Dating the Ipuwer Papyrus on the Biblical Versus Secular Timelines
Below is the abstract for this topic, presented at the
Creation Research Conference at Dallas, Aug. 2015.
(A paper will be written at a future date.)
Controversy surrounds the Ipuwer Papyrus, an Egyptian manuscript residing in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands. This old document describes chaotic conditions in Egypt at what is proposed to be the time of the biblical Exodus. When it is understood that the secular timeline diverges from the biblical timeline, the date of the Ipuwer manuscript as determined by scholars sits exactly where it should, and provides a powerful testimony to the biblical account of the plagues and their aftermath. However, those who deny that there are two timelines claim that the manuscript dates too early to refer to the time of the Exodus. The question of divergence of the secular and biblical timelines is a matter of enormous importance for biblical apologetics. Often secular scholars declare that biblical events like the Exodus or the conquest of Canaan cannot have taken place because they can find no evidences of these at the time in history where the Bible places them. The Ipuwer Papyrus is strong extra-biblical evidence for the Exodus. Unfortunately, biblical scholars who deny that there are two timelines are unable to use this evidence to defend their biblical beliefs.