What if Moses had led an insurrection?

Assuming the book of Exodus were true, Moses would promptly get crushed by Pharaoh's forces. What are a bunch of slaves going to do against the Egyptian army, especially since Moses went against God's direct orders? He can't expect any divine help, which was the only reason he was able to do anything at all.
 
Still doesn't explain why the Israelites came up with that "we came out of Egypt" shtick in the first place, though. Perhaps some non-'Apiru immigrants from the Sinai played a part in the original ethnogenesis of early Israel, and their origin stories got folded in to the Hebrew narrative?

Sure it does, Egypt was the preeminent power of the region and time period. "Breaking free from the mighty empire" is a good selling point for cultural unity and pride.
 
Sure it does, Egypt was the preeminent power of the region and time period. "Breaking free from the mighty empire" is a good selling point for cultural unity and pride.
But if you're going through the trouble to invent a story for national pride, why would you ever claim your people were enslaved when they weren't? Slavery carried such shame in the ancient world. A far more impressive story would've been the Egyptians trying to conquer the Israelites, only to be repelled in battle by the Jewish armies and their mighty god.
 
But if you're going through the trouble to invent a story for national pride, why would you ever claim your people were enslaved when they weren't? Slavery carried such shame in the ancient world. A far more impressive story would've been the Egyptians trying to conquer the Israelites, only to be repelled in battle by the Jewish armies and their mighty god.

Invalid premise.
The stories in the Bible are, yes about the history of the Jews - but it's not 'Yay, we're great', it's 'Yay, G-d's great'. It's more of a miracle to take slaves and turn the into the rulers of a nation.
 
Still doesn't explain why the Israelites came up with that "we came out of Egypt" shtick in the first place, though. Perhaps some non-'Apiru immigrants from the Sinai played a part in the original ethnogenesis of early Israel, and their origin stories got folded in to the Hebrew narrative?
Think of it like the Aeneid.

Egypt was one of the great centers of civilization, especially for people who lived in the Levant. The Exodus myth links the current Hebrew state to the glories of Egypt, whose history is long and often occupied the Levant reason. This is similar to the story of Aeneas, a mythical Trojan warrior who is the mythical founding father of the Latin tribes, thus connecting Roman genealogy to Greece's golden age.
 
But if you're going through the trouble to invent a story for national pride, why would you ever claim your people were enslaved when they weren't? Slavery carried such shame in the ancient world. A far more impressive story would've been the Egyptians trying to conquer the Israelites, only to be repelled in battle by the Jewish armies and their mighty god.
Wasn't a good part of the Bible written within recent memory of the Babylonian captivity? The Bible emphasizes a great deal that God punished the Israelites just as often as he blessed them- having them suffer a bunch for their impiety is a good way to strengthen the moral authority of the religion, I suppose. The Jewish identity was as much a religious as an ethnic one.
 
I brought myself to believe certain religious/mythic stories of a certain impact had always a basic truth behind, aside from the forgery. The universal flood? Probably a devastant flood in Mesopotamia eons ago. The exodus? We tend to forget in Egypt there wasn't proper slavery, the Hebrews were probably war prisoners then freed, becoming part of the Egyptian community and then for certain reasons went away. Maybe because of ties with the Atonian heresy?

Same for the Aeneid and the Iliad. That Troy existed is inoppugnable truth; that was rich proved the treasure found here even if it wasn't the one of Priamus; so one of the main sites found was burned to ground. Also, as the Greeks settled around all the Mediterranean, it could be possible some Trojan refugees settled in Latium, surely more safe than the Aegean or Magna Graecia.
 
I think you have to decide which direction you want to take this:
  • In the first instance, Moses was led to free the Hebrews by Yahweh - in which case going against His plan is probably not a good idea;
  • In the second instance, Moses was led to free the Hebrews by his own initiative - in which case you have an insurrection which:
    • If the Bible is to be believed on the Hebrew population at the time... well... I'd think it would be a pretty decent uprising so long as they all got involved; or,
    • If the Bible is not to be belived and the Hebrew population at the time was a lot less... well... like most Servile Wars, it would eventually be crushed.
 
Same for the Aeneid and the Iliad. That Troy existed is inoppugnable truth; that was rich proved the treasure found here even if it wasn't the one of Priamus; so one of the main sites found was burned to ground. Also, as the Greeks settled around all the Mediterranean, it could be possible some Trojan refugees settled in Latium, surely more safe than the Aegean or Magna Graecia.
The thing with that though is that the Aeneid as we know it was a later addition to the Roman founding mythos. The original story just had Romulus and Remus-hence the convoluted and often contradictory nature of how they tried to tie the stories of Romulus and Remus with Aeneas. It's more likely that after Rome started coming into contact with Greece they wanted to provide some sort of connection with Greece to show they were not un-greek barbarians. Hence the story. Archaeological evidence however shows no basis for it.
 
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