I should have pointed out a little more clearly from the British Library link, their view that the Israelites were
not always slaves, which is not disagreeing with what you previously posted, i.e., Jews 'aka' Israelites lived and settled in Egypt... for a time:
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”(Ex.22:20).
“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul of the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex.23:9).
“The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Lev.19:34).
“You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deut.10:19)
“You shall not hate an Egyptian, for you were stranger in his land” (Deut.23:8).
Exodus as a fantasy I'll take as your
prefered take of the narrative, at least for the moment, as I'm not sure of which study established the impossibility (also currently quite busy). I know there are a few ideas.
I disagree that Jews didn't exist back then. The group of people that later became Jews must have been a coherent group spanning back many thousands of years prior to anyone mentioning the word Jehova.
There's no reason to believe any group of slaves fled Egypt en masse at any point in history. So it's a moot point that they were called something else back then.
I'm happy to agree to the defined terms you give above. I see now under this clarification where you were coming from in your OP.
There was always Christianity through the Jews, Hebrews, Israelites by this understanding.
Edit: fun fact is that the idea that slaves were used to build the Egyptian pyramids came from the Jewish historian Josephus. That was also a fabrication. Helping to build the pyramids was an honour and only free men would be given that honour
I would not find this contradictory to some extent (in bold), depending on how you read in context, 'only' free men would be given the honour to build.. etc..
Slavery mistakenly interpreted in context to chains and whips, so to speak, doesn't say this was the kind of slavery in the verse below:
“Always remember that you were a "slave" in the land of Egypt; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment” (Deut. 24:22)
But in this context below..
"And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing." (Deut. 24:22 KJV )
Bondman interpreted as in Bond-servant, known and understood in the theology, as a form of employment or servitude for a period of time, paying off debts.
Even though we were to say these servants were not quite "free." Would that mean bondmen wouldn't have that honour too, being part of the great build? I would think they would.