jhemmestad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'm researching the living conditions of the
> Hebrew slaves in ancient Egypt, specifically
> during the Middle Kingdom, and I wondered if
> anyone could please share a bit of knowledge with
> me. I've learned that the conditions of the slaves
> in Egypt weren't bad (they could own property),
> and that they were mostly from conquered lands,
> but my question pertains mostly to the living
> conditions of the actual hard laborors who were
> slaves, and those whom were Hebrew.

Mention has been made elsewhere on this thread of the Merneptah Stele that refers to an entity named 'Israel' already in existence in circa 1200 BCE.

The Stele was discovered in the mortuary temple at Thebes by Flinders Petrie in 1896.

Here's how Petrie himself describes the significance of this find in his article, "Egypt and Israel" (The Contemporary Review, 1896, May, pp. 617-627):

Thus until this spring there has been no trace in Egypt to show that any descendants of Jacob ever existed. Had we no other material, we should never have suspected that any such people as the Jews were known in the ancient world, so far as the evidence of Egypt carries us (p. 618).

Compare Petrie's comment above with this extract from an article written 111 years later ...

From "Out of Egypt: The Archaeological Context of the Exodus" by James K. Hoffmeier (Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 2007, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 30-41):

"[...] Despite over a century of archaeological excavations in Egypt, proof of the dramatic Exodus has not been found [...].

"There are several possible reasons for this absence of evidence. The first possibility is, as the Biblical minimalists suppose, that the Hebrews were never there.

"A second, more likely explanation, is that we have had unrealistic expectations as to what archaeology can deliver. After all, what evidence short of an inscription in a Proto-Canaanite script stating 'bricks made by Hebrew slaves' would be considered proof that the Israelites were in Egypt? Archaeology's ability to determine the ethnicity of a people in the archaeological record, especially of the Israelites at such an early period, is quite limited. Assuming the Israelites were in Egypt during Egypt's New Kingdom (c. 1540-1200 BC), what kind of pottery would they have used? What house plans would they have lived in? What sort of burial traditions did they practice? And would archaeologists be able to identify the burial of these early Israelites who ended up as slaves anyway? And how are all these things different from those of Canaanites or other Semitic-speaking peoples in Egypt at this time? [...]" (p. 31).

"Because we cannot expect to find textual proof of the Israelites in Egypt, we must ask whether the Bible's report is plausible in light of secondary evidence provided by archaeology [...]" (p. 33).

**********

A related point ...

To the best of my knowledge, the Merneptah Stele is the only (undisputed) mention in the whole extant Egyptian record of 'Israel', 'Judah', or any of the kings of these respective kingdoms (not to mention 'Hebrews' or 'Israelites', of course) ... even during the historical period when they are clearly attested in other extra-biblical sources, such as the Assyrian annals etc.

If anyone has any information that indicates otherwise, I'd be very interested to hearing about it.

Damian


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My dear sir, in this world it is not so easy to settle these plain things. I have ever found your plain things the knottiest of all.

- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

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'I am beginning to believe that nothing is quite so uncertain as facts.

- Edward S. Curtis

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'We are coming now rather into the region of guesswork', said Dr Mortimer.
'Say, rather, into the region where we balance probabilities and choose the most likely. It is the scientific use of the imagination, but we have always some material basis on which to start our speculation', [replied Holmes].

- The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

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'It never does to be too sure, you know, in these matters. Coincidence killed the professor.'

- "Novel of the Black Seal" by Arthur Machen