Nadene Goldfoot
Our Biblical Jewish history involving Egypt takes place in Egypt's Middle Kingdom in the 18th-16th century BCE. Some commentators have said it was from the 11th to 17 dynasty of rulers from 2500 to 1587 BCE. Joseph, 11th son son of Jacob and Rachel's 1st,. was bought by Potiphar, chief of Pharaoh's household as the Chief of Pharaoh's bodyguard, . in Egypt as a slave. .
Joseph had been sold to an Ishmaelite camel train heading for Egypt from his jealous older brothers, and so he arrived there earlier than the rest of his family. He wound up serving one of the Hyksos kings who were invaders or "princes" of the desert, as they called themselves, Bedouins from the Arabian desert. Their dominion was later described as terrible, but they had restored and enlarged the temples, encouraged learning and could not have destroyed any of the previous Egyptian monuments since we have been able to view them ourselves.
Joseph must have been 2nd in command. The Hyksos ruled Egypt, then were expelled by the founder of the 18th dynasty in 1587 BCE. It happened not long after the death of Joseph when the Hyksos were driven back into Asia. The Egyptian throne was regained by a native ruler who was the founder of the 18th Dynasty.
Egypt's Old Kingdom had been made up of the 1st 10 dynasties of pyramid builders, ending in 2500 BCE
Egypt's 3rd period was called the New Kingdom which continued to the end of the 20th dynasty in 1100 BCE. After that, it came under Lybian, Persian (Iran), Macedonian (Greek) and Roman rule.
Cleopatra was queen of Egypt during the Macedonian period. and Roman rule. "She was the last of the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt from the time of Alexander the Great's death in 323 BCE to about 30 BCE. "
The Pharaoh Moses came in contact with has been identified by the majority of scholars as the tyrannical Rameses II who lived between 1300-1234 BCE or 1347-1280 BCE. Rameses was a vain and boastful character who wished to dazzle posterity by covering the land with constructions so that his name was engraved thousands of times on them. He prided himself in his inscriptions upon great conquests which he never made.
The EXODUS is thought to have taken place under his son, Menremptah, who began the decline of Egypt. Menremptah/Menephtah was an obstinate and vain despot. He also had the habit of claiming as his own the achievements of others. He was one of the most unconscionable usurpers and defacers of the monuments of his predecessors, including those of his own father, who had set him the example. This all comes from the insane desire to perpetuate their own memory.
Again, some scholars disagree with this selection of Pharaohs. They say the EXODUS happened in the century preceding Rameses II and connect it with the religious revolution of Amenophis IV, or Ikhnaton in 1383-1365 BCE. This man abolished the many deities of the Egyptian Pantheon and devoted himself to just the worship of the Sun.
He was called the Heretic King. He moved his capital from Thebes to the modern Tell-el-Amarna in Middle Egypt. His reformation was a failure and he died in about 1350 BCE amidst curses from his subjects. The capital was returned to Thebes, and the place where he had lived was abandoned because it was regarded as haunted by evil demons. As a result of this belief, the complete royal archives, his own and his father's diplomatic correspondence were preserved in the ruins of Tell-el-Amarna, where they were found 3,200 years later in 1887.
These scholars see a connection between the faith of the Israelites and the solar monotheism of Ikhnaton, and that Israelite influence was partly responsible for this assault on the idolatry of Egypt, which was highly disliked by the multitude. Ikhnaton was hated by the people as a heretic king. His son-in-law, Tut-ankhamen, abandoned his idea of a single god who they said was the Sun.
Tut succeeded him as Pharaoh. The Sun god ideal was uprooted by Haremrab, the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. The native religion of many gods was restored and that's when the Israelites suffered from persecution and degradation.
Other Egyptologists go back to another century to Thotmes III (1503-1449 BCE) and think he was the Pharaoh. This is on the basis of the movements of the Israelites from Egypt with the movements of the Habiri people in the Amarna age and believe that the recently discovered inscriptions on the Sinai Peninsula favor this theory. The Habiri were a nomad people mentioned in the Tell-el-Amarna Tablets as making war upon the Canaanite towns and population.
The name "ISRAEL" is alleged to occur on an inscription of Menremptah, discovered in 1896, and is a song of triumph of Menremptah, describing in grandiloquent language his victories in Canaan; and among other conquests, he boasts that "Canaan is seized with every evil; Ashkelon is carried away; Gezer is taken; Yenoam is annihilated; Ysiraal is desolated, its seed is not." From this the scholars thought that the Israelites must in those days have been in possession of Canaan; that that, the EXODUS must have taken place long before the time of Menremptah. The question came up about the name-Ysiraal and if it meant-Israel. A Professor Jampel said that if it meant Israel, then it referred to the settlements in Canaan by Israelites from Egypt before the Exodus. In Chronicles I, we see that during the generations preceding the 400 years spent as slaves in Egypt , known as THE OPPRESSION, the Israelites didn't stay confined to Goshen or even to Egypt proper, but spread into the southern Canaan territory, then under Egyptian control, and that they even engaged in skirmishes with the Philistines.
