for before the Second Intermediate Period (1,759–1,539 BC). Nevertheless, while prisoners-of-war were often “acquired” as a royal resource into captivity, there is evidence to suggest that these persons were still allowed to own property or marry a free person, for example.

The problem of exotic animals

Wild animals featured heavily in New Kingdom tomb scenes as exotic trade goods sent to Egypt from the regions surrounding, primarily Nubia and the Levant. In the tomb of Rekhmire, a Vizier during the Eighteenth Dynasty reigns of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II, painted scenes of foreign peoples show them bringing a giraffe, cheetah, baboons, bears, horses, and monkeys as tribute for the Egyptian king. Exotic animals also featured in Exodus, including tiger skins on the royal dais (not native to Africa but perhapsHebrew and read the text out loud and translate it for him. In ancient times, Egyptian scribes were certainly proficient in drafting correspondence to their foreign neighbours. This is particularly evident in some of the bilingual texts surviving from the New Kingdom, but also in the major networks of correspondence among the Near Eastern powers of the same time period. Here, however, the use of Hebrew is somewhat anachronistic. The letters resemble more closely forerunners of today’s Hebrew script, namely Phoenician and Paleo-Hebrew. While there is some evidence to suggest that Phoenician was in use by ca. 1,200 BC, the use of Paleo-Hebrew is not attested before the first millennium BC. The use of the modern name in the film was most likely adopted due to the higher