JOSEPH AND THE ENGINEERING WONDERS
OF EGYPT!
By John Keyser
Eighty-one miles S.S.W.
of Cairo by rail, lies Medinet-el-Fayum-- the capital of the Fayum province
of Egypt. The Fayum proper is an oasis in the Libyan desert, 669 square miles
in area and lying below sea level within a vast depression. The oasis is
encircled by the Libyan hills, which separate the province from the Nile
valley. The lowest part of the Fayum -- the northwest end -- is occupied
by the Birkat Qaroun, or Lake of Qaroun, whose surface level is 140 feet
below that of the sea.
The region (one of
the most fertile in the whole of Egypt) produces cotton, flax, hemp, rice,
sugarcane, roses, oranges, peaches, pomegranates, figs of exceptional quality,
grapes and olives. The occupations that contribute the most to the economy of
the Fayum are poultry and sheep raising, fishing, and the making of most
of the attar (fragrant floral oil) of roses produced in Egypt.
With a population
of well over 1 million, the Fayum contains several towns besides that of
Medinet-el-Fayum. Senuris and Tomia lie to the north of Medinet; while Senaru
and Abuksa are found on the road to the lake and are served by railroads.
Within the Fayum province
are the ruins of many ancient cities and villages -- including Arsinoe, an
important archaeological site situated north of the capital.
Differing from the
typical oasis, the fertility of which depends on the water obtained from
underground springs, the cultivated land in the Fayum is formed of Nile mud
which is brought down from the river in a huge canal called the BAHR YUSUF.
Radiating out from this main feeder canal are many smaller irrigation canals
that distribute the mud to the surrounding land. The Bahr Yusuf supplies
the Fayum region with life-giving mud and water through a gap in the encircling
Libyan hills.
Notes author Samuel
Kurinsky:
A visitor to Egypt
today, if he would abjure the euphoria of viewing a mere mirage of Egypt
from the deck of one of the floating hotels on the Nile, and would instead
thread carefully through the countryside parallel to the Nile, could not
but be impressed by the multiplicity of farms and orchards being watered
by the WEB OF CANALS drawn from the BAHR YOUSEF. This elaborate network of
waterways has converted more desolate desert into rich, arable farmland than
does the Aswan Dam. No electricity is produced by the Bahr Yousef, but neither
does it foster the ecological damage that the Aswan dam is inflicting upon
Egypt as a byproduct of its function. -- The Eighth Day: The Hidden History
of the Jewish Contribution to Civilization. Jason Aronson, Inc. Northvale,
N.J. 1994. P. 90.
The mother of Egypt
is, of course, the River Nile. Without it there would be no Egypt! It is
also true to say that Egypt as we know it would not have existed without
the system of canals radiating out from the Bahr Yousef across fruitful fields
that were once part of the great Libyan desert. The region east of the
Nile, where only occasional isolated areas of agriculture exist, contrasts
sharply with the region west of the Nile through which the canal flows --
an area in which groves of date palms alternate with green fields of grain,
richly verdant patches of vegetables and vast expanses of white-capped cotton plants.
But, it was not always so; until the Bahr Yousef was constructed, Middle
and Upper Egypt was almost entirely a desert with civilization centered mainly
in the Delta region of the Nile.
Discoveries in the Fayum!
An American engineer,
Francis Cope Whitehouse, was among a group of engineers retained by the British
administrators of Egypt more than a century ago to resolve the problem of increasing
the amount of arable land in the desert areas of the country. Whitehouse
astonished his employers by reporting that he had verified the existence
of a huge artificial lake created during the time of Pharaoh Moeris (Mery-Ku-Re
of the 10th Dynasty), and that the most practical method of irrigating the arid
Egyptian desert was to RECONSTRUCT the system of irrigation that had been
so skillfully put in place 3,500 years previously!
What had Whitehouse discovered
that so astonished the British rulers of Egypt?
Whitehouse, a distinguished
technician with a number of inventions to his name, was amazed when he started
surveying the el-Fayum province. He became intrigued by the existence of
a small lake known as Birkut el-Qarun or Lake Karoun -- which was a
freshwater lake in the midst of the great Libyan desert, yet had no visible
source.
According to author Samuel
Kurinsky:
The lake supported a fair-sized
community, which was economically far better off than most of the rest of
Egypt owing to the productivity of the rich agricultural lands still being served
by the lake. Around the lake's perimeter, as well as at a considerable distance
from its shores, Whitehouse came across the ruins of ancient DAMS, DITCHES,
AQUEDUCTS, and a variety of structures that mutely testified to the existence
of a VAST AND SOPHISTICATED IRRIGATION SYSTEM. Ancient fish bones, shells,
and other signs scattered about the sands surrounding the oasis unmistakably
demonstrated that the lake had once been MANY TIMES ITS CURRENT SIZE; that
yet ANOTHER LAKE had existed that had since dried up, and that the CANAL
SYSTEM that fed into and out of the lakes had extended the arable land FAR
BEYOND its contemporary boundaries. -- Ibid., p. 88.
