The Exodus Route:
Goshen and Ramses
Tel el Bab'a (Avaris)
Remarkable recent archeology has confirmed this is the Hebrew town at the time of the Exodus.
Goshen and Ramses (Tel el Dab'a)
Archeological evidence of Israel in Egypt: Tell El-Dab'a
"Ancient Rameses is located at Tell el-Dab’a in the eastern Delta, approximately 100 km northeast of Cairo. In antiquity, the Pelusiac branch of the Nile flowed past the site, giving access to the Mediterranean. In addition, the town lay on the land route to Canaan, the famous Horus Road. Thus, it was an important commercial and military center." (The Sons of Jacob, New Evidence for the Presence of the Israelites in Egypt, Bryant G. Wood, Bible and Spade, p53, 1997 AD)
"We can divide the history of the site into three periods: pre-Hyksos, Hyksos and post-Hyksos. The Hyksos were a Semitic people from Syria-Palestine, who took up residence in the eastern Nile Delta and eventually ruled northern Egypt for some 108 years, ca. 1663–1555 BC (15th Dynasty). Jacob and his family arrived in Egypt around 1880 BC, based on an Exodus date of ca. 1450 BC. That was in the pre-Hyksos period when the name of the town was Rowaty, “the door of the two roads” (Bietak 1996: 9, 19). In the 14th Dynasty, toward the end of the 18th century BC, the name of the town was changed to Avaris, “the (royal) foundation of the district” (Bietak 1996: 40). When the Hyksos later established their capital there, they retained the name Avaris. It was probably the Hyksos rulers who forced the Israelites to build the store cities of Pithom (= Tell el-Maskhuta) and Rameses (= Tell el-Dab’a = Avaris) (Ex 1:11). When Rameses II rebuilt the city in the 13th century in the post-Hyksos period, and long after the Israelites had left Egypt, the name was changed to Rameses." (The Sons of Jacob, New Evidence for the Presence of the Israelites in Egypt, Bryant G. Wood, Bible and Spade, p53, 1997 AD)
"Could this be the Israelites? The earliest evidence for Asiatics at Rowaty occurs in the late 12th Dynasty (mid 19th century BC, Area F/I, Str. d/2, and Area A/II, Str H). At that time a rural settlement was founded. It was unfortified, although there were many enclosure walls, most likely for keeping animals. The living quarters consisted of rectangular huts built of sand bricks (Bietak 1986: 237; 1991b: 32). It is highly possible that this is the first material evidence of Israelites in Egypt. It is the right culture in the right place at the right time. Not all residents of the first Asiatic settlement at Tell el-Dab’a lived in huts. One of them, evidently an important official, lived in a small villa. The Bible tells us that Joseph became a high official after he correctly interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams (Gn 41:39–45). We are not told where Joseph lived while serving in the Egyptian bureaucracy. It seems logical to assume, however, that after discharging his duties associated with the famine, he would have moved to Rameses to be near his father and brothers. Could the villa in Str. d/2 at Tell el-Dab’a have been Joseph’s house?" (The Sons of Jacob, New Evidence for the Presence of the Israelites in Egypt, Bryant G. Wood, Bible and Spade, p53, 1997 AD)
By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.