The best-known pharaoh of the New Kingdom built the temples of Abu Simbel and a new capital in the delta, Pi-Ramesses. By one view he was the pharaoh of the Exodus; the Bible does not give the pharaoh’s name.
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In the Bible · 15th or 13th century BC (dating debated) · Rameses, in the Nile Delta
The Exodus
After the Passover night the Israelites set out from Rameses. Scholars date the Exodus either to about 1446 BC or to the 13th century BC.
Exod 12:29–42
Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock. During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.” And in order to send them out of the land quickly, the Egyptians urged the people on. “For otherwise,” they said, “we are all going to die!” So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing. Furthermore, the Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing. And the LORD gave the people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that they granted their request. In this way they plundered the Egyptians. The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children. And a mixed multitude also went up with them, along with great droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves. Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’s divisions went out of the land of Egypt. Because the LORD kept a vigil that night to bring them out of the land of Egypt, this same night is to be a vigil to the LORD, to be observed by all the Israelites for the generations to come.At the same time in the world
When the Exodus happened is debated. By one view it was in the 15th century BC, counting back from 1 Kings 6:1; by another, in the 13th century BC, when Ramesses II built cities in the Nile delta (Exodus 1:11 names Rameses). Some historians think it cannot be dated. Here is the world of those centuries.
EgyptRamesses IIreigned 1279–1213 BC
EgyptThe first mention of Israelc. 1208 BC
A victory stele of Pharaoh Merneptah, son of Ramesses II, lists “Israel” among the peoples he defeated in Canaan — the oldest mention of Israel found outside the Bible. It is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Greece and RomeMycenaec. 1250 BC
In Greece, the warrior kings of Mycenae built the Lion Gate of their citadel. This age of palaces and wars was later remembered in Homer’s tales of the Trojan War.
ChinaThe first Chinese writingc. 1250–1050 BC
At Anyang, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, kings put questions to their ancestors by cracking ox bones and turtle shells with heat, and wrote the answers on them. These “oracle bones” are the oldest known Chinese writing.
IndiaThe Rigvedac. 1500–1200 BC
In north-western India, poets composed the hymns of the Rigveda in Sanskrit, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism. For many centuries they were passed down by memory before being written down.
The AmericasThe Olmecc. 1200–900 BC
On the Gulf coast of Mexico, the Olmec of San Lorenzo carved colossal stone heads, some nearly 3 meters tall. They were the first great civilization of Mesoamerica.
Eastern Europe and the steppeHerders of the steppec. 1800–1200 BC
From the Dnieper to the Urals, Bronze Age herders of the Timber-grave culture, named after their log-lined graves, raised cattle and sheep on the steppe and lived in small villages along the rivers.
