3,300-Year-Old Egyptian Papyrus Reignites Debate Over Nephilim

AI impression of ancient Canaan landscape with Nephilim and the papyrus.

February

/ 2026

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Stories of giants have always stood at the uneasy crossroads of faith, folklore, and archaeology. Now, a 3,300-year-old Egyptian text preserved in the British Museum is once again fueling one of the Bible's most controversial debates: were the giants of the Old Testament rooted in real historical encounters? The answer, it turns out, depends very much on who is reading the papyrus, and what they are hoping to find.

At the center of the discussion is Papyrus Anastasi I, a New Kingdom Egyptian document written in hieratic script and dated to the 13th century BC. Though long known to scholars, the text has recently drawn renewed attention after being highlighted by researchers affiliated with the Associates for Biblical Research and reported in mainstream outlets including the Daily Mail. The renewed spotlight has prompted a fresh wave of questions about whether ancient Egyptian records may echo biblical references to towering warriors in Canaan.

An Egyptian "War Correspondent" in Canaan

Papyrus Anastasi I takes the form of a sharply worded letter from a scribe named Hori to another official, Amenemope. The tone is instructional, and often mocking. Hori criticizes his colleague's lack of knowledge about geography, logistics, and the military realities of the Levant. Far from being a mythological tale, the document reads like a field manual infused with sarcasm. It references specific routes, cities, supply calculations, and the dangers awaiting Egyptian forces operating in Canaan. For many historians, this makes the papyrus a rare and vivid window into how Egyptian officials conceptualized foreign campaigns during the reign of Ramesses II.

Part of the Anastasi Papyrus.

Part of the Anastasi Papyrus. (© The Trustees of the British Museum)

One passage in particular has drawn extraordinary interest. Hori warns about a narrow mountain pass "infested with Shosu concealed beneath the bushes," describing some of them as measuring "four cubits or five cubits, from head to foot, fierce of face, their heart is not mild." The measurement matters. The royal Egyptian cubit was approximately 20.6 inches (about 52.3 cm), which would place these Shosu individuals somewhere between roughly 6 feet 8 inches and 8 feet 6 inches tall, well above the average height of the Late Bronze Age population. For advocates of a historical core behind biblical giant traditions, this numerical detail is difficult to ignore.

Megiddo ivory plaque showing a Canaanite king and harpist, Late Bronze Age, 1350–1150 BC. The plaque description references the Shosu mentioned in Papyrus Anastasi I. (Public Domain)

Echoes of the Anakim and the Nephilim?

The Hebrew Bible refers multiple times to unusually large figures. Genesis 6 speaks of the enigmatic Nephilim, often translated as "giants" and described as the offspring of the "sons of God" and human women. In Numbers 13:33, Israelite scouts describe encountering the "sons of Anak" in Canaan, claiming they felt like "grasshoppers" in comparison. Deuteronomy 3:11 recounts Og, king of Bashan, whose bed is described as nine cubits long, a figure that, if taken literally, would place him at a truly extraordinary height.

Researchers associated with the Associates for Biblical Research have suggested that Papyrus Anastasi I may represent rare extra-biblical corroboration of such traditions. Proponents argue that the reference to Shosu of exceptional stature parallels biblical depictions of the Anakim - figures remembered as imposing and formidable.

The argument gains further context from other Egyptian sources. So-called Execration Texts - ritual inscriptions from earlier periods - list foreign enemies whose names were inscribed on clay objects and ritually smashed. Some scholars have noted possible linguistic parallels between names in these texts and the biblical Anak. Additionally, reliefs from the reign of Ramesses II depicting conflicts near Kadesh portray captured Shasu figures in ways that some interpret as emphasizing unusual size.

David and Goliath by Osmar Schindler, 1888. Goliath is among the most famous biblical giants, described in 1 Samuel as standing over six cubits tall. (Osmar Schindler/Public Domain)

Satire, Hyperbole, or Historical Memory?

Yet most Egyptologists approach such conclusions with considerable caution. The British Museum characterizes Papyrus Anastasi I primarily as a didactic composition - a training text designed to test and refine scribal knowledge. Its exaggerated tone strongly suggests satire. Hori's criticism of Amenemope includes rhetorical flourishes intended to highlight incompetence, and in that context, descriptions of towering enemies may function as literary devices rather than anthropometric data. Tall, fierce opponents made for a more dramatic and instructive cautionary tale.

The late biblical scholar Dr. Michael Heiser argued that even heights approaching seven or eight feet do not imply a separate race of supernatural giants. Modern medical science documents individuals who naturally reach or exceed such stature - rare, certainly, but well within the range of human biology. Moreover, no verified skeletal remains, architecture, or material culture clearly indicate the existence of a distinct population of giant humans in the Bronze Age Levant. Archaeology has yet to uncover physical evidence that matches the dramatic scale implied in biblical passages. Many historians interpret ancient height references as rhetorical amplification, a powerful literary strategy that heightened drama, emphasized danger, and magnified the glory of eventual victory.

Where History and Belief Intersect

The renewed debate surrounding Papyrus Anastasi I underscores a broader truth: ancient texts are rarely simple. They blend memory, ideology, theology, and lived experience in ways that resist easy categorization. For believers, the Egyptian reference to unusually tall Shosu fighters may strengthen the case that biblical giant traditions were grounded in historical encounters with real, physically imposing populations. For skeptics, the passage illustrates how ancient writers employed vivid exaggeration to dramatize hostile terrain and formidable foes.

The evidence, at present, remains textual rather than physical. No archaeological discovery has definitively confirmed a race of biblical giants. Yet neither can the papyrus be dismissed as meaningless coincidence. It shows that Egyptian observers in the Late Bronze Age associated certain Levantine groups with exceptional stature and that this association was considered worth recording.

Ultimately, Papyrus Anastasi I does not resolve the giant question. Instead, it sharpens it. It reminds us that across the ancient Near East, peoples remembered and recorded encounters with enemies described as larger than life. Whether those descriptions reflect biology, perception, or literary artistry remains a matter of interpretation. But the debate itself reveals something enduring about human storytelling: when communities confront the unknown, they often frame it in terms that stretch the boundaries of ordinary experience.

Top image: Top image: AI impression of ancient Canaan landscape with Nephilim and the papyrus. Source: AI generated.

By Gary Manners