Biblical Egypt

Discovering the Pharaohs

Joel Seibright - 3 September 2015

BIBLICAL EGYPT - JOEL SEIBRIGHT 1

 Introduction

Although the Pharaohs of the Old Testament are never named in the Bible, it is

possible to determine a timeline of Biblical Egypt through analysing the clues left by the

authors of the books of Genesis and Exodus and comparing the clues to facts that have

been uncovered about the pharaohs through egyptology. Although their names are never

specifically mentioned there are unique characteristics provided to each Pharaoh. These

primarily include the period of prosperity before the period of famine1, the shift from

polytheism to monotheism under one of the pharaohs that I propose was a Biblical

pharaoh, the correlation between the story of Joseph and an Egyptian Vizier named

Ramose and the erasure of all history referring to Atenism after the death of Akhenaten

which mirrors the way that the pharaohs forgot about Joseph the Hebrew after his death,

leading to the distrust and enslavement of the Hebrew people2.

1 Genesis 41
2 Exodus 1

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 Amenhotep III and Akhenaten

The case for Amenhotep III being the a pharaoh of the book of Genesis is backed by

a number of archeological and Biblical pieces of evidence. In conjunction Akhenaten must

therefore also be within the biblical confines, supported further through comparison

between the Genesis stories and archeological evidence. I will therefore put forward that

the rise of monotheism under Akhenatens reign, and the heightening of Aten veneration

under Amenhotep III was no accident, but rather a direct result of interactions between

the Hebrew and Egyptian people, starting with the story of Joseph.

And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood

by the river.

And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they

fed in a meadow.

And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and

leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So

Pharaoh awoke.

And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one

stalk, rank and good.

And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.

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 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and,

behold, it was a dream.

- Genesis 41: 1-7 (KJV)

It is well known that Amenhotep III lived a particularly prosperous reign. Egypt was

at the height of its prosperity when he came into power as the Pharaoh. Through control

of the Nubian gold mines Amenhotep III was able to effectively control there surrounding

empires through diplomacy, creating a reign of peace in the region.3 To further the

archeological link between Joseph, son of Israel and the reign of Amenhotep III is the

evidence pointing towards the vizier Ramose. It is implied by her title, ornament of the

king4, that the wife of Ramose was originally part of the kings court, not unlikely for the

daughter of a priest, such as Joseph was said to have married. Ramose was one of the

earliest public figures to convert to Atenism, the monotheistic religion originating from

Egypt in the 19th Dynasty, however I would put forward that rather than a conversion,

Ramose, is in-fact Joseph, and thus was a monotheist before Atenism.

And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of

Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

- Exodus 13:19 (KJV)

3 PBS. Amenhotep III. PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.
4Gordon, Andrew. "Who Was the Southern Vizier during the Last Part of the Reign of Amenhotep III?"
Journal of Near Eastern Studies J NEAR EASTERN STUD 48.1 (1989): 15-23. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 3
Sept. 2015.

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 This account of the book of Exodus as well as the fact that the body of Ramose

was never found in his tomb (TT55) gives further credit to the theory that Joseph and

Ramose was the same person.

Amenhotep III used his reign to bring the lesser know god, Aten, to a more

prominent role within the Egyptian theology56. The many similarities between Aten

worship and Judaism are widely known, such as Psalm 104 mirroring the Great Hymn

to the Aten, written by Akhenaten.

PSALM 104 GREAT HYMN TO THE ATEN

O YHWH my God you are very great. O Sole God beside whom there is none!

O YHWH, how manifold are your works! How many are your deeds You made
In wisdom you have made them all; the the earth as you wished, you alone, All
earth is full of your creatures. peoples, herds, and flocks.

You make darkness, and it is night, when When you set in western lightland, Earth is
all the animals of the forest come creeping in darkness as if in death.
out.

The young lions roar for their prey .. when Every lion comes from its den.
the sun rises, they withdraw, and lie down
in their dens.

When you hide your face, they are When you have dawned they live, When
dismayed; when you take away their you set they die.
breath, they die.

These all look to you to give them their You set every man in his place, You supply
food in due season. their needs; Everyone has his food.

People go out to their work and to their The entire land sets out to work.
labor until the evening

Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping The fish in the river dart before you, Your
things innumerable are there. rays are in the midst of the sea.

5 PBS. Amenhotep III. PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.
6 PBS. "Akhenaten." PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 03 Sept. 2015.

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 PSALM 104 GREAT HYMN TO THE ATEN

By the streams the birds of the air have Birds fly from their nests, Their wings
their habitation; they sing among the greeting your ka.
branches.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys; He makes waves on the mountain like the
they flow between the hills The trees of sea, To drench their fields and their towns.
YHWH are watered abundantly.

