Jewish religious books claim that the people as a culture existed as far as 1500 BC. They lived as slaves in Egypt until Moses set them free. The Torah played a massive role in their lives because, according to Judaism, it was written by God directly, that is, it was given to Moses to write down, since he was the prophet of the lord. The Torah became the law of the land as it was created by god itself. They spread from Egypt towards the middle east.