Is there any proof (other than the bible) that anicent Jews were ever slaves of ancient Egyptians?

Question

I'm a research hobbist and I was delving through ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and history and found no record that Egyptains ever kept Jewish slaves. Now, i'm just an amateur historian here so maybe i'm speaking too soon but this totally rocked my way of thinking. I always just assumed the bible and folklore about this were based on actual events. Does anyone know of any historical documents (other than the Bible and other regelious texts) that says Egyptians kept Jewish slaves?

Answer 1

When the Jewish people first immigrated to Egypt, there was a nothern tribe called the Hyksos that had conquered Egypt earlier and set up a dynasty there. The Egyptians in time revolted and threw these kings out. The Jews, probably considered collaborators with this tribe were treated accordingly. That said, the Jewish history at this time is sparce and quite speculative.
Check this out which varifies the Hyksos connection to the Jews:
http://www.freemaninstitute.com/Gallery/joseph.htm

Michael Kelly

Answer 2

In act, the Torah, and Bible IS proof - it is even accepted in courts of law. However, this is one major thing that is not (yet) supported by other evidence. There are some good reasons - how many writings are there in your local newspaper, or historical reviews on the people that take your garbage to the dump? Or, that work on the city sewage system? Probably few, or, mostly likely, none. Well, the Jews were slaves, so, even lower than the people I mentioned. We know about ancient Egypt mostly in the monuments that were left behind. The tombs might show life scenes, but, the writing is all about the kings, or important people depicted. There is virtually nothing regarding the slaves. E.g., it was assumed that the pyramids were built by slaves until only about 10 years ago, when the worker's villages were discovered. So, even the people who built the Pyramids were unknown until very recently, and precious little is known about them, despite being craftsmen, and so on, working on such huge, and important projects. So, how could we be expected to know about slaves? There's more. Paper only lasts a few hundred years, at most. And, even then, it has to be stored properly. Paper from 3 or 4000 years ago is long gone. The evidence we have comes from carved stone, or, perhaps clay tablets - those that haven't broken, or crumbled by now. The Egyptians simply made no monuments to slaves, nor recorded anything about them in stone. Which only makes sense. The chances of finding anything about any slaves in ancient Egypt is pretty slim, and that includes the Hebrews. The only people this was important to was the Hebrews themselves, who carried the story with them, and eventually wrote it down.

Answer 3

No proof whatsoever.
Israel is first noted by Pharaoh Merenptah, somewhere on his journey from Egypt to Lebanon.
It's nice to think there may have been something behind the Moses story, but what? Occasionally we do have historical events to check legends and epic poetry against, but they show just how wide the divergence is.
BTW, the book The Bible as History originally had the German Title "The Bible is Indeed Correct"; it is quite a biased account and was part of an attempt to resurrect main stream Christianity in Germany in the post-war era.

Answer 4

There is a small city in the Nile Delta that is still being excavated. The Egyptians are keeping it very low key, because there have been Jewish settlements identified there, and they are even made of mud brick. They are apparently concerned that Israel might try to insist that they be allowed to inspect the site. They have also found seal rings there that bear a Jewish name--Joseph. Remember, he was the one sold into slavery by his brothers, and later became a leader in Egypt.

Answer 5

Although ancient Egyptians had slaves from many contemporary cultures, it is doubtful that there were the thousands claimed to have built all the well-known monuments/temples shown in some of the older movies....
There is archaeological proof that there were many Israelite communities, especially in the Deltic area,[ie: 'Lower' Egypt], who were in the business of trade and other persuits. These areas were close to the Med. and Nile.

Answer 6

There is no physical historical evidence of the existence of Moses - or of the miraculous deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. But there are strong cultural and psychological evidences of Moses leadership of the tribes. The story that Moses lived in Egypt, that he was forced to flee into the desert, and that he returned to lead the Jews out of slavery was so deeply stamped into the national consciousness of the Jews that it must have had substance.
No figure out of legend, no creation of mythology could have been so real for so long without historical basis.

Answer 7

I'm not too sure, this is an interesting question
I've heard interpretations that the Jews lived in Egypt but weren't slaves, although they've never been backed up by fact. Even if you did find an alternative "truth" you would never be allowed to say it without being called antisemitic or a Nazi so it's not really worth it.

Answer 8

Merneptah Stele for one

Answer 9

the discoveries in the actual country