Proof of Israel outside the Bible in 1200 BC

"The period of Egyptian oppression that drove the Israelites to revolt and escape probably occurred during the reign of Ramses II (1304-1237 B.C.). Most scholars believe that the Exodus itself took place under his successor Merneptah. A victory stela dated 1220 B.C. relates a battle fought with the Israelites beyond Sinai in Canaan. Taken together with other evidence, it is believed that the Exodus occurred in the thirteenth century B.C. and had been completed by about 1225 B.C."
     - Army Area Handbooks, "Ancient Israel"

"Discovered in 1896 in Merneptah's mortuary temple in Thebes by Flinders Petrie, the stela is a poetic eulogy to pharaoh Merneptah, who ruled Egypt after Ramesses the Great, ca. 1212-1202 BC. Of significance to Biblical studies is a short section at the end of the poem describing a campaign to Canaan by Merneptah in the first few years of his reign, ca. 1210 BC....Here we have the earliest mention of Israel outside the Bible and the only mention of Israel in Egyptian records."
     - Bryant G. Wood of Associates for Biblical Research, "The Merneptah Stela"

"Israel is desolated, his seed is not;
Palestine is become a widow for Egypt."
     - Stele of Merneptah

This is a poetic eulogy to pharaoh Merneptah, who ruled Egypt after Rameses the Great, between 1212-1202 BC.

There is a short section at the end of the poem describing a campaign to Canaan by Merneptah in the first few years of his reign around 1210 BC. One line mentions Israel: "Israel is laid waste, its seed is not."

This is the earliest mention of Israel outside the Bible, and the only mention of Israel in Egyptian records.

It was discovered in 1896 in Merneptah's mortuary temple in Thebes, by Flinders Petrie.

One interesting facet to Merenptah's reign was that he moved the administrative center for Egypt from Piramesse (Pi-Ramesse), his fathers capital, back to Memphis, where he constructed a royal palace next to the temple of Ptah. This palace was excavated in 1915 by the University of Pennsylvania Museum led by Clarence Fischer, and yielded fine architectural elements. 

Merenptah's tomb is number KV 8 located in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of Luxor (ancient Thebes).  The king probably died around 1202 BC, but his mummy was not found within his tomb. In the 19th century, this apparently added to the speculation about him being the Pharaoh of the Exodus, since that king's body would have probably been washed away in the Red Sea.