Many scholars view the biblical account of the 10 plagues of Egypt as fiction. But a remarkable manuscript from ancient Egypt records events that align extraordinarily well with the events surrounding Israel’s exodus from Egypt.
The Ipuwer Papyrus, also known as the “Admonitions of Ipuwer,” was written by the royal scribe Ipuwer and described a time of terrible starvation, drought, death, and violent upheavals in ancient Egypt. The lengthy scroll dates to circa 13th-century B.C.E... but is known to be a copy of an earlier manuscript. The dating of the original is unknown; dates for its compilation range from the early 20th century b.c.e. to the 15th-century b.c.e.—the latter matching more closely with the date of the Exodus.
Consider the following statements from the Ipuwer Papyrus and compare them with the biblical text.
Ipuwer Papyrus Vs. The Bible
Indeed, the river is blood, yet men drink of it.
Exodus 7:20: [A]nd all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
Indeed, [hearts] are violent, pestilence is throughout the land, blood is everywhere, death is not lacking ….
Exodus 9:15: Surely now I had put forth My hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence ….
Exodus 7:19: [A]nd there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt ….
Indeed, magic spells are divulged; smw- and show-spells are frustrated because men remember them.
Exodus 8:14-15; 9:11: And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not …. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh: ‘This is the finger of God’ …. And the magicians could not stand before Moses ….
Indeed, all animals, their hearts weep; cattle moan because of the state of the land ….
Exodus 9:3: [B]ehold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks; there shall be a very grievous murrain.
Behold, the fire has gone up on high …. Indeed, gates, columns and walls are burned up ….
Exodus 9:23-24: [A]nd fire ran down unto the earth …. So there was hail, and fire flashing up amidst the hail, very grievous ….
[T]owns are destroyed and Upper [southern] Egypt has become an empty waste.
Exodus 8:18; 9:26: And I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen [northern Egypt], in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there …. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
Indeed, everywhere barley has perished ….
Exodus 9:31: And the flax and the barley were smitten ….
The land is without light ….
Exodus 10:22: [A]nd there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.
Indeed, every dead person is as a well-born man …. Indeed, the children of princes are dashed against walls ….
Exodus 12:29: [T]he Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive ….
Indeed, men are few, and he who places his brother in the ground is everywhere ….
Exodus 12:30: [T]here was not a house where there was not one dead.
Indeed, laughter is perished … it is groaning that is throughout the land ….
Exodus 12:30: [A]nd there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.