Recently, a research group stated that an ancient Egyptian papyrus supports the Bible stories about unusually tall warriors.
The text supports many Old Testament events and has been validated by historians. Canaan, comprising modern Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and parts of Syria and Jordan, served as a crucial land bridge between Africa and Asia, situated between the Egyptian empire and Mesopotamian powers.
Various tribes vied for control of this region. Pharaoh Ramesses II ruled Egypt for 66 years during the 13th century BC, making it the second-longest reign in Egyptian history. His armies campaigned in Canaan, with recorded encounters with local populations, and this papyrus dates to that period.
Egyptian records refer to the Shasu as nomadic warrior tribes in southern Canaan and Transjordan from the 16th to 12th centuries BC, meaning “those who move on foot.” Considered fierce enemies, they raided settlements and disrupted trade routes, controlling mountainous regions like Hebron, southern Canaan, Transjordan, and Bashan.
The biblical descriptions of the Anakim align with the idea of giants, first mentioned in Genesis 6:4 as the Nephilim, offspring of “the sons of God” and “the daughters of men” before Noah’s flood. In the 13th-15th centuries BC, Moses sent 12 scouts into Canaan, and ten returned terrified, reporting that the Anakim, descendants of the Nephilim, made them feel like “grasshoppers.”
Only Joshua and Caleb urged the people to move forward. This relates to the area where the Egyptians encountered the Shasu. Deuteronomy 2:11 states that the Anakim, a tribe of giants, were descendants of Anak and lived in southern Canaan. They dominated southern Canaan, particularly Hebron. Numbers 13:22 names three brothers: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
The Bible connects the Rephaim to the Nephilim, describing them as a giant tribe in Bashan, Moab, and Ammon. The Hebrew term “Rephaim” means “terrible ones” or “mighty ones.” In Deuteronomy 2:20-21, they are noted as tall and strong, akin to the Anakim, and they also appear in ancient Ugaritic texts and Egyptian curse tablets.
In Deuteronomy 3:11 introduces Og, the giant king of Bashan, with 60 fortified cities. His iron bed measured 13.5 feet long and six feet wide. It is displayed as a museum piece in Rabbah. Moses defeated him before the Israelites entered Canaan.
In First Samuel 17:4, the Philistine champion is described as “six cubits and a span” tall. The Masoretic text estimates his height at about 9 feet 9 inches, while earlier Septuagint manuscripts suggest around 6 feet 9 inches, which some scholars find more reliable. He wore 125-pound bronze armor and was killed by David around 1025 BC.
The ancient Egyptian papyrus contains a document in which military scribe Hori reprimands junior scribe Amenemope for his battlefield incompetence. Hori challenges Amenemope to imagine facing the fierce Shasu warriors in Canaan’s narrow ravines, where they hide to ambush travelers.
He describes them as “fierce of face, their hearts are not mild, and they do not respond to coaxing.” Then comes the measurement that changes everything. The exact text states: “Some of them are four cubits or five cubits tall, from head to foot.” The royal Egyptian cubit measured about 20.6 inches, which converts to roughly 8 feet 6 inches.
These were intelligence reports regarding real military threats. The Shasu were active in southern Canaan and Transjordan during the 13th century BC.
The Bible identifies the Anakim giants in specific regions during this timeframe. Two ancient sources, from Egypt and Hebrew traditions, reference tall figures in overlapping areas and eras.
Around 1850 BC, Egyptians inscribed curse texts on pottery aimed at their enemies. These fragments, now in Berlin, reference “Iy Aneq,” or the “people of Aneq,” with a linguistic link to ‘Anakim,’ the biblical “sons of Anak” in Canaan. The reliefs of Ramesses II’s Battle of Kadesh, from around 1274 BC, can be found at the temples of Abu Simbel, Karnak, and Luxor.
The massive stone carvings depict captured Shasu spies being beaten. Around 1200 BC, Canaanite scribes at Ugarit carved tablets referencing a deified king named Rapiu—”king of eternity”—who ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei.
The two cities mentioned are the same ones where Deuteronomy identifies Og, the king of the Rephaim. The linguistic similarity between “Rapiu” and “Rephaim” is notable. The Associates for Biblical Research highlights that this offers Egyptian corroboration for biblical accounts.
They highlight several key factors: accurate cubit measurements (instead of vague exaggerations), consistent geography (the same regions), chronological synchronicity (occurring in the same century), and references to the same peoples and places across multiple ancient Near Eastern texts.
Those who debate Giants are living in sin. If they accept that it happened, they must recognize the Bible’s truth and either repent or face judgment.
2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2 Peter 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2 Peter 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2 Peter 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2 Peter 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.
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