In the period that came just after the life of Joseph and before the Exodus, Israelites lived in Egypt as settlers. An Egyptian list of domestic servants, recorded on a papyrus from about the 17th century BC, contains not only Semitic names but some Hebrew names in particular.
A section of this papyrus contains a list of 95 servants, many of whom are specified as Asiatic or coming from western Asia (primarily Canaan). While 30 of the servants have Semitic names, of greater interest in this pre-Exodus period is that 9 of these servants have specifically Hebrew names. Here are some examples:
- Menahema, a feminine form of Menahem; •Ashera, a feminine form of Asher (one of the sons of Jacob); • Shiphrah, the name of one of the Hebrew midwives prior to the Exodus (as highlighted in Exodus 1:15); • ‘Aqoba, a feminine form of Jacob or Yaqob; • Sekera, probably the feminine form of Issachar (one of the sons of Jacob); • Dawidi-huat, a compound name that partially includes the name David; and the name • Hy′b′rw, which appears to be an Egyptian transcription of “ Hebrew.”
The presence of these names clearly demonstrates that Hebrews did indeed live in Egypt in an earlier period of residence in the country prior to their enslavement and subsequent .Exodus under Moses.
