# The story of the Jews escaping slavery in Egypt and wandering the desert is fiction, right?

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**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 18, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800 "2026-01-18T16:14:35Z")\
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**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-story-of-the-jews-escaping-slavery-in-egypt-and-wandering-the-desert-is-fiction-right/1026800/1 "2026-01-18T16:14:35Z")

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I have a Jewish heritage on my mother’s side, but she didn’t practice the religion, and neither do I. I have, however, sat in on a few Seders in my lifetime (the last in college, more than 25 years ago).

As a result, I am familiar generally with one of the foundational stories of the Jewish people: that they were slaves in Egypt, and that Moses (aided by God) led them to freedom, where they wandered the desert for 40 years.

It’s all fiction, right?

I mean no disrespect at all, but it’s my understanding that there is no record of Jewish slavery, or an Exodus, in Ancient Egypt (and they kept good records). The pyramids weren’t even built by slaves.

And we can expect a clear archeological record of a nomadic people, yet it is my understanding that there is no evidence for Jewish nomads for several decades.

Am I wrong? Is there some historical record that does match (however vaguely) the biblical story of the Jewish people’s origins? Or is it indeed mythology, no more accurate that the story of. Romulus and Remus suckling on a she-wolf.

> **[Ancient Rome - Foundation Myth, Romulus & Remus | Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Rome/Romes-foundation-myth)**
>
> Ancient Rome - Foundation Myth, Romulus & Remus: Although Greek historians did not write seriously about Rome until the Pyrrhic War, they were aware of Rome’s existence long before then. In accordance with their custom of explaining the origin of...

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