Nadene Goldfoot
"Censuses in Egypt first appeared in the late Middle Kingdom (2040 BCE-1782 BCE) and developed in the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amasis, according to Herodotus, required every Egyptian to declare annually to the nomarch, "whence he gained his living". Under the Ptolemies and the Romans several censuses were conducted in Egypt by government officials."
After Thutmose III died, his son Amonhotep II (named after his great-grandfather) came to the throne (after 2-year period of co-reign with his father).
• He was also an astute warrior and leader, but even more brutal than his father.
• He also held the position of High Priest of Ptah in Memphis.
• He ruled for 25-years and led numerous campaigns that solidified Egypt as the most powerful nation in the region, for example putting down the Syrian revolts after Thutmose died.
• His reign is relatively event free and he died after 25 years on the throne and his son, Thutmose IV came to power.
• Thutmose IV changed some religious beliefs and slowed temple building but his greatest change was that of foreign policy.
Israel
Today in the USA the question has come up of including whether or not people were US citizens and most were appalled at such a question, yet it has been in many censuses since 1920, I believe. AL is one of the initials used to show if they were or not or were naturalized.
Abbreviations used in the Citizenship column of census records: AL=Alien; NA=Naturalized; NR=Not Reported; PA=First Papers Filed (declaration of intention); AM CIT=American Citizen Born Abroad (used in the 1940 census).
PA=Declarations of Intention (also called "First Papers")
Beginning with 1795 a person could declare their intent to become a citizen at any time after they arrived in the United States. A few people did this almost immediately upon arrival.
I might add that census information is vital for genealogy. We would know nothing had it not been for census information that every country keeps in some form or another. The USA takes it every 10 years and some states take it every 5 years or did so. It wasn't until 1850 that women were named on the census. Up until then the method was done in tally style. Finally we had husbands and wives listed with the names of their children, year born, and in 1900 the month was included! Oh, we all look forward now to the time when the 1950 census will be available for the public. I remember going crazy with glee over the 1940 census. It included streets they lived on. Someday those illegal people in our country will be happy that they were on the census and had such information. It's a part of their family history and a way they are not forgotten people. Maybe they will have to use an IL for illegal status. Who knows? It's all a part of living here. We have to know things; first for the nation and second for genealogy.
 |
| King Tut or Tutankhamun c1341-1323 BCE was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. |
Egypt may have been the first civilization to have a census of their population.
Can you imagine? They existed so far back that they also lived in the year of 2040 and we are existing in 2019 but they were so far back, over 4,000 years ago.
c. 1802 BCE - c. 1800 BCE
Reign of Sobekhotep I, first king of the 13th Dynasty, in Egypt. The Middle Kingdom declines after him."
Ancient Egyptian culture flourished between c. 5500 BCE with the rise of technology (as evidenced in the glass-work of faience) and 30 BCE with the death of Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt.
Moses was adopted by a daughter of a pharoah and raised as his son so was highly educated in the ways of Egypt. He was already 80 years old when he set out from his home to talk the present pharoah into letting the Israelite slaves leave which would have been in about 1311 BCE.
 |
| Egyptian music and dancing |
 |
| Amenhotep II (sometimes called Amenophis II and meaning 'Amun is Satisfied') was the seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Amenhotep inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns in Syria; however, he fought much less than his father, and his reign saw the effective cessation of hostilities between Egypt and Mitanni, the major kingdoms vying for power in Syria. His reign is usually dated from 1427 to 1401 BC. He's probably the Pharaoh before Moses was accidentally rescued by the Egyptian princess from death by an Egyptian decree of killing all baby boys. |
After Thutmose III died, his son Amonhotep II (named after his great-grandfather) came to the throne (after 2-year period of co-reign with his father).
• He was also an astute warrior and leader, but even more brutal than his father.
• He also held the position of High Priest of Ptah in Memphis.
• He ruled for 25-years and led numerous campaigns that solidified Egypt as the most powerful nation in the region, for example putting down the Syrian revolts after Thutmose died.
• His reign is relatively event free and he died after 25 years on the throne and his son, Thutmose IV came to power.
• Thutmose IV changed some religious beliefs and slowed temple building but his greatest change was that of foreign policy.
Israel
Moses lived from 1391 BCE to the age of 120 by 1271 BCE. He took his people out of Egypt who were in bondage the past 400 years to lead them back to where Abraham and Jacob had lived in Canaan. Who the pharaoh was at the time of Moses is not known as he was not named in our Tanakh. The dates of Gentile researchers do not always agree with our Jewish references, either. According to these records, King Tut was a good candidate as the pharaoh, but he as known more as a boy king. No matter, I figure that Moses was already familiar with the concept of the census from living in Egypt and was part of the royal family.
"Censuses are mentioned in the Bible".
Moses took a census as told in Numbers Chapter 1 and had a total of 603,550 people as they started after leaving Egypt. At the end, as told in Numbers 26, they had a total of 601,730. They had a loss after 40 years of traveling of 1,820 from some of their 12 tribes. The tribes that had lost population were Reuben, Simeon, Naphtali, Gad, and Ephraim. The others had gained population with Manasseh gaining the most with a 20,500 increase. Out of the 12 tribes on the Exodus, Judah had gained 1,900. This is the tribe that we Jews came from along with some of Benjamin who gained 10,200.
