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The Origin of the Jewish People and the Land of Canaan

David Storobin, Esq. - 5/10/2006

We've all heard the Biblical story about the origin of the Hebrew nation: Egyptian enslavement, God's punishment of the Pharaoh, 40 years in the desert, conquest of Jericho and other Canaanite lands by Joshua, etc. There is just a small problem with the story: there is no evidence of Jewish presence in Egypt or in the Sinai desert. One would think that after hundreds of years in Egypt and 40 years in Sinai, Hebrews would've left traces of their culture - but they did not. Furthermore, we now have evidence that by the time Joshua came to Jericho, its walls were already destroyed by an earthquake, so they were not magically destroyed by the noise from the Hebrew's horns. And most importantly, Land of Canaan was occupied by Egypt at it's height of power. To suggest that Hebrews were able to defeat the Egyptians and establish a state in part of Egypt is like suggesting that a group of Gypsy migrants could attack the United States, conquer Florida and establish a state there. Such a claim is ridiculous! So what really happened?

During the Egyptian rule of Canaan, it re-organized the territory. As a result, many peasants were left homeless and had to live in their caravans. Egyptians began calling them "caravan people." The ancient Egyptian word for caravan people was similar to the word Hebrew. [1]

Hebrews were not a separate nation - they were merely peasant Canaanites who were left homeless. [2] They made their residence in the Judean desert, which was part of the Egyptian empire at the time. "Joshua and the Hebrews were not conquerors of Canaanites. They were Canaanites," according to "Ancient Evidence: Joshua and the Walls of Jericho." [3] What separated Hebrews from Canaanites was theology, not genetics: the peasant Canaanite caravan people did not eat pork, they believed in a single God, etc. Other than theology and poverty, Hebrews did not differ from any other Canaanite people. [4] Originally, Hebrews referred to their God by the word "Baal" - which has come to mean "Lord" in the Hebrew language . Baal was the name of one of the Canaanite Gods. [5]

Around the time when the Caravan People revolted against the Pharaoh, a series of natural disasters, including massive earthquakes swept through the land. This was interpreted by them as punishment of Egyptians by God. After a few years, Egyptians no longer wanted to hang on to the land that was constantly rocked by huge earthquakes and withdrew. The earthquakes continued on very regular basis for a total of about half a century, which explains why the Hebrews had to wonder around the (Judean) desert for 40 years and could not settle down. At the end of the series of earthquakes, the Caravan People revolted against the urban Canaanites who used to be wealthy before the earthquakes, but were now poor and not as well organized as the peasants. The peasants quickly defeated the urbanites, took over their cities and declared themselves to be "God's princes." The word for "God's Prince" is "Israelite." [6]

This is just a theory and evidence may be found conradicting this. However, at the moment, the author believes this is the most probable historical account of what happened many thousands of years ago.

It should also be noted that this does not disprove the Bible. The holy book says that the Hebrews were in Egypt. Canaan was part of Egypt at the time when the events described in the Bible were taking place. After all, many people are referred to as Dutch, even though they lived in what today is Belgium. Yet, it is said that they lived in Holland because what is now Belgium was part of the Netherlands at the time of the described events. Likewise, Canaan was part of Egypt, so technically speaking, Hebrews were in Egypt.

Similarly, that Hebrews were part of the Canaanite nation also does not diminish the fact that they were indeed Hebrews -- and in fact, they were called such. The same can be said about every other claim made above.