Egyptian History and the Old Testament

Biblical Summary.

The relationship between Egypt and Christianity starts with Abraham, who fled there because of famine, continues with his great grandson Joseph who was taken there as a slave and eventually became Pharaoh's Vizier, principal minister. The descendants of Joseph and his 11 brothers, the Israelites, settled there over a period of circa 210 years.

Israelites grew numerous and were enslaved. Moses led them out of captivity towards the promised land, Canaan/Palestine. After circa 40 years wandering, Joshua led them into Canaan destroying cities notably Jericho. A period led by Judges was followed by the first king, Saul, the kingdom expanded under David, the second king and prospered under Soloman. Then the kingdom split into the Northern, Israel and the Southern, Judah.

In times of strength the land of Egypt extended well beyond the boundaries of present day Egypt in all directions, so Canaan and beyond came under her influence except in times of Egyptian weakness.

Chronology.

Egypt is rich in Archaeology but the connection of this to biblical history depends on correct relative dating. Egypt does not have a common dating reference point.Events are dated with reference to the start of a Pharaoh's reign. Some Pharaohs reigned jointly for a while, others overlap and there are gaps in records.

Research and investigation recently carried out has uncovered anomalies in the accepted 'Old Chronology' and resulted in redating so a 'New Chronology ' has been proposed and the following new connections have resulted which are significant:-

Joseph is taken into Egypt in the time of SENUSERET 3rd age 17 Joseph became Vizier age 30 in 1670 BC under AMENEMHAT 3rd in the 12th dynasty.

The birth of Moses is in the reign of SOBEKHOTEP 4th (1529-1510) 13th dynasty.

Exodus coincides with DUDIMOSE circa 1447 the last of the 13th Dynasty. (in the old chronology the Pharaoh was thought to be Ramesses 2nd.)

Saul and David coincide with AKENATEN of 18th Dynasty 1022-1006 BC (who moved to Armana where he built a new city and palace and worshipped the sun god the Aten. After his reign Armana was abandoned, returned to the desert and the pharaohs returned to the old gods in Karnak.)

David and Solomon circa 966 coincide in the late 18th dynasty with SMENCARE TUTANKHAMUN, AY , HAREMHEB.

Rehoboam, Solomon's son, coincides with RAMESSES 2nd.

Archaeology and the biblical accounts.

One significance of the new chronology was a re-examination of the 380 tablets discovered in Armana (in 1887). Written in cuneiform (akkadian) they are letters between Akenaten and rulers of city sates in the Levant and kingdoms in Turkey, Babylon, Assyria, Cyprus. They describe wars in the hill country of Canaan that had previously not been understood as they did not fit in to any known history or accounts.

With the redating however they coincide and are seen to correspond in detail to the conflicts between Saul and the Philistines, David's separation from Saul (rebellion?) and Davids campaign eventually taking the city states and driving the Phillistines back to the coast. Saul, David, Davids father Jesse and his general Joab are also identified.

There is a close similarity between psalm 104 and a song of praise to the Aten in Akenatens tomb, so could David have sung this song when for a short time he marched with the Philistines and used it later?

According to the Bible, Joshua destroyed the city of Jericho but excavations showed evidence that did not correspond with biblical dates. There is evidence of substantial rubble from old walls that had fallen into the base of the mound surrounding the city and charred remains in the city up to a metre thick which fits into the new Chronology now believed to be 1410 BC.

Ramesses 2nd is identified as the biblical Shishak in Rehoboam's reign in Israel (son of Solomon) who took away all the gold and treasures in the temple in Jerusalem in 925 BC. In Egyptian temples Ramesses is recorded as undertaking in his 8th year a campaign in Judah including the sacking of 'Salem' (Jerusalem.)

The new chronology can be further confirmed by a solar eclipse at sunset at Ugarit, which occurred, from the letters, in the 12th year of Akenaten. By astronomical retrocalculation this comes out as 6.09 pm 9th May 1012 BC.

Observations of the planet Venus by the Assyians establish via retrocalculation the start of the king Ammisaduga's reign as 1419 in Babylon. This establishes via king Hammurabi (of Babylon) the start of pharaoh Neferhotep's 1st reign as 1540 BC (13th Dynasty.) This pinpoints the Pharaoh just before the birth of Moses.

An account of Prince Moses is related in a Hellinistic record of the Jewish historian Artapanus and the same Pharaoh Sobekhotep 4th is identified. It is thought that the writer had access to ancient records since destroyed (the extensive library at Alexandira was eventually burnt.).

Excavations of graves at a village Tell ed Daba at Avaris in the area of Goshen show an Egyptianised but Asiatic people. There is a larger proportion of female graves and a very large proportion (65%) of children buried under 18 months. Could this be as a result of culling? This people suddenly disappears en masse after the 13th dynasty, the time of the Exodus, so were these the graves of the Isrealites?

After the Pharaoh Dudimose the Hyksos from the Levant invaded Lower Egypt and occupied the area. Their graves indicate a different Asiatic people to the former graves. Possibly the Hyksos are the Amalekites in the bible, beaten off by the Israelites in their wanderings. Egypt would have been weak in resisting invasion if an army had been drowned chasing Moses.

