Three hieroglyphic inscriptions have been discovered that give independent testimony to the accuracy of several accounts in the Old Testament. Two of these were discovered on the walls of two New Kingdom Egyptian temples, and one was found on a temple pillar in Sudan. All three of them refer to the “land of the nomads of YHWH.” Of the three, the first to be discovered was found on a topographical list at the Amara West temple, and is probably a copy of the inscription on the wall of the Soleb temple. This temple, the Temple of Amun at Soleb, was built on the banks of the Nile, north of the Third Cataract, around 1400 BC by the 18th Dynasty pharaoh, Amenhotep III, who dedicated it to Amun and to himself as a deity.
When first discovered by archaeologists, the magnificent hypostyle hall was in ruins and partly covered by sand. Fortunately, many inscriptions carved into the pillars and walls had survived the millennia. Among these inscriptions was an extensive list of conquered or subdued places and people. Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian texts repeatedly mention nomadic people living in the wilderness east of Egypt and in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age, even specifying that some were tent dwellers. At least two of the inscriptions claim defeat or subjugation of a nomadic group that worshipped Yahweh, specifically noting the “land of the nomads of YHWH.” (However, the only known military campaign of Amenhotep III was to suppress a rebellion in Kush, so the claims of conquest were probably propaganda.)
One of these inscriptions is of particular interest. Found on an interior wall of the temple, it showcases a list naming conquered places and people. The best-preserved among the items features a carved relief on a pillar, depicting a bound “shasu” (nomad) prisoner with the name “land of the nomads of Yahweh” in the cartouche. Spelled phonetically, using hieroglyphs, not only do the letters match an Egyptian transliteration, but unquestionably show that YHWH is a personal name, not a place.
Summary
This clearly demonstrates that these nomads were the Israelites, who worshipped Yahweh and who wandered in the wilderness like nomads in the 15th and 14th centuries BC. The idea that the name YHWH and the phrase “the nomads of Yahweh” would be found on an Egyptian temple from around 1400 BC clearly demonstrates that the Egyptians of the 18th Dynasty and the pharaoh himself were familiar with the Israelites and the God they worshipped, and gives independent corroboration of the Old Testament documents.