His curiosity aroused
by this extraordinary discovery, Whitehouse visited numerous libraries in
the Cairo area and soon discovered that the medieval maps of the Fayum province
showed TWO LAKES in the basin. "He was baffled by the fact that not only
was the Birkut el-Qarun shown to be much larger but that the twin lake, named
LAKE MOERIS in the aged and yellowed documents, FAR EXCEEDED the dimensions
of the Birkut el-Qarun at its erstwhile greatest dimensions" (Ibid.,
p. 88).
Francis Whitehouse was further
amazed to learn that the medieval maps were, in fact, MERE COPIES of maps
drawn by Ptolemy of Alexandria -- who lived in the 2nd-century A.D.!
Not content to stop here,
Whitehouse dug deeper into the Egyptian archives and discovered corroboration
for the existence of ARTIFICIALLY CREATED LAKES in the literary works of
such ancient historians as Pliny, Strabo, Herodotus, Mutianus and Diodorus.
These lakes were evidently quite ancient at the time of the Ptolemies (rulers
of Egypt -- 323 to 30 B.C.), and the huge expanses of fresh water astounded
the ancient writers no less than it did Whitehouse!
"By extensive
surveying Whitehouse confirmed the fact that a vast network of canals flanking
the Nile had existed long before the Ptolemaic era; they had been far more
extensive, and further, a HUGE RESERVOIR had been created consisting of TWO LAKES
which, if the canal system had not been debased by the Greeks and other succeeding
rulers, would have continued to guarantee water to a vast area. The Greeks,
ignorant of the hydrology of the system, in attempting to increase acreage
by reducing the extent of the lakes, had instead caused large areas of
rich soil to return to dusty sand. Once fertile fields had relapsed into
an arid landscape of sand, dust, and rock" (The Eighth Day: The Hidden
History of the Jewish Contribution to Civilization, p. 88).
When Whitehouse consulted
the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus (484?-425 B.C.) he discovered
a CLUE to the reason for the existence of the second and much larger lake:
"The water of the lake does not come out of the ground, which is here extremely
dry, but is introduced by A CANAL FROM THE NILE" (Persian Wars, 2.149).
Diodorus Siculus (another
Greek historian, of the first-century B.C.) adds admiringly that the lake
was so huge that "its circumference they say, is 3,600 stades (400 miles),
its depth at most points fifty fathoms." The circumference of 400 miles equaled
the entire length of Egypt along its sea coast!
Diodorus goes on to add:
"Between the river [Nile] and the lake HE constructed a CANAL 800 stades
[89 miles] in length and 300 feet in breadth. Through this canal, at times
HE admitted the water of the river, at other times HE excluded it, thus providing
the farmers with water at fitting times by opening the inlet and again closing
it scientifically and at great expense" (The Pyramids of Egypt, by I.E.S.
Edwards. Viking Press, London. 1986. P. 235).
Whitehouse uncovered sections
of this huge canal leading into the Fayum basin and feeding Lake Karoun,
and also learnt from the local inhabitants WHO the mysterious "HE"
was (in the writings of Diodorus) who constructed it!
This canal, which
incredibly STILL waters A THIRD OF EGYPT, appears on modern maps of Egypt
under its Arabic name -- BAHR YOUSEF, or "THE SEA OF JOSEPH"!!
Whitehouse reported
back to his astonished employers that he had confirmed the existence of a
vast lake artificially created by the Hebrew patriarch Joseph in the time
of the PHARAOH MOERIS, and that "the most practical method of irrigating
the arid Egyptian desert was to reconstruct the system of irrigation which
JOSEPH had instituted 3,500 years ago"!
According to Samuel
Kurinsky:
Whitehouse fervently
presented his discoveries in April 1883 to the Khedival Geographical Society
in Cairo; in June of the same year Whitehouse pressed his case before the
Society of Biblical Archaeology in London. He pressed his views with enthusiasm
with a series of lectures and pamphlets, but went unheeded and ignored.
Desperate, Whitehouse even sued the authorities, but after his death in 1911
he was honored solely by a long obituary in The New York Times. Thus was
forgotten the discovery of an American engineer that some 3,500 years ago
it was A HEBREW PATRIARCH who had conceived, engineered, and carried out
the WORLD'S LARGEST WATERWORKS PROJECT UNTIL THE TVA [Tennessee Valley
Authority]. -- The Eighth Day, p. 89.
