Were the Jews actually slaves in Egypt?

[Hodos]

So I’ve been researching Egyptian history and watching Egyptian history related videos. So they said they weren’t slaves at all, but laborers. The people who built the pyramids and everything were just paid to do so, and they were buried. They had luxuries after their work was done. But I’m not sure about the Jews though, they said the Jews were also laborers. It’s just Judeo Christian traditions that made it up. Because the Bible says the Jews were slaves, but apparently, they said the Egyptian texts doesn’t say so.

There were many different types of “slavery” in the ancient world. We have come to associate slavery with one particular type, chattel slavery, wherein the person essentially has no liberties or rights and is accorded as property. However, the ancient world had different types of slavery to include bondslavery (voluntary and in cases involuntary servitude to pay a debt), corvee labor (voluntary or involuntary impressment into government service), and chattel slavery are a few types. In the case of the Hebrews it is unclear which type of slavery they would have been involved in. It is very likely they were impressed as corvee laborers, which may have been against their will. However, since the Hebrew exodus into Egypt probably coincided with the Hyksos invasion of lower Egypt and their subsequent expulsion from lower Egypt, it is also possible they may have served as chattel slaves. The corvee labor category seems more fitting; however, that doesn’t mean that the Hebrews were not compelled into such a category and didn’t suffer. Archeologists may be comparing what the Bible says against what other ancient documents may say at the time but you have to remember a few things: 1) Just as archeologists claim the Bible is skewed to present a self-interested story of the Hebrews, Egyptian historical documents are just as skewed to present Egypt’s rulers in a favorable light; 2) just because one group of people may have been treated favorably 500 years before the Hebrews sojourned in Egypt doesn’t mean that favorable treatment was extended to the Hebrews during their time, in fact, the Biblical record shows that they were initially received favorably and that this attitude shifted with time.

What we do know from the Biblical account is that the Hebrews were compelled to perform specific labor, that they were subject to tyrannical treatment even at the threat of losing their male children, that they were not free to leave Egypt without threat of military force.