How is it that the Israelites - who, according to the Bible, numbered enough that just the men could've stood shoulder-to-shoulder forming a line from one side of the Sinai to the other - wandered this tiny peninsula for 40 years? How did they do this without leaving a trace to be found by modern archaeologists?
And why is it that the archaeological evidence in Canaan/Israel shows a continuity of culture (as would be expected if the Israelites emerged from the native Canaanites) and not a discontinuity (as would be expected if the Israelites were foreign invaders that displaced the indigenous people)?
Except for Moses, Joshua, and a handful of others, the entire population of the original Hebrews (who had been Egyptian slaves) were punished by God for grumbling during that 40 years. They all died in the Sinai desert and never even reached the Promised Land.There's no evidence to be found when one is looking in the wrong place for it. You want to go east, to the Arabian Peninsula, to the foot of a mountain called Jabal al Lawz.There's quite a bit of evidence around that region supporting the idea that 2.5 million people camped in the area, including huge boulders with seemingly inexplicable water erosion, originating from inside the rock itself, toward the top. Evidence from Egypt indicates that Moses (Akhenaten) led his people from Pi-Rameses (near modern Kantra) southward, through Sanai, towards Lake Timash. Among the retainers who fled with Moses were the sons and families of Jacob (Israel). Then at the instigation of their leader, they constructed the tabernacle at the foot of Mount Sanai. Once Moses had died, they began their invasion of the country left by their forefathers so long before. But Canaan (Palestine) had changed considerably in the meantime, having been infiltrated by waves of Philistines and Phoenicians. The records tell of great sea battles, and of massive armies marching to war. At length, the Hebrews (under their new leader, Joshua) were successful and, once across the Jordan, they took Jericho from the Canaanites, gaining a real foothold in their traditional Promised Land.
