How reliable is the Old Testament and the first books of the Bible

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What evidence could we find? They were nomadic for 40 years, they didn't build cities or monuments and took everything with them. Perhaps you would expect to find at least 2 million graves scattered around the wilderness? Do archaeologists excavate deserted parts of the desert to see if there are graves or other artefacts that can survive for thousands of years?

Yes, they do dig in the desert (and the huge changes would be obvious from time to time without digging, too). Two million people living for 40 years would leave all kinds of evidence in the desert, where the dryness helps keep things around. many skeletons, for one thing. Just normal aging will result in hundreds of thousands dead over 40 years, not to mention the hardships of the deserts. People will dig latrines, there will be livestock bones, garbage pits (one of the most reliable archeological resources), broken pottery, and so on. That's not to mention that right after that, they killed millions of people in giant battles in city after city - so they must have had metal weapons, shields, etc - all of which will have a fraction that break every year and are discarded. Yes, we can expect a huge amount to find.

Remember that two million people is about the population of the whole country of Egypt at the time (3 million).

Incidentally I wasn't trying to promote that book. It is fairly thin and not well written, but the basic idea of an exodus during the 15th dynasty is worth at least considering. Giving a date for Adam is not the same thing as saying there was a six day creation, it just means a person called Adam lived 6100 years ago if the numbers are correct. Can people actually live for hundreds of years? Genesis has so many questions. Maybe you are right, I should get off "mount stupid" and leave it to the experts.

Yep, makes sense. Understood. Good discussion!

In Christ-

Papias