Contemporary scientists
finally came to appreciate the validity of the ancient system and to reconstitute
it in large measure. However, it was done without accrediting Whitehouse
for his research or reference to the man who designed and built itJOSEPH!
The vast irrigation project
was created during the time Joseph was the administrator of Egypt -- the
time in which several hundreds of patriarchal progenitors of the Israelites
brought prosperity to their communities and TO THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT. The story
is a fascinating one.
The Shiqmona Scarabs
All Bible students know
the story of Joseph. The first of Jacob's two sons by his beloved Rachel,
Joseph grew up with his family at Succoth, Shechem and Bethel respectively.
Later, on the way from Bethel to Ephrath (Bethlehem), Joseph's mother died while
giving birth to Benjamin.
He is first mentioned in
the Bible when a youth of 17 years. While tending sheep with his brothers,
Joseph brought a bad report about them to his father -- and this exacerbated
an already smoldering hatred because his brothers perceived that their
father Jacob loved him more than he did them. Jacob had shown his preference
by making Joseph a dress which appears to have been a long tunic with sleeves,
worn by youths and maidens of the richer or RULING CLASS.
Jacob was a man of
renown in the land of Canaan. The Phoenician historian Sanchoniathon spoke
of him in his works which have been preserved by Eusebius in Preparation
of the Gospel, book i, chapter x. Sanchoniathon states: "Chronus, whom
the Phoenicians name ISRAEL [JACOB] and who was, after his death, consecrated into
the star SATURN, when HE WAS KING OF THE COUNTRY, and had by a f that
country, named Anobret, an only begotten son, whom, on that account, they
called JEUD, (the Phoenicians to this day calling an only begotten son by
that name), he in the dread of very great dangers that lay upon the country
from war, ADORNED HIS SON WITH ROYAL APPAREL, and built an altar, and offered
him in sacrifice."
While this passage
of Sanchoniathon probably mixes several traditions, it shows that JACOB WAS
REGARDED AS A KING IN CANAAN!
An ancient scarab
(a seal shaped like a beetle) was unearthed by archaeologists from a Middle
Bronze Age IIB tomb at Tell Shiqmona, near Haifa in Israel -- 1.3 kilometers
southwest of the Carmel Cape. On the flat side of the scarab can be seen
the Egyptian transliteration of the Semitic name YAQUB (JACOB)spelled
out in the center of the seal as Y'QB-HR. A second such scarab, bearing a
virtually identical inscription FRAMED IN A CARTOUCHE, was also uncovered.
With the same name Y'QB-HR on it, it identifies the owner as A CANAANITE
CHIEF OR KING! These seals were dated to before 1730 B.C., thus placing them
close to the time of the biblical JACOB!
Around the peripheral
of the scarabs are SPIRAL MOTIFS, which are a CHARACTERISTIC OF ISRAELITE
ART and can be found on pottery and other art forms of the Minoans, the Mycenaeans,
the Etruscans, and most of the Celtic tribes. Today, in Ireland, these
spiral motifs can be found on the lintels of ancient tombs and carved on
rocks scattered around the countryside.
Joseph Arrives in Egypt
In Genesis 37:5-7 we read
that Joseph dreamed a dream foreshadowing his future power over his brothers
-- which further increased their hatred of him! Eventually he was sent by his
father to visit his brothers who were tending flocks in the fields of Dothan.
They resolved to kill him, but he was saved by Reuben, who persuaded the
brothers to cast Joseph into a dry pit, with the intent of restoring him
to Jacob. When Joseph arrived they stripped him of his long striped garment
and followed through on Reuben's recommendation. Subsequently, as a caravan
of Ishmaelites came into view, Judah, in Reuben's absence, persuaded the
others that, rather than kill Joseph, it would be advantageous to sell him
to the passing merchants. Genesis 37:21-27 tells the story.
Despite Joseph's plea
for compassion, his brothers sold him for 20 pieces of silver and later deceived
Jacob into believing that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Jacob
was so grieved over the loss of his son that he refused to be comforted.
Insight On the Scriptures
notes:
Eventually the merchants
brought Joseph into EGYPT and sold him to Potiphar, the chief of Pharaoh's
bodyguard (Ge. 37:28, 36; 39:1). This purchase by the Egyptian Potiphar was
not unusual, ANCIENT PAPYRUS DOCUMENTS indicate that Syrian slaves (Joseph was
half Syrian [Ge. 29:10; 31:20]) were valued highly in that land.
