In ancient mass graves, archaeologists find child slaves of biblical Egypt
While the archaeological record may not shore up the biblical account of the Exodus from Egypt, in light of recent finds one could be forgiven for speculating whether those Hebrew sons who weren’t thrown into the Nile were rather conscripted as slaves. Those finds, at the ongoing excavation of the ancient Egyptian capital city Amarna, shed light on the treatment of ancient slaves — whoever they may have been — and their children.
The city, in an isolated desert bay some 10 kilometers from the Nile, was the seat of power of Egypt’s “monotheistic” Pharaoh Akhenaten. Called a “heretic” by his own people, Akhenaten ruled a mere 17 years until his death in 1332 BC. The discovery of workmen’s burial plots — built and deserted within 15 years — provide a window into his brief reign and the mores of the time.
Read more on Times of Israel
Image: Flickr/CC – Colleen Morgan
