c. 1500–1200 BCE

Egypt & the Exodus

Slavery in Egypt, the departure narrative and the Sinai covenant, set against the Egyptian New Kingdom.

New Kingdom Egypt

Hittite Empire

What we can and cannot say

1
The narrative
Exodus tells of forced labour, plagues, escape and law-giving at a mountain.
Reconstructed / approximate
2
Egyptian record
No Egyptian text records the Exodus; Semitic labour in the delta is well attested.
Attested by external evidence
3
First mention of Israel
The Merneptah Stele (c. 1208 BCE) names Israel as a people in Canaan.
Attested by external evidence
4
Route and mountain
Neither the sea crossing point nor Sinai's location has consensus.
Genuinely debated

See the whole span on the timeline.