***The story of the Israelites begins sometime between 1250 and 1150BC. At the start of that period, the ancient near eastwas little more than a giant prison house. Along the eastern Mediterranean coast, most people struggled as serfs, tied to thecity-states that dominated the region. Further west, in the great kingdom of Egypt, serfdom was also widespread--and slaverywas as harsh as described in the book of Exodus. Some of these slaves were Semitic-speakers from Canaan (around modern Israel) who had emigrated as free men to the lushEgyptian delta, only to be enslaved. Others were Libyan sand-dwellers or black-skinned Nubians, often taken prisoner inwartime. Egypt's rulers had built a vast series of forts on their eastern borders, not just to defend the kingdom from attack, butalso to keep these slaves in. Egypt had divided the eastern Mediterranean with the kingdom of the Hittites (based in modern Turkey), and a flourishingbuffer zone existed between them. This system had survived for centuries, and neither the serfs stuck in the city-states nor theslaves in Egypt stood much chance of escape. Then, in the decades leading up to 1200BC, a series of changes unpicked this easy imperial détente, and began to destroy thestructures that had kept these forced workers trapped for generations. At the northern limit of the known world, cities inancient Greece began to be destroyed, swamped by mysterious attackers who came to be known as the "Sea peoples." No oneknows precisely who they were. Some were probably displaced tribesmen from the north of Greece, others pre-existing pirates,others new recruits, joining when their cities were destroyed. But the impact of these raids was rapidly felt. Shortages ineverything from food to dock equipment leapfrogged across the Mediterranean. Hunger, starvation and social unrest followed.Eventually the Sea peoples reached Egypt. Their attacks beat back the imperial army, which abandoned its frontier forts. Forthe first time in memory, Egypt's borders were scarcely defended. This turmoil left open a window that any slave group, withthe right leader, could slip through. How do we know that some escapees in this period were ancestors of the historical Hebrews? There is some suggestiveevidence; and the Bible itself is a source. The famous story of the escaping Israelites passing through the Red sea is not theonly account recorded in the Bible. Hidden away, an earlier, more plausible story exists, long missed in English translations.To find it, you need to know that the Old Testament is written in "ordinary" Hebrew; a few sections, however, are composed inmore archaic language. To the trained eye, these sections are as different as Chaucer and Hemingway. The archaic version says nothing about walls of water. Indeed, it says nothing about crossing a body of water at all. Instead,it suggests a story in which Egyptian soldiers, chasing after escaping slaves, ventured into the water on barges to catch them,and were flipped over in waves, or perhaps found their chariot wheels bogged down in marsh. Such accounts could easily havebeen distorted by centuries of retelling.
Leave a Comment