According to the Bible the Pharaoh (Amenemhat 3rd in the new chronology) dreamt that 7 fat cows emerged from the river followed by 7 thin cows. The thin cows then ate the fat cows. Joseph, then in prison, interpreted Pharaoh's two dreams to mean that God was warning of 7 good years followed by 7 years of famine and advised that preparations be made for the bad years. Joseph was then made Grand Vizier and put in charge of such preparations.

In a gorge between Semna and Kumna (now submerged under lake Nasser) the annual rise in the height of the Nile had been recorded each year over a period of years. A 12 metre rise at this point in the peak of the flood in August was and would now be OK. Rich soil full of minerals would be deposited each year in the Nile valley, the flood would subside and provide well fertilised soil for planting and harvest before the next august flood. Although some of the records are obscured, the general picture is that in the first 19 years of Amenemhat's reign the height rose by around 17 metres which would have expanded good cultivation to the maximum extent. However in the 20th year and for about 12 years after the level rose to 21 metres, the floods bringing 3 to 4 times the normal volume of water. There would have been no time for planting in those years, so no crops could have been grown, resulting in famine, unless substantial preparation had been made.

Famine could have been catastrophic for a Pharaoh whose job it was, through the various ceremonies he performed, to make sure that the gods gave them good harvests. However evidence shows that Amenemhat 3rd increased his power over regional rulers and increased centralised control of government during this period. This suggests he could have had foreknowledge of the bad years and thus made adequate preparation. Also there is evidence of considerable building/hydraulic work to divert excess waters from the Nile to a lake at el Faiyum.

Excavations at Tel ed Daba at Avaris show a Syrian mansion (Jacob's?) surrounded by several good houses appearing towards the end of the 12th Dynasty. Later a large palace was built over the Syrian mansion and the town expanded. The palace could only have been for an official with a very substantial reputation (such as Joseph) highly regarded by Pharaoh. There is one very large tomb originally under a pyramid and a significant statue in limestone (Josephs?). The contents of the tomb were removed in an orderly fashion (taken by Moses to the promised land?) the pyramid dismantled later and the statue broken and slashed (revenge by Egyptians?)

Ref: 'A 'Test of Time - The Bible from myth to history' by David M Rohl, Published by Arrow Books 1996. (A detailed account of the research backed up with 300 references.) All the dates given above are from the new chronology.

The holy mountain (Sinai in the Bible) is now believed to be east of the gulf of Aquaba in Arabia, probably Jabel al lawz, 2580 metres high, in the Midian land. The Sinai peninsular would have been under Egypt's control so the Isrealites would have had to get away from this area. Modern research suggests that the crossing of the Red Sea took place half way down the Gulf of Aquaba. The gulf is a mile deep but is shallow from the end of a wadi on the Sinai peninsular side across the total width of the gulf (30 miles.) Several unusual coral shapes at each end of the strip seem to have grown from axels and wheels of chariots from the same egyptian period and a guilded chariot wheel has been found near the east side of the gulf. The Bible states that the Pharaoh lost 250,000 men and 800 chariots in the sea. (Dr Lennart Moller - Exodus case - 2000.) The mountains on the east side of this gulf are volcanic which could account for the pillar of fire and cloud mentioned in the Bible. Possibly with volcanic action the ground under this part of the gulf rose up and then collapsed with perfect timing. (Oesterley and Robinson - Hebrew Religion - SPCK 1961.).

The Hebrew Torah

There is further evidence which has only come to light since modern computers have evolved that the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteromony) could not have been written by man, but only by a being not only with superior inteligence but who saw into the future. This supports the view that God gave the Torah to Moses.

A hidden code was discovered in the Torah by an Israeli mathematician, Dr Eliyahu Rips. The original document seems to be an extensive patchwork of predictions of future events in the form of words, dates, phrases, which are positioned closely to each other. The Hebrew Torah has been fed into a computer. The Word under investigation is fed in, eg Rabin, and a search done for closely associated words/dates/phrases vertically, horizontally, diagonally, & with skip sequences.

Thus for example when Yitzhak Rabin was fed in and the name identified, a search gave the date (5756 ie 1995-6AD), Tel Aviv (the place) and Amir (the assasin) and 'assasin who will assasinate' in close association. Correct predictions discovered include dates of births and deaths of 32 influencial sages over the years, the Holocast, Hitler, first atomic bomb, president Clinton, Saddams capture 2003, Watergate, twin tower incident and so on.

From comment made from others who have been involved with the bible code, including sceptics, one can most probably conclude that 1) The code is true and exists, 2) The existence has not happened by chance and 3) Future prediction may need some interpretation and the probability that an event occurs may depend on the closeness of the associated words etc and the skip sequences involved.

Print Drosnin or bible code into google for detail and comment. Reference books 'The Bible Code' and 'The Bible Code 2' by Michael Drosnin, publisher Phoenix an imprint of Orion books Ltd . or type 'drosnin' into Google for summary site and more details.