This week’s podcast on “The Book and the Spade” is titled “Shasu of Yahweh” and discusses some specific Egyptian hieroglyphs that mention a god named Yahweh, which happens to be the biblical name of the God of Israel.
One quote from the program:
It means that Bedouin who were worshipers of Yahweh were present in Syrio-Palestine long, long before Ramses II.
Ramses II is though by many to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus, but the dates don’t easily correspond with information given in the Bible. Some believe in a “late” exodus that occurred in the 13th century B.C. with Ramses II (most likely) as Pharaoh, yet the Bible seems to indicate an “early” exodus in the 15th century B.C. The Bible does not specify the Pharaoh of the Exodus. The Egyptians would not likely archive their humiliation by the god of a slave people, so there is little extra-biblical evidence of this event to be found in Egypt. An early mention of “Yahweh” is one piece of evidence that could support an early Exodus.
Listen to the 13-minute program discussion here. (This program should be freely available until next Tuesday or so, after which it will join “The Book and the Spade’s” subscription-only archives.)
Bible, Archaeology, and Travel with Luke Chandler 