When the 600,000 Israelites had left Egypt and were wandering in the Wilderness, these Israelite settlers had thrown off their Egyptian allegiance. It is these settlements which Menremptah boasts of having devastated during his Canaantie campaign. There is no reason for thinking that the Pharaoh of the Oppression was not Rameses II, with his son Menremptah as the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
Update: Jacob and his family settled in the city of Rameses or Raamses in the Nile Delta as told in Genesis 47:11, 27. Their descendants were compelled to build storehouses for the Egyptian king. Rameses was the point of departure for the Exodus as told in Exodus 12:37 "The Children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth." There were 600,000 adult males-which, allowing for women, children and elderly men, indicates a total population of about 3 million. . It was formerly thought to be the city of Pelusion on the Delta border, but now modern scholars identify it with another site further south.
Resource: Pentateuch and Haftorahs Volume I, edited by Dr. J.H. Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, published by Oxford University Press, 1929-1936. , signed march 29, 1941pages 394-395.
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
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| Pharaoh Rameses II, played by Yul Brynner in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS of 1956 Lived from 1300-1234 BCE- or some say Reigned from 1279 to 1213 BCE- Moses lived from 1391-1271 BCE It is believed Rameses II had 50 sons and 50 daughters. |
Our Biblical Jewish history involving Egypt takes place in Egypt's Middle Kingdom in the 18th-16th century BCE. Some commentators have said it was from the 11th to 17 dynasty of rulers from 2500 to 1587 BCE. Joseph, 11th son son of Jacob and Rachel's 1st,. was bought by Potiphar, chief of Pharaoh's household as the Chief of Pharaoh's bodyguard, . in Egypt as a slave. .
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| Buying Joseph from brothers |
Egypt's 3rd period was called the New Kingdom which continued to the end of the 20th dynasty in 1100 BCE. After that, it came under Lybian, Persian (Iran), Macedonian (Greek) and Roman rule.
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| Prince Khaemwase, a son of Rameses II |
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| Parting of Sea with Egyptian soldiers chasing after them |
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| Pharaoh Ikhnaton |
These scholars see a connection between the faith of the Israelites and the solar monotheism of Ikhnaton, and that Israelite influence was partly responsible for this assault on the idolatry of Egypt, which was highly disliked by the multitude. Ikhnaton was hated by the people as a heretic king. His son-in-law, Tut-ankhamen, abandoned his idea of a single god who they said was the Sun.
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| Tutankhamun |
The name "ISRAEL" is alleged to occur on an inscription of Menremptah, discovered in 1896, and is a song of triumph of Menremptah, describing in grandiloquent language his victories in Canaan; and among other conquests, he boasts that "Canaan is seized with every evil; Ashkelon is carried away; Gezer is taken; Yenoam is annihilated; Ysiraal is desolated, its seed is not." From this the scholars thought that the Israelites must in those days have been in possession of Canaan; that that, the EXODUS must have taken place long before the time of Menremptah. The question came up about the name-Ysiraal and if it meant-Israel. A Professor Jampel said that if it meant Israel, then it referred to the settlements in Canaan by Israelites from Egypt before the Exodus. In Chronicles I, we see that during the generations preceding the 400 years spent as slaves in Egypt , known as THE OPPRESSION, the Israelites didn't stay confined to Goshen or even to Egypt proper, but spread into the southern Canaan territory, then under Egyptian control, and that they even engaged in skirmishes with the Philistines.
When the 600,000 Israelites had left Egypt and were wandering in the Wilderness, these Israelite settlers had thrown off their Egyptian allegiance. It is these settlements which Menremptah boasts of having devastated during his Canaantie campaign. There is no reason for thinking that the Pharaoh of the Oppression was not Rameses II, with his son Menremptah as the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
Update: Jacob and his family settled in the city of Rameses or Raamses in the Nile Delta as told in Genesis 47:11, 27. Their descendants were compelled to build storehouses for the Egyptian king. Rameses was the point of departure for the Exodus as told in Exodus 12:37 "The Children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth." There were 600,000 adult males-which, allowing for women, children and elderly men, indicates a total population of about 3 million. . It was formerly thought to be the city of Pelusion on the Delta border, but now modern scholars identify it with another site further south.
Resource: Pentateuch and Haftorahs Volume I, edited by Dr. J.H. Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, published by Oxford University Press, 1929-1936. , signed march 29, 1941pages 394-395.
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
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