[michaelmrose]

Moses and exodus are completely counterfactual and at once central to Jewish and Christian mythology and identity. Our foundational stories are mostly lies because reality is depressing.

Egypt exists even though the Exodus never happened. The mere existence of factual elements doesn't mean a foundational myth is real. Myths are normally interwoven with real elements.

Moses is almost entirely distinguished as a personage by elements we know are nonsense. If you found a Jewish leader named Moses who lived in a different year who experienced an entirely different history you wouldn't have found the real Moses so much insofar as the symbol Moses is a reference to the myth not the hypothetical actuality. Likewise finding an early leader wouldn't mean Remus was real

[Amezarak]

> Moses and exodus are completely counterfactual

I don't see anything particularly counterfactual or unlikely about a group of Egyptian or Caananite-descended Egyptians leaving Egypt and returning to Caanaan, where they fused with an existing population. Can you explain this?

[michaelmrose]

Egypt left for its era more than ample records. None of them record a mass population of Canaanite slaves escaping or existing, much less the direct interaction between any Pharaoh and a figure like Moses. If it wasn't dear to religion there would be no question about Moses being as imaginary as Noah.