After a century of research by archaeologists and Egyptologists[33] the consensus of modern scholars is that the Bible does not give an accurate account of the origins of Israel.[34] There is no indication that the Israelites ever lived in Ancient Egypt, and the Sinai Peninsula shows almost no sign of any occupation for the entire 2nd millennium BCE (even Kadesh-Barnea, where the Israelites are said to have spent 38 years, was uninhabited prior to the establishment of the Israelite monarchy).[35] In contrast to the absence of evidence for the Egyptian captivity and wilderness wanderings, there are ample signs of Israel's evolution within Canaan from native Canaanite roots.[36][37] While a few scholars discuss the plausibility of the Exodus story,[38] archaeological investigation has been abandoned as "a fruitless pursuit".[39]