a gigantic catastrophe written.

Its official name is Papyrus Leiden I 344 and it is in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden. Paleographically, the copy is in the 19./20. The pharaoh dynasty thus dates to after the 18th dynasty, to which the famous names Ahmose, Amenhotep (Amenhotep), Akhenaten, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Thutmose and Tutankhamun are associated (in alphabetical order). According to traditional dating, this dynasty spans the years 1550–1292 BC. and thus also the time of the biblical Exodus. Because the Bible writes that the exodus from Egypt took place exactly 480 years before the construction of Solomon's temple, i.e. in the year 1446 BC. (1 Kings 6,1:XNUMX).

Whichever chronology you choose to follow. The Ipuwer Papyrus does not predate the biblical date for the Exodus. So there should be nothing wrong with seeing it as a lamentation about the ten biblical plagues that brought Egyptian culture to the brink of the abyss. Let's just let some excerpts work on us.

Contents of the Ipuwer Papyrus

I
The virtuous laments: What has happened in the country? … the Desert tribes have become Egyptians everywhere ... What the ancestors foretold has come true ... The land is overflowing with allies ... The Nile overflows its banks, but no one plows the field after it. Everyone says, 'We don't know what will happen to the land.' The women are sterile... no more men are born because of the conditions in the country.

II
The poor suddenly have riches... can Plague is all over the land, blood is everywhere, death is not lacking … Many dead are buried in the river. The river a tomb, the place of embalming a river. The nobles are in need, but the poor are full of joy. Every city says, 'Let us oppress the mighty!' ... There is filth all over the country and there is nobody whose clothes are white in these times. The land turns like a potter's wheel. The robber has riches … verily, the river has turned to blood, but people drink from it... Surely the gates, pillars and walls have been burned up... Cities have been destroyed and Upper Egypt has become an empty wasteland... Surely there are few people left and everywhere people bury their brothers.

III
Indeed, the desert has spread all over the land... and the foreigners have come to Egypt... Egyptians are no more. Slave women wear necklaces of gold and lapis lazuli, silver and turquoise, carnelian and amethyst... We lack gold... raw materials have run out ... The palace has been plundered ... There is a lack of grain, charcoal, fruit and wood ... Why the treasury without income? … What can we do? ruin everywhere! Laughter has stopped… groans and wails across the land.

IV
Senior and nobody can no longer be distinguished. Verily, great and small say, "I wish to die." Little children say, "I should not have been born." Verily, Princes are smashed against walls … What was seen yesterday is gone; the land groans from its weakness as when flax is pruned... Those who never saw the light of day went out unhindered... All slaves are free to speak. And if her mistress speaks, it disturbs her. Surely the trees have fallen and stripped of their branches.

V
Cake is missing for most children; there is no food... Great peasants are hungry... Verily the hot-blooded says: "If I knew where God is, I would serve him." Runners fight to steal the robbers. All property is taken away. indeed, the animals cry; the cattle complain about the state of the country. indeed, Princes are smashed against walls … Surely the terror kills; the frightened one stops what is done against your enemies. The few are satisfied... Verily, the slaves... throughout the land. Men camp in ambush until the nocturnal wanderer passes. Then they plunder his belongings. They beat him up with sticks and killed him. Surely what was seen yesterday is gone, the land groans from its weakness as when flax is pruned.

VI
indeed, Everywhere the barley is spoiled and the people lack clothing, spices and oil. Everyone says, "There is nothing." The warehouse is empty and its guards are down... The servant has become the master of servants... The writings of the scribes are destroyed... The children of the powerful are thrown into the streets.

VII
Behold, things have happened that have not happened for a long time; the king has been deposed by the mob … Please refer, Egypt fell by pouring water, and he who poured the water on the ground brought misery to the strong. Behold, the serpent is taken out of its hole, and the secrets of the kings of Upper and Lower Egypt are revealed... Behold, those who once had robes are now clothed in rags. But those who could not weave for themselves before now have fine linen. Behold, he who before could not build a boat for himself now possesses a fleet... Behold, he who did not know the lyre before, now owns a harp.

VIII
Behold, who before had no property, now has riches and the mighty praise him. Behold, the poor of the land have become rich... Behold, the slaves have become masters, who were once messengers, now send one of their own... Those who could not slaughter for themselves before now slaughtering bulls ...

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/ipuwer.htm