I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the documentary, Patterns Of Evidence: Exodus. It was recently released on iTunes. So far, I’ve watched it twice. It was fascinating to learn about the many archeological discoveries that lend strong support to the Exodus story in the Bible. Perhaps you’ve heard that there is no archeological evidence to support the accounts of the lives of Joseph and Moses in Genesis and Exodus. This documentary makes it clear that many discoveries have been made, but dismissed out of hand by many in the archeological community because the discoveries in question don’t match the accept timelines. However, when the timeline is shifted to account for mistakes in archeological interpretation, the discoveries fit exactly with what the Bible records.JOSEPH’S ERA
| Discovery of the city of Avaris, located in the land of Goshen. The city was “suddenly” abandoned. | Genesis 46:28-47:6,27 |
| Discovery of Syrian style homes in Avaris, not used by Egyptians, but by people of the Syrian and Canaan regions. | |
| Discovery of 12 tombs of Semite leaders matching the 12 patriarchs of Israel. | |
| Discovery of 1 pyramid tomb dedicated to a non-Egyptian ruler with red hair, yellow skin, and depicted as decorated by a coat of many colors. Identified with Joseph. | Genesis 37:2250:26 |
| Discovery of Joseph’s palace in Avaris. | Genesis 43:17-18 |
| Canal built by Joseph for water storage anticipating 7 years of famine. Called, “Joseph’s Canal” in modern Egypt. | |
| District governors lose wealth and power as all power and ownership becomes concentrated with pharaoh. | Genesis 47:20-26 |
MOSES’ ERA
| Signs of great multiplication of Semite peoples in and around the city of Avaris. | Genesis 47:27 Exodus 1:7 |
| Sudden increase of mortality rates of new born boys. Massive increase in burials of male babies, in the thousands. | Exodus 1:22 |
| The Brooklyn Papyrus lists the names of slaves, 70% which are Semitic, mainly Hebrew names. | Exodus 1:8-14 |
| Discovery of the document, The Admonition of Ipuwer, an Egyptian Sage,detailing the plagues that struck Egypt stating that Egypt had been smitten by God. | Exodus 7-12 |
| The Ipuwer document also details how slaves plundered Egypt taking a great deal of wealth with them when they left Egypt en mass. | Exodus 12:35-36 |
There are more evidences presented in the documentary than what is listed here. Suffice it to say that there are too many coincidences listed here, and discovered elsewhere to say that there is no evidence outside the Bible for the Exodus from Egypt. The Bible is an accurate and trustworthy document about that which it reports. So too, its testimony of Jesus is equally reliable. As God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt he also saves us from slavery to sin through Christ. I highly recommend Patterns Of Evidence: Exodus. I’ll be buying the book version to get even more details of these many discoveries.