After the reign of Amenhotep III his son, Akhenaten, brought about an end to the

polytheistic religion in Egypt, instead proclaiming a monotheistic Atenism. The switch

from polytheism to monotheism carried drastic repercussions for all of Egypt. Being

forbidden from worshipping their old gods the Egyptians resented the new pharaoh

and his god, leading to unrest7. Due to his concentration on developing this new

religion Akhenaten neglected the diplomatic ties that his father had created, essentially

bringing the power-house that Egypt had become to a crashing end8. Coupled with his

poor choice of location for his new holy city, the middle of the desert, away from the

nile and sources of food and water, it can be said that Akhenatens reign were the times

of famine for the people of Egypt predicted by Joseph during the reign of Amenhotep

III.

Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier

than we:

7 PBS. "Akhenaten." PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 03 Sept. 2015.

8 PBS. "Akhenaten." PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 03 Sept. 2015.

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 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when

there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up

out of the land.

Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they

built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Rameses.

- Exodus 1:8-11 (KJV)

When Akhenaten died efforts were made to ensure that his legacy of monotheism

died with him. Records were destroyed and all mention of his name and religion were

struck from the records9. This is more than enough plausibility to say that the reason such

an important Biblical event, such as the story of Joseph, can easily have taken place and

been subsequently stricken from the records in this time period, as just another aspect of

Akhenatens reign and religious enlightenment.

9 PBS. "Tutankhamen." PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 03 Sept. 2015.

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 The Exodus Pharaohs

Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his

household came with Jacob.

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in

Egypt already.

And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and

waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

- Exodus 1:1-7 (KJV)

This timeline works in accordance to the recorded linage in Exodus, allowing a

mass of Hebrews to settle in Egypt and become a genuine society. It can be said then

that Rameses I, not knowing of the history of the Hebrews in Egypt due to the

destruction of all references to Akhenaten and Jacob (Ramose), saw the Hebrew people

as a threat and thus subjugated them into slavery. An alternative theory is that, being a

priest of Amen10, Rameses I knew exactly what the Hebrew people were capable of and

used this as justification for their slavery.

10 Alchin, Linda. "19th Dynasty." Mummies2Pyramids. Siteseen, June 2014. Web. 3 Sept. 2015.

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 Acting on the same fear Rameses II, Rameses Is grandson, would have been the

one to order the death of the infant sons of the Hebrew slaves in order to cull the

growing population. This means that he would have been the pharaoh that brought the

infant Moses into his court, allowing one of his daughters to raise him as her son.

Rameses II lived to be 93 years old, allowing for Moses to fit the Biblical age of 40 years

when he fled Egypt.

Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they

built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Rameses.

- Exodus 1:11 (KJV)

The city of Pithom is now believed to be the Tell el-Retaba site. This city possesses

statues of Rameses II and has the same building style as the other projects of Rameses II,

so much so that it was originally thought to be his capital of Pi-Rameses when it was first

discovered. There is also no record of a city being Rameses before Pi-Rameses, further

indicating that Rameses II was in charge of the slavery of the Hebrew people.

The Sea-Peoples partial settlement also coincides with this timeline. The Philistines

are thought to have been a break-away group of the Sea-People, a coalition of sea-faring

nations that would go on to devastate Egypt during the reign of subsequent pharaohs,

settling in the Palestine area and later fighting many wars with the Israelites.

23 years after the death of Rameses II his grandson Setnakhte takes the throne.

Setnakhe is the most likely candidate for the pharaoh of the Exodus due to the him being

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around the right time, Moses lived in Egypt for 40 years and then Midian for 40 years,

meaning that is Rameses II was 36 years of age when Moses was born then the timeline

fits perfectly. The Ipuwer Papyrus11, dating to no earlier than the 19th Dynasty, details a

number of disasters afflicting Egypt around this period. Records also show that an

expulsion of minorities from Egypt during his reign, giving further credit to him being the

pharaoh of the Exodus story.

11 http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/ipuwer.htm

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 Conclusion

In conclusion, I can assert with confidence that the reign of the Biblical pharaohs

began with Amenhotep III in the story of Joseph in Genesis and ended with the Exodus of

the Hebrew people in the reign of Setnakhte at the beginning of the 20th dynasty.

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 Bibliography

Alchin, Linda. "19th Dynasty." Mummies2Pyramids. Siteseen, June 2014. Web. 3 Sept.

2015.

Gordon, Andrew. "Who Was the Southern Vizier during the Last Part of the Reign of

Amenhotep III?" Journal of Near Eastern Studies J NEAR EASTERN STUD 48.1 (1989): 15-23.

JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 3 Sept. 2015.

PBS. "Akhenaten." PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 03 Sept. 2015.

PBS. Amenhotep III. PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.

PBS. Ramesses II. PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.

PBS. Tutankhamen. PBS. PBS, 15 Mar. 2006. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.

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