God commands a per capita tax to be paid with the census in Exodus 30:11-16 for the upkeep of the Tabernacle. The Book of Numbers is named after the counting of the Israelite population (in Numbers 1-4) according to the house of the Fathers after the exodus from Egypt. A second census was taken while the Israelites were camped in the plains of Moab, in Numbers 26.
King David (1010-970 BCE) performed a census that produced disastrous results (in 2 Samuel 24. and 1 Chronicles 21. Here, he had been enticed to do so. It was not a requirement from Hashem like Moses had received. In Chronicles 21, it says "A Satan, an evil impulse enticed David to count Israel." His son, King Solomon, had all of the foreigners in Israel counted in 2nd Chronicles 2:17.
"Counting the population is improper, even sinful, because it is likely to be motivated by a vain desire to know the exact strategic potency of the nation, which in turn leads the people to believe that their salvation is in strength of numbers and not in G0d's desire for their well-being. Consequently, such a counting of the population is likely to bode ill for the people involved, which is why Joab tried to convince David not to do it. To dispel the notion that salvation is in numbers, the Torah in Exodus 30:12-16 commands that a census always be done in such a way that there is another reason for it, that is like the raising of funds. "
When the Romans took over Judea in 6 ce
the legate Publius Sulpicius Quirinius organised a census for tax purposes. The Gospel of Luke links the birth of Jesus to this event. Luke 2. "
Today in the USA the question has come up of including whether or not people were US citizens and most were appalled at such a question, yet it has been in many censuses since 1920, I believe. AL is one of the initials used to show if they were or not or were naturalized.
On my paternal grandmother's census information of January 8, 1920, I recorded that it said she was PA, meaning she had filed her 1st paper of Declaration of Intent. By then she was a widow with 4 children to support. She was also on the 1910 census but they had not asked that question then. She had immigrated from Suwalki, Lithuania/Poland in 1903 but listed only as Russia on this 1910 census. She could not speak English, only Yiddish, but the census takers listed her as Addie when her name was Zlata. After many confabs with family members we discovered that she was born and raised in Lazdijai, Suwalki, Lithuania which had been taken over by Poland. All her records come from Poland.
Other people might be listed as AL or something else. The 1900 to 1940 Census Records tell whether a person was naturalized. Year of Naturalization is given in the 1920 Census.
Abbreviations used in the Citizenship column of census records: AL=Alien; NA=Naturalized; NR=Not Reported; PA=First Papers Filed (declaration of intention); AM CIT=American Citizen Born Abroad (used in the 1940 census).
PA=Declarations of Intention (also called "First Papers")
The record by which an applicant for United States citizenship declared their intent to become a citizen and renounced their allegiance to a foreign government. Early records of this type (before September 27, 1906) usually will have: name, country of birth or allegiance (but not town), date of the application and signature. Some (but very few) show the date and port of arrival in the United States. After September 26, 1906 much more detailed information is given including place of birth and port and date of arrival.
Beginning with 1795 a person could declare their intent to become a citizen at any time after they arrived in the United States. A few people did this almost immediately upon arrival.
The Declaration of Intention requirement ended in 1952 (although immigrants can still file a declaration if they want to; it is optional).
An Act of 17 July 1862, stated: "any alien, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who has enlisted, or may enlist in the armies of the United States, either the regulars or volunteer forces, and has been, or may be hereafter, honorably discharged, shall be admitted to become a citizen of the United States, upon his petition, without any previous declaration of intention to become such; and he shall not be required to prove more than one year's residence." (Act of July 17, 1862, 12 Stat. 597, section 21)
Basically this allowed an honorably discharged Civil War veteran (who fought for the Union) to apply for citizenship without filing a declaration of intention and without the usual 5 year residency requirement. It did not grant him automatic citizenship - he still had to apply, but the naturalization process was expedited.
This legislation was enacted to encourage aliens (non-citizens) to enlist during the Civil War, and it also applied to later wars.
Basically this allowed an honorably discharged Civil War veteran (who fought for the Union) to apply for citizenship without filing a declaration of intention and without the usual 5 year residency requirement. It did not grant him automatic citizenship - he still had to apply, but the naturalization process was expedited.
This legislation was enacted to encourage aliens (non-citizens) to enlist during the Civil War, and it also applied to later wars.
I might add that census information is vital for genealogy. We would know nothing had it not been for census information that every country keeps in some form or another. The USA takes it every 10 years and some states take it every 5 years or did so. It wasn't until 1850 that women were named on the census. Up until then the method was done in tally style. Finally we had husbands and wives listed with the names of their children, year born, and in 1900 the month was included! Oh, we all look forward now to the time when the 1950 census will be available for the public. I remember going crazy with glee over the 1940 census. It included streets they lived on. Someday those illegal people in our country will be happy that they were on the census and had such information. It's a part of their family history and a way they are not forgotten people. Maybe they will have to use an IL for illegal status. Who knows? It's all a part of living here. We have to know things; first for the nation and second for genealogy.
Resource:
Tanach (Old Testament) The Stone Edition
.
