The Israelites Appear on the Stage of History

An inscription from the time of Egyptian Pharaoh Mernephtah, from about 1207 BCE describes his wars against the Sea Peoples (Philistines) and his army’s campaign in Canaan. In his description of the campaign he writes: “Israel is wasted, its seed is no longer.”

This is the most ancient written evidence that we know of mentioning a group of people by the name of “Israel,” from which it clearly emerges that these people were already living in Canaan before this campaign. In retrospect it appears that the pharaoh’s decisive statement that “Israel is wasted,” was a bit too hasty…