Quote:Well, I don't think the Jews just popped out of nowhere.
The "jews" as a matter of fact popped up out of Persian nomenclature when they renamed the region Yehud.
Current archaeological theory is that towards the end of the Late Bronze Age (as laid out by Israel Finkelstein in his Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement, 1988) is that nomadic tribes living in the eastern reaches of Canaan were forced to settle down and begin growing their own grain in the Eastern Hill region because their coastal trading partners were overrun by the Sea Peoples. His colleague, and sometimes opponent, William Dever agrees on the location but argues that refugees from the aforementioned overrun agricultural centers were deeply involved in bringing the necessary knowledge of farming to the newly settled nomads. Actually, there is no reason why both positions cannot be true. One farmer with knowledge can teach many others how to farm. Dever will use the phrase "proto-Israelite" to describe these people but Finkelstein will not go that far. It doesn't matter because the growth of these villages has been charted and they grew into the states of Israel, Judah, Edom and Moab over the course of the following few centuries.
So, no. They did not pop into existence but they did originate among the indigenous population of the Eastern Hill Region of Canaan. And they were never slaves in Egypt.
