What happened to the Jewish people when they were living in Egypt?

Answer 1

Answer 1

It depends how the question is read.

If it is referring to The Bible, it is because they enslaved the Jews harshly (exodus ch.1).

If it is referring to the 20th, and 21st century, there are a number of reasons:

Denial of Nationality: In 1926, the Egyptian Nationality Code was passed and provided citizenship to people who were Arab or Muslim, effectively denying Jews citizenship. While in the late 1920s, it only led to second lower-class status, in the late 1940s and 1950s, it would serve as a premise to "prove" Jewish disloyalty. (If they are not citizens, how could they be loyal.)

Nazification of Egyptian Independence: The violence in Manatory Palestine between the Jewish Yishuv and the ethnic Arabs in the 1920s and 1930s began to anger Egyptians. Nazi-trained Arab leaders like Haj Amin Al-Husseini visited Egypt and helped lead Arab Nationalist and Islamist movements, like the nascent Muslim Brotherhood. These organizations saw the Nazis as allies in their struggle against the British (who were occupying Egypt) and the Jewish Yishuv (who were entering mandatory Palestine). As a result, they became increasingly Anti-Semitic in their rhetoric.

Bombings of Jewish Areas: In 1945, the Jewish Quarter was violently attacked in a pogrom with 10 deaths, more than 300 injuries and a lot of property destruction, including a synagogue and a hospital. Numerous acts would follow in the subsequent years including the 1948 bombings which killed 70 Jews and riots that killed many more. There were more bombings in 1949, resulting in 34 deaths. While the violence cooled down in the 1950s, there were sporadic riots and attacks of the Jewish community.

Forced Firing: In July 1947, the Egypt government passed a law that said that every company in Egypt must employ at least 90% Egyptian nationals. Since Jews were not Egyptian nationals (see Denial of Nationality), this effectively resulted in the firing of many Jews, making their livelihoods impossible.

Expulsion in 1956: The Egyptian Government blamed the Egyptian Jews for treachery and treason with Zionists (which were unfounded claims) during the Arab-Israeli War of 1956, leading to the expulsion of 25,000 Jews, the incarceration of 1,000 Jews and the confiscation of all of their properties. In November, the Egyptian Government explained that "all Jews and Zionists were enemies of the state". In order to effectively confiscate the Jews' property while expelling them, the Jews were forced to sign affadavits showing that they wished to "donate" all of their belongings to the Egyptian Government. A similar event would reoccur to the much Jewish population in 1967 after the Six Day War.

Answer 2

In the Biblical period, that is to say, from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom in Egypt, there is no register ever found to confirm slavery (work or trade) in the egyptian society, in the tens of thousands of documents in papyrus already translated, and dispersed all around the world in museums and collections, as well as in egyptian stone inscriptions or paintings from that era.

"A century of research by archaeologists and Egyptologists has found no evidence whatsoever which can be related to an Egyptian captivity." In Exodus, Carol Meyers, Cambridge University Press, 2005.

The only reference of slavery in ancient Egypt is the Old Testement.

There was forced labour, yes, but only for criminals and war prisioners.

On the other hand, in Ancient Egypt, women had legal citizen rights, and could even divorce and have personal proprieties. Egypt was millenia ahead of Sumeria, Babylon, Greece, Israel, Phoenice, Carthago, Rome, etc., even to European society, not so long ago!

This may be strange to many people, because of the western Christian-Jewish religious tradition.

In fact, in the Ancient History, there were two civilizations that did not have a slave based economy: Egypt and the Minoan Civilization, in Crete. Around 1420 BCE, the Minoan civilization was replaced gradually by the Mycenaeans, a Greek influenced society based in slavery, just like in Classical Greece.

In Egypt, slavery was introduced by the Persians, first in 343 BCE, and later under the Greek Ptolomaic Kingdom, Roman conquest and other invaders.

However, before the Persian conquest, there were, indeed, two periods of slavery. They occurred during the Second Intermidiate Period ruled by the Hyksos (15th dynasty, from 1650 BCE to 1550 BCE), and during part of the Third Intermidiate Period, under Nubian and Assyrians rulers.

Later, the Egyptian culture lost its identity, and slavery became a rule.

In the Book of Exodus, the description of enslavement of the Jewish people is historically contradictory.

And please note the following:

- Many Jews came to Egypt, fleeing from the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians; why should they look for refuge in Egypt, if Egypt were the inferno descibed in the Bible?

- In the Book of Exodus, it is clearly mentioned that the Israelites, lead by Moses through the Sinai desert - and BEFORE YHWH's condemnation to remain in the wilderness until the generation that left Egypt passes away - complain and longed for Egypt.

For Egypt, where they were slaves, their lives at the mercy of their owners?...

- The prophet Jeremiah looked for refuge...

...in Egypt!

- Mary, Joseph and Jesus run away from Bethlehem, in their own country, and looked for a safe shelter...

...in Egypt!

Is it necessary to give more examples? [Comments on the "Examples" moved to the Discussion Section]

Answer 2

According to Jewish tradition, the Israelites were in Egypt for 210 years (Rashi commentary, on Exodus ch.12). For the first century, they lived in peace and plenty, as long as Joseph and his brothers were still living. After that, they were enslaved by the Egyptians. The enslavement was gradual, in steps, eventually becoming harsh and crushing (Exodus ch.1). At the end of that time, God sent Moses (Exodus ch.3) to demand that Pharaoh free the Israelites; and He brought plagues upon Egypt (Exodus ch.7-12) when Pharaoh refused.

As a related topic, a brief biography of Moses may be pertinent here:

Moses was born 245 years after the death of Abraham. Pharaoh had decreed that Israelite boys be killed (Exodus ch.1), but the daughter of Pharaoh took pity on the infant Moses (Exodus ch.2) and raised him as her own son. He was forced to flee after killing a cruel Egyptian taskmaster, and went to Midian, where he wedded the daughter of Jethro. He eventually achieved the highest level of prophecy (Deuteronomy ch.34) and was called upon by God (Exodus ch.3).

The importance of Moses cannot be overstated. He brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery (Exodus ch.12). He received the Torah from God (Exodus 24:12) and later recorded it in writing (Deuteronomy 31:24). He went up on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights (Deuteronomy ch.9-10) and brought down the Two Stone Tablets with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18). He brought the Israelites into the covenant with God (Exodus ch.19 and ch.24), and he oversaw the building of the Tabernacle (Exodus ch.35-40). He was the humblest of men and the greatest of prophets (Numbers ch.12).