Did Ancient Israelites Write in Egyptian? Was Egyptian (or any form of it) known in Israel during biblical times and was it utilized in writing?

by Txhighlight
hintonrobo

Am I correct in assuming that by written Egyptian you are referring to Egyptian hieroglyphics in particular? And not to later Egyptian adaptations of other scripts/languages?

New Kingdom Egypt (c.1500-1000 BCE) was a garrison power in the Levant alongside their military rivals, the Hittites. Both Egyptian records and archaeological sites in the Levant (including Modern Israel and the Palestinian Territories) corroborate this, and multiple extant archaeological sites therein contain examples of hieroglyphics.

However, most modern scholarly attempts to date the composition of the Hebrew Scriptures - which mostly diverge markedly from the supposed dates of composition the text itself alleges - suggest that written composition (as opposed to the likely earlier oral composition) occurred after this period of Egyptian hegemony from the 8th through 1st Centuries BCE, when Egypt was either weakened, divided, dominated by outside powers, or a combination of the three.

Although many of the people living in the Levant at the time certainly had dealings with the Egyptians and probably knew their language at least in terms of speaking ability, writing/reading ability is another matter and if it occurred would certainly have been more limited. Additionally, hieroglyphics were a less efficient script than others present in the Middle East at this time so adopting them may not have made much sense. It is also important to note that much of the Hebrew Scripture was not written in the Levant at all, but in Babylon.

The Christian Scriptures emerged long after the end of Egyptian prominence, so it is unnecessary to address them here.