Is there any evidence of the ten plagues in Hieroglyphics or is that a legend?
asked Oct 26, 2011 at 5:44
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meta.history.stackexchange.com/questions/88/…– NapoleonothecakeOct 26, 2011 at 21:56
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You accepted an answer which has no substantiation other than Wikipedia, (often reflecting little more than the bias of the most recent editor) and many of the answer's claims are by no means conclusive even based on those citations. Perhaps investigate this subject further: For starters, See pilgrimtours.com/mideast/israel/Info/ExodusNile.pdf - The Historicity of Joseph. For a more scholarly discussion of confirmation of parts of the biblical account, see "The Jews of Egypt: From Rameses II to Emperor Hadrian" from The Jewish Publication society, a scholarly work.– user2590Aug 13, 2013 at 7:02
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See my comments on the accepted answer.– user2590Aug 13, 2013 at 7:07
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As of now we are researching and excavating all areas around Jerusalem and layer after layer is really changing all of my opinions of biblical belief, as well as current visits to Cairo, which opened many more questions. I will not elaborate in which direction, that will be up to anyone interested in doing it for yourself. Abstemious!!– user3657Feb 7, 2014 at 19:51
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2 Answers
There is no evidence at all for any of the biblical stories involving Egypt. There is also overwhelming evidence that the origin of the Israelites is indigenous. There is no indication of a takeover as described in the Bible for example.
As for the plagues themselves, although there is one papyrus describing a series of disasters they do not fit with the ones described in the Bible, and neither do they fit in time with what is described in Exodus, which describes a New Kingdom Egypt, while the disasters in the papyrus must have been Middle or even Old Kingdom.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagues_of_Egypt#Historicity
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus#Historicity_debate for sources.
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1There are claims of a stele that reads something like "Israel is destroyed and it's seed is no more." However, I can also find some historians claiming that this is a miss-translation. davidovits.info/496/… Oct 27, 2011 at 6:33
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2@Rincewind42: Egypt was in plenty of wars with Egypt and the area was at some time ruled by Egypt, etc. That doesn't corroborate the Bible it actually contradicts it, because nowhere is this mentioned in the Bible. I read your link, and my nut-case alarms went off. His tone is rather over the top, calling things "forgery" when it can be easily a mistake, and his resulting translation makes no sense. So I checked up who he is. I'm happy to report that my early warning system is working just fine. :-) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Davidovits Oct 27, 2011 at 7:31
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I had a feeling that he was a crack but not sure. My original source of this was a History Chanel show of the History of Israel. It claimed that the stele shows that Israel was a separate country from Egypt at this time. So does this mean that you read this stele as mentioning Israel or are both claims bogus? Oct 27, 2011 at 9:14
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1I don't know anything about ancient Egyptian, but the inscription seem to claim that a people (not a state, notably) with a name plausibly similar to Israel has been defeated, yes. We can never be 100% sure of course, but that seems a likely interpretation. Oct 27, 2011 at 11:50
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What is now Israel has been many things throughout history. It used to be independent several times, was part of Egypt for a while, part of the British empire, the Roman empire, the Ottoman empire, and no doubt others as well.– jwentingJun 4, 2013 at 5:47
If Egyptian gods came and inflicted plagues in America, a nation where Egyptian gods are not worshiped, would our history reflect that? There is a bias with any culture to protect and unhold the religion of their ancestors. Especially a religion in which Pharaoh gets to become a god when he dies. Why would Pharaoh allow such history to be written? History itself is not without bias and will lean toward the writer's beliefs. This is a why the Bible is so interesting as a historical document. The failures and defeats are not excluded or hidden from the text. If I write a history of my own life, my desire would be to reflect upon the praises and accolades instead of listing my many failures and mistakes.
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2I'm not sure this answer is based on historiography and I'm not sure it is appropriate to H:SE. Could you rewrite the answer to emphasize historical sources and de-emphasize rhetorical devices & opinions.– MCW ♦Apr 12, 2013 at 11:09
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This answer not only firstly assumes that Egyptian god exist, it then assumes the Jewish god exists and was the cause of the plague. I'm pretty sure it is is blasphemous for anyone that literally believe in the Bible to also argue that the Egyptian gods exist. ;-) Jun 4, 2013 at 10:21
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@LennartRegebro - the answers assumes no such thing on either point. It simply illustrates by metaphor the tendency of a culture to cover up its misadventures.– user2590Aug 13, 2013 at 6:08
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@MelPearson - your answer certainly has some credence. "DeStalinization" after Stalin's death in the USSR comes to mind, as does the Chinese Great Cultural Revolution: Endeavors of leaders with a vested interest in eradicating all vestiges of the past for the sake of aggrandizing themselves and changing people's mindsets about history which they THOUGHT they knew.– user2590Aug 13, 2013 at 6:13