1250 BCE: a document reports that slaves have escaped from a palace at Pi-Ramesses into the Sinai.

1213 BCE: Pharaoh Ramesses the Great, the Pharaoh of the Exodus,dies.

1100 BCE: Hebrew literature takes shape, including the "Song at the Sea" (Exodus 15:21) celebrating God's destruction of the Egyptian army as the Israelites fled to freedom.

fast forward 3000 years: Ramesses' mummy is in the Cairo Museum. The papyrus document reporting the escape of the slaves is in the archives of the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC.

Tonight: We are here.


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: NewAmericanHaggadah