Instead of bread, religious Jews eat a type of flatbread called matzo. One of the most important Passover rituals for observant Jews is removing all leavened food products (known as chametz) from their home before the holiday begins and abstaining from them throughout its duration. Most modern academics, however, have dismissed this theory due to chronological conflicts and a lack of similarity between the two cultures. There is also no evidence of large encampments in the Sinai Peninsula, the fabled site of the Jews’ wandering, or any sudden fluctuation in Israel’s archaeological record that would indicate the departure and return of a large population.Ī handful of scholars, including the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, have suggested a link between the Israelites and the Hyksos, a mysterious Semitic people-possibly from Canaan-who controlled lower Egypt for more than 100 years before their expulsion during the 16th century B.C. Despite numerous attempts, historians and archaeologists have failed to corroborate the tale of the Jews’ enslavement in and mass exodus from Egypt.Īlthough the ancient Egyptians kept thorough records, no mention is made of an Israelite community within their midst or any calamities resembling the 10 biblical plagues. The pharaoh changes his mind, however, and sends his soldiers to retrieve the former slaves.Īs the Egyptian army approaches the fleeing Jews at the edge of the Red Sea, a miracle occurs: God causes the sea to part, allowing Moses and his followers to cross safely, then closes the passage and drowns the Egyptians.Īccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Jews-now numbering in the hundreds of thousands-then trek through the Sinai desert for 40 tumultuous years before finally reaching their ancestral home in Canaan, later known as the Land of Israel.įor centuries, scholars have been debating the details and historical merit of the events commemorated during the Passover holiday. Terrified of further punishment, the Egyptians convince their ruler to release the Israelites, and Moses quickly leads them out of Egypt. The Israelites, however, mark the door frames of their homes with lamb’s blood so that the angel of death will recognize and “pass over” each Jewish household. When the pharaoh refuses, God unleashes 10 plagues on the Egyptians, including turning the Nile River red with blood, diseased livestock, boils, hailstorms and three days of darkness, culminating in the slaying of every firstborn son by an avenging angel. Along with his brother Aaron, Moses approaches the reigning pharaoh (who is unnamed in the biblical version of the story) several times, explaining that the Hebrew God has requested a three-day leave for his people so that they may celebrate a feast in the wilderness. One day, however, Moses receives a command from God to return to Egypt and free his kin from bondage, according to the Hebrew Bible. He kills an Egyptian slave master and escapes to the Sinai Peninsula, where he lives as a humble shepherd for 40 years. When he reaches adulthood, Moses becomes aware of his true identity and the Egyptians’ brutal treatment of his fellow Hebrews. One of these doomed infants is rescued by the pharaoh’s daughter, given the name Moses (meaning “one who is pulled out”) and adopted into the Egyptian royal family. After the death of Joseph and his brothers, the story goes, a particularly hostile pharaoh orders their enslavement and the systematic drowning of their firstborn sons in the Nile. According to the Hebrew Bible, Jewish settlement in ancient Egypt first occurs when Joseph, a son of the patriarch Jacob and founder of one of the 12 tribes of Israel, moves his family there during a severe famine in their homeland of Canaan.įor many years the Israelites live in harmony in the province of Goshen, but as their population grows the Egyptians begin to see them as a threat.
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