And this is strongly confirmed by a little remark as to the _desert of Shur_, which lies between Egypt and Canaan, and which is described as being _before Egypt as thou goest towards Assyria_.[33] Clearly then this also must have been written in Egypt, since only to a person living there would Shur be on the way to Assyria. [Footnote 33: Gen. 25. 18.] And the same may be said of the curious custom of first asking after a person's health, and then, if he is still alive.[34] This was thoroughly Egyptian, as some exactly similar cases have been found in a papyrus dated in the eighth year of Menephthah, generally thought to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus.[35] But it is scarcely likely to have been adopted by a writer in Canaan, as it makes the narrative seem so ridiculous. [Footnote 34: Gen. 43. 27-28.] [Footnote 35: Chabas, Mélanges Égyptologiques, Third Series, vol. ii., Paris, 1873, p. 152.] (2.) _In the history of Moses._ Secondly, as to the history of _Moses_. The name itself is Egyptian;[36] and his being placed in an ark of _papyrus_ smeared with bitumen was quite suited to Egypt, where both materials were commonly used, but would have been most unsuitable anywhere else. And several of the words used here, as well as in other parts of the Pentateuch, show that the writer was well acquainted with the Egyptian _language_. In this single verse for instance, there are as many as six Egyptian words, _ark_, _papyrus_, _pitch_, _flags_, _brick_, and _river_; though some of these were also used in Hebrew.[37] Then as to the Israelites making bricks with _straw_. This is interesting, because we know from the monuments that straw was often used for the purpose, the Nile mud not holding together without it, and that its absence was looked upon as a hardship. So here again the narrative suits Egypt, and not Canaan; where as far as we know, bricks were never made with straw. And it so happens that we have a little direct evidence here. For some excavations were made at Tel-el-Muskhuta in 1883; which turns out to be _Pithom_, one of the _store cities_ said to have been built by the Israelites.[38] And nearly its whole extent is occupied by large brick stores; some of the bricks being made with straw, some with fragments of reed or stubble used instead, and some without any straw at all. While, unlike the usual Egyptian custom, the walls are built with mortar; all of which exactly agrees with the narrative.[39] [Footnote 36: Driver's Exodus, 1911, p. 11.] [Footnote 37: Exod. 2. 3.] [Footnote 38: Exod. 1. 11. Transactions of Victoria Institute, vol. xviii., p. 85.] [Footnote 39: Exod. 1. 14; 5. 12.] Next, as to the _Ten Plagues_. There is much local colouring here, and hardly one of them would have been suitable in Canaan. Moreover, the order in which they come is very significant, as it makes them agree with the natural calamities of Egypt.