Pharaoh of Exodus (original) (raw)

AMENHOTEP III AND THE EXODUS: ECHOES OF THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE FROM EGYPT'S GOLDEN AGE

Jewish Bible Quarterly, 2017

Reviews biblical and archeological support for an early 14th century BCE Exodus during the reign of Amenhotep III. This Pharaoh has a puzzling gap in his documentation believed to have been caused by a national catastrophe. He ordered 700+ statues made of war, plague and healing goddess Sekhmet for unknown reasons. He is likely the Pharaoh of Manetho's leper account, which has been unfairly dismissed by "modern" biblical criticism. Traditional Biblical scholarship suggests that the Egyptian oppression of the Israelites began after the death of Levi and before the birth of Miriam, roughly 105 years prior to the Exodus. With this in mind, Hatshepsut's Speos Artimedos inscription may bear her boast of having "expelled" the Israelites, who were welcomed to Egypt by the Hyksos, by enslaving them. This dating also point to the Thera volcanic eruption as the cause of the great famine that brought Jacob and his family to Egypt ca. 1584. Moses would have been within short riding distance of Memphis, where Amenhotep III lived early in his reign, if Goshen, where the Israelites were settled, was in the Heliopolis Nome. The historian and Talmud scholar Solomon Zeitlin surmised that Onias built a Jewish temple in Leontopolis because he had a tradition that it was Goshen. (Although not covered in this article, the best way to make sense of the route taken by the Israelites upon leaving Egypt is that they traveled north to Succoth/Tell el-Maskhuta (Exod. 12:37) in the Wadi Tumilat, and to Etham, where they were turned south by God (Exod. 14:2), heading toward Mt. Sinai after crossing the Great Bitter Lake ("Sea of Reeds"). The Bible describes this circuitous route as a feint designed by God to trick Pharaoh into believing they were trapped in the desert.)

AMENHOTEP II AND THE HISTORICITY OF THE EXODUS-PHARAOH

Sea should not be understood as an account of his death. His second Asiatic campaign very possibly came as an effort to recoup his reputation as a great warrior and recover Egypt's slave-base after the loss of two million Israelite slaves through the exodus. The record of 3,600 Apiru on the booty list for his second Asiatic campaign appears to be a small number of the escaped Hebrews whom he recaptured and brought back to Egypt. If Hatshepsut is identified with the biblical Moses' adoptive mother, attempts to erase her memory from Egyptian records may have come from efforts of Amenhotep II because of her part in rescuing Moses when he was a baby and becoming his adoptive mother. Such scenarios show the plausibility of harmonizing the biblical account of the exodus with secular history and supporting the position of biblical inerrancy.

