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Dated to 1220 BC, the Stele of Pharaoh Merneptah at Karnak records the first mention of the Israelites that is external to the Old Testament. Merneptah claims to have defeated these among others, during a punitive expedition into Canaan. An associated wall relief appears to exhibit the Israelites living in tents (as opposed to walled cities of Canaan), and warriors riding camels. Thus the migrating Hebrews were conceivably still pursuing a nomadic, pre-agricultural lifestyle. Counting back forty years hypothetically places the Exodus precisely at the time of Treaty of Kadesh and the construction of Ramseion. In short, the Stele of Merneptah appears to place the Israelites where they were supposed to be, doing what they were supposed to be doing, when they were supposed to be doing it (recall the tradition for Joshua at Jericho).
The author is:
NICHOLAS K. RAUH
PROFESSOR OF CLASSICS
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
STANLEY COULTER HALL, PURDUE UNIVERSITY
It from his Lecture 8 – The Fall of Bronze Age Civilizations
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