← Back to the front page

Let My People Go! – The History and Historicity of the Biblical Account of the Exodus

Khalid Elhassan May 31, 2025 17 min

14. Alternative Theories: The Hyksos Expulsion Theory

Exodus - Moses and the Ten Commandments — Moses and the Ten Commandments. Culture Club

The absence of evidence casts doubt on the Exodus as a single historical event. However, some scholars propose that it may preserve historical memories. The biblical Exodus describes the Israelites’ dramatic escape from Egypt under the leadership of Moses – a foundational story of liberation central to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions.

But despite its importance, the historicity of the Exodus has long been debated. One of the most enduring theories that tries to ground the Exodus in actual historical events is the Hyksos Expulsion Theory. As seen below, it suggests that the biblical story may be a cultural memory or reinterpretation of the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt in the sixteenth century BC.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.