Moses found in Egypt

No prior attempt to put a date on the Exodus had a sound mathematical framework. Early Hebrews counted time in 'turns' (shanah) which could be turns of the year, turns of the moon (12.37 per year), or turns of the season (spring and fall). This removes the otherwise inexplicable longevity of Abraham through Moses. Abraham died at 175 ÷ 2 = 87.5 years. Moses died at age 120 ÷ 2 = 60 years. Correcting this translation error is the key to finding when the real Moses and his ancestors lived. Moses and the Exodus fall within the late 20th Egyptian Dynasty, as the power of the pharaohs was waning. That's a very complicated and poorly understood era in Egyptian history, and it is where the historical Moses has remained hidden until now. It shouldn't be possible to solve a problem as long debated as the date of the Exodus by simply proposing that "Moses died at 60 years old, not 120." I've been called a fool for proposing such a simple solution. Do not presume the solution cannot be true because it is too easy. Ask why such an easy solution has been overlooked. The blame can be shared by religious scholars and secular historians. Religious scholars have failed to question why Moses lived to age 120, and secular historians have failed to realize that if the Egyptian historians Manetho and Cheremon both claimed that Moses was real, then he probably was real. As quoted by Josephus (Against Apion, 1:15 and 1:26), Manetho placed Moses and his Egyptian rival "king Amenophis" later than a list of 18th and 19th Dynasty pharaohs, which allows only the 20th Egyptian Dynasty, where king Amenophis is readily identified as High Priest of Amun Amenhotep, a contemporary of pharaohs Ramesses IX (1125-1107) and Ramesses X (1107-1104). It is then trivial to identify the pharaoh who died while Moses was in Midian (Exodus 2:23) as Ramesses IX, and the pharaoh that Moses and Aaron subsequently confronted (Exodus 7:7) as Ramesses X. It is that trivial to identify the pharaoh of the Exodus, but it is somewhat harder to identify Moses, Aaron and Joshua. They were respectively: Nebmarenakht (Moses), vizier to pharaoh Ramesses XI (Aaron) and general Piankhi (Joshua), each of whom had both an Egyptian name and a Hebrew name - for political purposes. As Manetho claimed, Moses seized power in Egypt and ruled for 13 years. Then Amenophis and his son (High Priest of Amun Herihor) returned from exile in Ethiopia and defeated Moses. Moses fled from Egypt, but Joshua later invaded Canaan and established a new territory to rule. Canaan was formerly ruled by Hebrew aristocrats and their subordinate judges of Israel, who like Jacob and Joseph, were loyal to Egypt, but Egypt was no longer a major power. The power of the 20th Dynasty pharaohs collapsed when Moses and Joshua sided with Assyria and H.P. A Amenhotep sided with Babylonia. Ramesses XI was not a 20th Dynasty pharaoh. He was Hebrew vassal of Assyria. The majority of the period of Judges DOES NOT follow the death of Joshua. That is an editing error in the Bible. The judge Jair (Judges 10:3) was a judge east of the Jordan River in Havaath Jair, which was captured by Jair when he was a judge for Moses (Num. 32:41 and Deut. 3:14 ). Jair and Moses never conquered any territory in Canaan. Joshua did so, in alliance with Assyria's king Tiglath-Pileser I of Ashhur (Num. 24:20-24; Ashhur and Eber = Assyria and the Hebrews, soon to be subdued by ships from Kittim = the Philistine oppression of Judges 10:7). The Bible agrees with Manetho, but people who study the Bible hadn't recognized that the Exodus falls within chapter 10 of the Book of Judges.

Moses and the Exodus Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence

The existence Moses as well as the Exodus is a crucial question because, according to the Bible, the character related to that famous event forms the basis of the Passover which meant the Promised Land for Jews and later the Paradise for Christians. However, according to most Egyptologists, there is absolutely no evidence of Moses and the Exodus in Egyptian documents, which leads them to conclude that the whole biblical story is a myth written for gullible people. However, according to Egyptian accounts the last king of the 15th dynasty named Apopi, “very pretty”, which was Moses’ birth name (Ex 2:2), reigned 40 years in Egypt (1613-1573) and met Seqenenre Taa, 40 years later, the last pharaoh of the 17th dynasty who died in May 1533 BCE in dramatic and unclear circumstances (Ps 136:15). The state of his mummy proves that his body received severe injuries and remained abandoned for several days before being mummified. The eldest son of Seqenenre Taa, Ahmose Sapaïr, who was crown prince died in a dramatic and unexplained way shortly before his father (Ex 12:29). Prince Kamose, Seqenenre Taa's brother, assured interim of authority for 3 years and threatened attack the former pharaoh Apopi, new prince of Retenu (Palestine) who took the name Moses, according to Manetho, an Egyptian priest and historian. In the stele of the Tempest, Kamose also blames Apopi for all the disasters that come to fall upon Egypt, which caused many deaths. Ironically, those who believe Egyptologists are actually the real gullible ones. https://www.lulu.com/shop/gerard-gertoux/moses-and-the-exodus-chronological-historical-and-archaeological-evidence/paperback/product-1pyeqjj6.html

Who was The Pharaoh at the Exodus

2019

The pharaoh of the Israel's exodus from Egypt has long been a matter of fertile conjecture. Those who don't use the Hebrew Scriptures as their authority either place it in the reign of Ramses II or deny it altogether, and those who do hold to the numbers we have in scripture place it about 1446 BC which is at odds with the archaeological evidence we have. This paper gives evidence to support the conclusion of the 3rd century historian, Africanus, that the pharaoh of the Exodus was a contemporary of Ahmos, ( in the mid 1500's BC).

Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus?

An attempt to fix a date for the Exodus of the Hebrew slaves from the land of Egypt remains an intriguing quest for scholars and students of the Bible. The endeavor is frustrated significantly in that no exact date or name of any Pharaoh is given in the biblical text. Those two identities are inseparably linked, as definitively knowing one would result in knowing the other. And not knowing either one definitively has resulted in centuries of debate regarding the date of the Exodus, with sides being drawn favoring one of two commonly accepted dates. In "Rethinking the Exodus" another line of research is discussed that may help identify the Pharaoh of the Exodus, which would then settle the Date of the Exodus.

