The Merneptah Stele

[Minimalist]

I've read somewhere that only 1% of the archaeology has been done in that area of the world. I guess we have to wait on a lot of evidence,

Somehow they manage to find Phoenecian, Philistine and Egyptian artifacts from that time period, not to mention proto-Israelite (to steal Dever's term). "Absence of Evidence" seems to be highly specific to the bible story.

[kbs2244]

John:
That depends entirely on who wrote it and for what reason and for what audience.
I mentioned in another post how the Greeks put down Thrace as a land of cave dwelling barbarians.
But lately we have been finding stuff that would put the best Greek artesian to shame.
When a Chicago Museum had a Cleopatra exhibit they showed the stone equalvent of a political cartoon. It showed Marc Anthony having carnal knowledge with an alligator that had the face of Cleopatra.
It just goes to show that, even if it is carved in stone, it may be showing just one side of the story.

[Minimalist]

The Greeks thought everyone who wasn't a Greek was a barbarian.