Was Moses Really Egyptian?
What can we learn about Moses’ roots from his name? What does this tell us about the authenticity of the Exodus story?
The Exodus
Who Were the Biblical Philistines?
What does archaeology tell us about the biblical Philistines?
Power to the Powerless—A Long-Lost Song of Miriam, George J. Brooke, Biblical Archaeology Review (20:3), May/Jun 1994.
According to the Book of Exodus, after the miracle at the Red Sea—the Israelites have passed through dry-shod and the Egyptians have drowned—Moses and the Israelites sing a victory hymn (Exodus 15:1–19). Immediately following the Song of the Sea, as it is called, is the Song of Miriam: “Then Miriam the prophet, the sister of […]
Pomegranate Scepters and Incense Stand with Pomegranates Found in Priest’s Grave, Michal Artzy, Biblical Archaeology Review (16:1), Jan/Feb 1990.
BAR recently published a beautifully carved ivory pomegranate with an important inscription on it. As partially reconstructed, the engraved inscription around the neck of the pomegranate reads as follows: “Belonging to the House of Yahweh, Holy to the Priests.” Based on this reading, many scholars have concluded that the ivory pomegranate originally came from the Jerusalem Temple […]
The Exodus, 1300-1200 BCE
Highlights- The Story of Moses, 1330-1210 BCE The Battle of Kadesh at the Ramesseum, 1274 BCE Stelae and Reliefs of Pharaoh Merneptah, c. 1207 BCE Papyrus Anastasi V, c. 1200 BCE Overview The Mists of Antiquity 2000-1000 BC, Teddy Kollek and Moshe Pearlman, Jerusalem- Sacred City of Mankind, Steimatzky Ltd., Jerusalem, 1991. Biblical History- From […]
The Battle of Kadesh at the Ramesseum, 1274 BCE
On a wall of his mortuary temple at Thebes, called the Ramesseum, the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE) carved scenes showing the Battle of Kadesh—a clash between the Egyptians and the Hittites fought in 1274 BCE near the Orontes River in modern Syria. Thirteen years later, Ramesses signed a peace treaty with the Hittite […]
Papyrus Anastasi V, c. 1200 BCE
“I was sent forth from the broad halls of the palace… following after two slaves. Now when I reached the enclosure-wall of the Tjeku… they told [me] they were saying to the south that they had passed by on the third of the month of the third season, day 10. [Now] when [I] reached the […]
Stelae and Reliefs of Pharaoh Merneptah, c. 1207 BCE
“Israel is wasted, bare of seed” – Merneptah Stele “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32-29) Date- c. 1207 BCE Current Location- Cairo Museum, Cairo, Egypt Language and Script- Middle (Classical) Egyptian; hieroglyphic Merneptah Stele Close-Up Merneptah Stele Full […]
Leather Scroll: Quota for Brick-making, 1274 BCE
“Paherypedjet son of Paser” is one of the brickmakers who fails to deliver his quota of 2,000 bricks, according to a list on a leather scroll from the fifth year of Ramesses II, now in the Louvre. The text echoes the Biblical story- Pharaoh, angry at Moses, stops providing the Israelites with straw for the […]
The Story of Moses, 1330-1210 BCE
Moses with the Tables of the Law, Rembrandt, 1659. “She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.” – Exodus 2-3 “Carve two tablets of stone like the first and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you […]