Rethinking the Pentateuch's place in Egyptian history

Two ancient historians correctly aligned Isaac, Jacob and Joseph to the 19th Egyptian Dynasty. 20th century biblical archaeologists dismissed those historians (Manetho and Bar Hebraeus) and proceeded to misinterpret the archaeological evidence and get the early history of Israel terribly wrong. Not every destroyed city in Canaan was destroyed by Joshua, whose conquest of Canaan did not occur until 1084 BC. The problem is chronology, Literal Bible chronologies placed Moses and Joshua no later than Egypt’s 19th Dynasty, which is best known for the powerful pharaoh Ramesses II (1279-1213). However, in Deuteronomy 34:7, Moses likely lived 120 seasons, not years. If the seasons were winter and summer, that’s just 60 years, consistent with the claim that “his eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone.” A systematic correction of this factor of 2 error leads to a contraction of the Pentateuch’s chronology, bringing earlier patriarchs Isaac, Jacob and Joseph into alignment with Egypt’s 19th Dynasty. Joseph then matches an Asiatic commoner named chancellor Bay, who became ruler of Egypt in the late 19th Dynasty, prior to being executed in year 5 of the 20th Dynasty pharaoh Ramesses III (1185-1154). Matching Joseph to Bay places Moses even later. This supports the 3rd century BC Egyptian historian Manetho’s account of the Exodus. Manetho listed Egypt’s kings through the 19th Dynasty, then described a (later) rivalry between Moses and a king named Amenophis. In Chronography, Bar Hebraeus called the same political rival Amonpathis. Moses'' rival, Amenophis/Amonpathis, matches a high priest named Amenhotep whose power rivaled that of his contemporary, pharaoh Ramesses IX (1125-1107). Thus, with normal lifetimes as a guide, a historical match to Joseph is found – much as the Bible describes him. Manetho described Moses first ruling Egypt for 13 years, then fleeing when king Amenophis and his son returned from exile in Ethiopia. This could only have occurred during the late 20th Dynasty, at the time of Ramesses X and Ramesses XI. Further investigation leads to the conclusion that Moses was the de facto ruler of Egypt during an era within the reign of Ramesses XI which was mysteriously called the "Repeating of Births" (i.e. a restoration of the 19th Dynasty -- when Isaac, Jacob and Joseph held great political power). Conflicting accounts of the Exodus (Hebrew vs. Egyptian) can now be evaluated in this historical context.

Moses and the Exodus: what evidence?

To be or not to be is a crucial question regarding Moses as well as the Exodus because, according to the Bible, the character related to that famous event forms the basis of the Passover which meant the Promised Land for Jews and later the Paradise for Christians. However, according to most Egyptologists, there is absolutely no evidence of Moses and the Exodus in Egyptian documents, which leads them to conclude that the whole biblical story is a myth written for gullible people. Ironically, if one considers that “truth” must be based on two pillars: an accurate chronology anchored on absolute dates (Herodotus’ principle) and reliable documents coming from critical editions (Thucydides’ principle), that implies an amazing conclusion: those who believe Egyptologists are actually the real gullible ones. According to Egyptian accounts the last king of the XVth dynasty, named Apopi, “very pretty” in Hebrew that is Moses’ birth name (Ex 2:2), reigned 40 years in Egypt from 1613 to 1573 BCE, then 40 years later he met Seqenenre Taa the last pharaoh of the XVIIth dynasty and gave him an unspecified disturbing message. The eldest son of Seqenenre Taa, Ahmose Sapaïr, who was crown prince died in a dramatic and unexplained way shortly before his father. Seqenenre Taa died in May 1533 BCE, after 11 years of reign, in dramatic and unclear circumstances. The state of his mummy proves, however, that his body received severe injuries, in agreement with Psalms 136:15, and remained abandoned for several days before being mummified. Prince Kamose, Seqenenre Taa's brother, assured interim of authority for 3 years and threatened attack the former pharaoh Apopi, new prince of Retenu (Palestine) who took the name Moses, according to Manetho (280 BCE), an Egyptian priest and historian. In the stele of the Tempest, Kamose also blames Apopi for all the disasters that come to fall upon Egypt, which caused many deaths.