how do historians believe that the hebrews arrived in egypt
History of the Jews in Egypt
The Book of Genesis and Book of Exodus describe a period of Hebrew servitude in ancient Egypt , during decades of sojourn in Egypt , the escape of well over a million Israelites from the Delta , and the three - month journey through the wilderness to Sinai . The historical evidence does not support this account . Israelites first appear in the archeological record on the Merneptah Stele from between 1208 - 3 BCE at the end of the Bronze Age . A reasonably Bible - friendly interpretation is that they were a federation of Habiru tribes of the hill - country around the Jordan River . Presumably , this federation consolidated into the kingdom of Israel , and Judah split from that , during the dark age that followed the Bronze . The Bronze Age term `` Habiru '' was less specific than the Biblical `` Hebrew '' . The term referred simply to Levantine nomads , of any religion or ethnicity . Mesopotamian , Hittite , Canaanite , and Egyptian sources describe them largely as bandits , mercenaries , and slaves . Certainly , there were some Habiru slaves in ancient Egypt , but native Egyptian kingdoms were not heavily slave - based . 
The Book of Genesis and Book of Exodus describe a period of Hebrew servitude in ancient Egypt , during decades of sojourn in Egypt , the escape of well over a million Israelites from the Delta , and the three - month journey through the wilderness to Sinai . The historical evidence does not support this account . Israelites first appear in the archeological record on the Merneptah Stele from between 1208 - 3 BCE at the end of the Bronze Age . A reasonably Bible - friendly interpretation is that they were a federation of Habiru tribes of the hill - country around the Jordan River . Presumably , this federation consolidated into the kingdom of Israel , and Judah split from that , during the dark age that followed the Bronze . The Bronze Age term `` Habiru '' was less specific than the Biblical `` Hebrew '' . The term referred simply to Levantine nomads , of any religion or ethnicity . Mesopotamian , Hittite , Canaanite , and Egyptian sources describe them largely as bandits , mercenaries , and slaves . Certainly , there were some Habiru slaves in ancient Egypt , but native Egyptian kingdoms were not heavily slave - based .
A reasonably Bible-friendly interpretation is that they were a federation of Habiru tribes of the hill-country around the Jordan River.  Presumably, this federation consolidated into the kingdom of Israel, and Judah split from that, during the dark age that followed the Bronze.
Certainly, there were some Habiru slaves in ancient Egypt, but native Egyptian kingdoms were not heavily slave-based.
A reasonably Bible - friendly interpretation is that they were a federation of Habiru tribes of the hill - country around the Jordan River . Presumably , this federation consolidated into the kingdom of Israel , and Judah split from that , during the dark age that followed the Bronze . Certainly , there were some Habiru slaves in ancient Egypt , but native Egyptian kingdoms were not heavily slave - based .