A Different Hebrew History

What is a Levite? If you want the answer to that question you will have to sit through a lengthy recounting of Hebrew history. I'll be as brief as possible.

The Book of Genesis tells us that 12 brothers and their families went into Egypt. The Book of Exodus tells us that 400 or so years later the 12 tribes of Israel came out. You may accept that as fact but the evidence paints a somewhat different picture.

The story of Hebrew history begins somewhat before 2,000 BC. At this time a people of Semitic origin are fleeing the Babylonian powers that have taken control of Mesopotamia. They are moving westward to Canaan (Palestine). They come neither unarmed nor with good intentions:

Jud. 18:1 - "...in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in...(18:27)...and came unto Laish, unto a people who were at peace and secure, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire."

To survive this invasion the Canaanites built fortified cities and formed alliances with their neighbors. After 1700 BC Egypt joined the Canaanites in their battle for survival:

"His majesty made war on the desert peoples and his majesty gathered an army...I was entrusted with the whole campaign... The kings army returned in good order after laying waste the country of the desert peoples...and carrying large numbers into captivity. His majesty sent me five times to ravage the land of the desert peoples." [From the walls of the tomb of Uni, an officer of the Egyptian army.]

It is important to note that on each of this officers' forays into Palestine he brought back "large numbers" of captives. This is how most Hebrews actually found their way in Egypt before the Exodus. It should also be noted that the "desert people" included more than Hebrews. People like the Amorites and the Hitites and even (toward the end of Egypt's support of Canaan) some Philistines were bagged in the dragnet.

Between the descriptions in the Bible and the records of Egypt we can only imagine the hell that Canaan was for the millennium of 2,000 BC to 1,000 BC. One particularly bad stretch for the Canaanites was during the reign of the Pharaoh Ahknatan in the 14th century BC. This particular Pharaoh became possessed with a passion for a god named Aton, the sun god. He had a city built at Amarna and moved there to escape the responsibilities of leadership and to devote his full attention to god and family.

What happened outside of Amarna was of little interest to Ahknaten. But the correspondence that came in to the king from his subjects has been unearthed by archaeologists. It offers a disturbing picture of the brutality of the situation in Palestine in those days:

"The king, my lord, should know, that the Hapiru have risen in the lands which the god of the king, my lord, has given me, and I have beaten them. And the king, my lord, should know that all my brothers have left me and that I and Abdu-kheba alone are left to fight against the leader of the Hapiru. And Zurata, prince of Accho, and Indaruta, prince of Achsaph, were the ones who hastened to my help in exchange for fifty chariots of which I have now been deprived. But, behold, they have been fighting against me and may it please the king, my lord, to send the Janhamu so that we can wage a proper war and restore the land of the king, my lord, to its old frontiers." [Tel-el-Amarna tablets]

The Janhamu was not sent to anyones' aid during Ahknaten's reign. The fates of these brave little princes can only be guessed. Perhaps the Bible contains the answers. In any case, after that Pharaoh's reign the Janhamu went back to work. Finally, in 1223 BC, a Pharaoh named Merneptah assembled a grand army with the intention of settling the issue once and for all. An account of that expedition was recorded in his annals in the most glorious, if exaggerated, terms. He specifically states that he left Israel in utter desolation.

But how could that be? The 12 tribes were supposedly held in Egyptian slavery at this time. How could Israel exist in Palestine in 1223 BC when the Bible tells us that it did not exist until just before 1,000 BC when it was formed by Saul? It would seem that the truth is somewhat different than as it is portrayed in the Bible. The implication from the Egyptian record is that the Hebrew tribes formed an alliance of their own to fortify themselves against the Canaanite/Egyptian alliance. They named their alliance Israel. The name 'Israel' means; the princes of El.

This alliance was beaten by Merneptah, for sure, but it was not put out of business as he'd hoped. Desert people are kinda feisty as we well know today. No doubt they were back on the attack before the dust kicked up by Merneptah's army had begun to settle. Meanwhile that army was headed home with another huge batch of captive barbarians. Where was the Pharaoh to put them all?

To make room for his new captives he decided to send some of the rabble that had accumulated over the years from other campaigns back to Palestine.

To be continued.

*Many who come to this site will find it difficult to adjust from a biblical understanding of Hebrew history to an historical one. I realize that some of you will be confused and many others will be angered. I wish only to offer an historical perspective that has been withheld from the public so that those who claim to want the truth may have it.

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