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→Historicity: Most scholars agree that there was a history of exodus among the Israelites before the Babylonian captivity. Bible criticism also confirms this in prophetic literature, psalms, and the Song of Miriam. This does not justify historicality, but the majority clearly believe that the story existed before, although it was later expanded. Tag: Reverted |
Tgeorgescu (talk | contribs) Reverted good faith edits by 89.133.68.171 (talk) |
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Most mainstream scholars do not accept the biblical Exodus account as historical for a number of reasons. It is generally agreed that the Exodus stories were written centuries after the apparent setting of the stories.{{sfn|Moore|Kelle|2011|p=81}} Archaeologists [[Israel Finkelstein]] and [[Neil Asher Silberman]] argue that archaeology has not found evidence for even a small band of wandering Israelites living in the Sinai: "The conclusion – that Exodus did not happen at the time and in the manner described in the Bible – seems irrefutable [...] repeated excavations and surveys throughout the entire area have not provided even the slightest evidence".{{sfn|Finkelstein|Silberman|2002|p=63}} Instead, they argue how modern archaeology suggests continuity between Canaanite and Israelite settlements, indicating a heavily Canaanite origin for Israel, with little suggestion that a group of foreigners from Egypt comprised early Israel.{{sfn|Barmash|2015|p=4}}{{sfn|Shaw|2002|p=313}}
However, a majority of scholars believe that the story has some historical basis,{{sfn|Faust|2015|p=476}}{{sfn|Redmount|2001|p=87}} though disagreeing widely about what that historical kernel might have been.{{sfn|Geraty|2015|p=55}} Kenton Sparks refers to it as "charter myth" and "mythologized history".{{sfn|Sparks|2010|p=73}} Biblical scholar [[Graham I. Davies]] notes that several literary texts from Ancient Egypt document the presence of Semitic peoples working for building projects under the [[19th Dynasty of Egypt]], suggesting a possible historical basis for the account of Israelite servitude to the Egyptians.{{sfn|Davies|2020|p=152}} However, there is an increasing trend among scholars to see the biblical exodus traditions as the invention of the [[Babylonian exile|exilic]] and post-exilic Jewish community, with little to no historical basis.{{sfn|Russell|2009|p=11}}
== Structure ==
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