Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
Prodigalgrandson
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:46 am

Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by Prodigalgrandson »

Hello all! I am trying to find the name of a particular discovery that seems to have vanished. A some point last year I happened upon an article about an inscription that praised a god for a people's deliverance. It was similar to the Exodus legend except: 1- it wasn't hebrews or Israelites who made it and 2- the god drove the oppressor out of the land, not the oppressed. It was on the 'artifacts relevant to the bible' on wikipedia, which now seems to have been taken up to Heaven. Does anyone here know of what I speak?
StephenGoranson
Posts: 2312
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:10 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by StephenGoranson »

Though I don't know which account nor which wikipedia text, do you mean the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt?
Prodigalgrandson
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:46 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by Prodigalgrandson »

Actually no. It's not something I had ever seen relating to the exodus. It was a levantine people praising their deity for liberating their city. Its language was reminiscent of the Song of the Sea.
andrewcriddle
Posts: 2818
Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:36 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by andrewcriddle »

This is just a guess. Do you mean this ?
Admonitions of Ipuwer

Andrew Criddle
Prodigalgrandson
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:46 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by Prodigalgrandson »

No that's not it either. It's not Egyptian or Hebrew in origin.
StephenGoranson
Posts: 2312
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:10 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by StephenGoranson »

Calendar Inscription of Priene?
Prodigalgrandson
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:46 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by Prodigalgrandson »

No not that either. I'm starting to think that I dreamed it up.
StephenGoranson
Posts: 2312
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:10 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by StephenGoranson »

If you literally refer to wikipedia "List of artifacts in biblical archaeology" article, have you tried looking through the editing history? Or if some other article, the wayback machine/archive?

If imagined--Reminds me of (Nassim Talib, Guardian 26 June 2015):
> “While researching his own PhD, [Umberto] Eco recalls, he got deeply stuck, and one day happened to buy a book by an obscure 19th-century abbot, mainly because he liked the binding. Idly paging through it, he found, in a throwaway line, a stunning idea that led him to a breakthrough. Who’d have predicted it? Except that, years later, when a friend asked to see the passage in question, he climbed a ladder to a high bookshelf, located the book… and the line wasn’t there. Stimulated by the abbot’s words, it seems, he’d come up with it himself. You never know where good ideas will come from, even when they come from you.”
Japhethite
Posts: 88
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 2:39 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by Japhethite »

Can't you remember any more details like any names etc to either help people find or help you to find (searching works best with rarer names or phrases)? (Have your tried searching "artifacts relevant to the bible" in speech marks (if that is all the correct words)?) (Though sadly I've found boolean searching doesn't work in my searches any more for some unknown reason.)
If you do a search engine search you might find either a cached/archived version of the Wiki page or a copy of the older wiki page version in other language wikis (I did this with info about Jacobovici which dissappeared from the English article but I found it in Spanish/Portuguese wiki via google).
Or if you haven't wiped your browser history you can search your web history for the page title/link/address.
Or if you originally found it via net search search your web activity history (though google's one is not so good as it used to be before changes a year or so ago). I get very frustrated when I can't find things esp after hours searching and trying to remember more details.
Prodigalgrandson
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2021 5:46 am

Re: Artifact/ Inscription relating to the Exodus

Post by Prodigalgrandson »

I wish I could remember anything else. It's infuriating. Essentially I was doing my usual idle research, parsing the usual things people like us do. I happen to think that IF any sort of thing occurred to give historical basis to the Exodus, it was more in line with the Egyptians being pushed out of Canaan/ Retjenu as opposed to Hebrews leaving Egypt. This jibes with the archaeological record and I felt like it was worth researching. Then, browsing Wikipedia, I happen upon the "Artifacts Significant to the Bible" page or something similar. (Maybe "Relevant to the Exodus"?) I had never come across it before, so I eagerly plunged in. One of the first entries is about this inscription, which had its own page. This inscription filled my heart with joy because it showed an example of exactly what I was thinking. A long form (ish) declaration written in northern Mesopotamia (or Syria?). A city had been taken by enemies, then liberated by the hand of the city god. The people of the city praised the god's mighty hand and attributed the defeat of the occupiers to his work. It ran very parallel to the Song of the Sea and seemed to be just the type of thing one would hope for. Now, coming back for it, it seems to have been swallowed up in to the ether. "Artifacts Significant to the Bible" has not been on Wiki since 2013, while these events occurred no more than six months ago. No remnant in my extant browser history, nothing written in a notebook about it. It wasn't a smoking gun, for sure, but maybe in my looking, I came up with just what I wanted to see, as StephenGoranson said. I can't find any trace of it anywhere and now I feel a fool.
Post Reply