Answers to Quora Questions by Yair Davidiy
(9 April, 2018, 24 Nisan, 5778)
Why isn't Moses mentioned at all ancient Egyptian pharaoh's inscription and clays?
https://www.quora.com/Why-isn-t-Moses-mentioned-at-all-ancient-Egyptian-pharaoh-s-inscription-and-clays/answer/Yair-Davidiy
(g) - L'expulsion des Hyksos - Le Pharaon de l'Exode
The picture above is based on an Egyptian illustration showing the alleged forceful expulsion of the Hyksos whom some equated with the ancient Hebrews. Moses might well be mentioned in Egyptian records under some pseudonym or other. The question was,
"Why isn't Moses mentioned at all ancient Egyptian pharaoh's inscription and clays?"
Personally I tend to accept the identification of the Egyptian writer Manetho. He equated (as quoted by Josephus, "Against Apion") the Hyksos with the Hebrews. The account of Manetho is confused but it could be reflecting genuine historical memory. The housing constructions of the Hyksos in Egypt were of the same type as those which now have been identified (by archaeologists) as typical of the Israelites in Canaan. The Egyptians referred to the Israelites and inhabitants of Canaan by the same terms they had previously used for the Hyksos. In conventional understanding, the Hyksos were local Egyptian rulers who used foreigners from the region of Canaan to rule Egypt and whose culture was similar to that of Canaan. The Egyptian populace regarded them as foreigners. They were expelled in ca. 1550 BCE. This is about a 100 years earlier than the Exodus was, assuming that the dating is correct. There are other anomalies that make the equation difficult. At all events there are inscriptions and writings on Papyrus that could be understood as confirmation of the account in Exodus. Books have been written on this matter, both for and against. It could be that our whole system of calculating the chronology of Ancient Egypt is mistaken. The Bible tells us that the land of Egypt was ruined by the plagues, much of its population was dead, and its armed forces eliminated. One Rabbinical source (quoted by "Tosefot" in the Talmud and not unanimously accepted) says that the population of Egypt was replaced by newcomers and that the people known as Egyptians after the Exodus were not the same as those there before it. If one wants to believe then many sources can be found to justify doing so, and probably vice versa.