As Joseph had been diligent
in furthering his father's interests, so also as a slave he proved himself
to be industrious and trustworthy. With Jehovah's blessing, everything that
Joseph did turned out successfully. Potiphar therefore finally entrusted
to him all the household affairs. Joseph thus appears to have been a superintendent,
A POST MENTIONED BY EGYPTIAN RECORDS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE LARGE HOMES
OF INFLUENTIAL EGYPTIANS. -- Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New
York, Inc. Brook , .Y. 1988. Pp.. 106-107.
The First Intermediate Period
Joseph's arrival in Egypt
coincided with a period of time modern historians call the FIRST INTERMEDIATE
PERIOD. Following the close of the Old Kingdom, Egypt experienced one of
the darkest periods in her long history. Not only was little attention
paid to the development of arts and crafts, but most of the temples and tombs
of the Pyramid Age -- with their artistic masterpieces and untold treasures
-- were systematically pillaged and destroyed. According to the Egyptian scribe
Manetho, two dynasties of short-lived rulers (namely the VIIth and the VIIIth
Dynasties) occupied the throne AT MEMPHIS, but their authority was only LOCAL
-- and complete anarchy prevailed throughout the GREATER PART of Egypt. In
fact, the chaos was so great that much of the land remained uncultivated; and
in a number of nomes (counties) there was famine.
I.E.S. Edwards notes:
At some time during
the VIIIth Dynasty an attempt seems to have been made to restore order in
the eighth southernmost nomes, where a CONFEDERATION WAS FORMED under the
hegemony of the nomarch of COPTOS. About forty years later, however, a nomarch of
Heraklepolis Magna named KHETY conquered THE WHOLE OF UPPER EGYPT as far
as the First Cataract at Aswan and became THE FOUNDER OF THE IXth DYNASTY.
-- The Pyramids of Egypt, p. 207.
Khety's (also called Akhtoy)
kingdom extended northwards as far as MEMPHIS, but evidently did not include
the Delta, part of which was still under the control of Asiatic invaders.
His city of Herakleopolis (known by the Egyptians as "Nen-Ny-sut") occupied
the site of present-day Ahnasyeh, on the west side of the Nile -- just south
of THE ENTRANCE TO THE FAYUM!
Assuming the throne
name Mery-yeb-Re, Khety (or Akhtoy) and the 17 Herakleopolitan kings of the
9th and 10th Dynasties who succeeded him ruled altogether about 190 years.
Except for its founder, we know very little about the 13 kings of the 9th Dynasty,
most of whose names are listed in whole or in part in the tattered fragments
of the TURIN PAPYRUS.
With the 10th Dynasty,
however, we are on much firmer ground. The Turin Papyrus lists five rulers;
and the last three kings of the HOUSE OF HERAKLEOPOLIS are major players
in the story of Joseph. The third king of this dynasty -- Wah-ku-Re Akhtoy
IVwas a man of great talents. History tells us that Wah-ku-Re REGAINED CONTROL
OF THE DELTA, driving out the Asiatic invaders and INAUGURATING A PERIOD
OF INTENSIVE RECONSTRUCTION UNDER A WELL-PLANNED ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM DIRECTED
FROM MEMPHIS.
"Memphis...remained,
as before, the seat of the pharaonic government and the site of the royal
cemetery. To facilitate communications between the ancient capital and THE
KING'S RESIDENCE AT HERAKLEOPOLIS, a CANAL FIFTY-FIVE MILES IN LENGTH now
linked the two cities. With the recovery of the Delta harbors trade was reopened
with the Syrian coast, and fine coniferous woods were again imported into
Egypt." (The Scepter of Egypt, by William C. Hayes. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. 1960. P. 144).
There is a record
of how Akhtoy IV, after restoring order in Egypt, traveled up and down the
Nile River with AN ENORMOUS FLEET, and was hailed upon his return to the
royal palace at Memphis.
THIS WAS THE PHARAOH
WHO RULED LOWER EGYPT WHEN JOSEPH ARRIVED IN THE LAND as a prisoner of the
Midianites!
The "Instruction Mery-ku-Re"
Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV was
the author of the famous INSTRUCTION TO KING MERY-KU-RE -- who was his son
and heir. Accepted by scholars as an OUTSTANDING example of Egyptian didactic
(moral instruction) literature, this composition added a new dimension: it
was a royal instruction; the testament of a departing king to his son and
successor, and as such it embodied a treatise on kingship. Like all other
Instructions that have come down to us, it is preserved in papyrus copies
of later times; and its date must be determined from internal evidence. Apart
from the historical significance of this work, it is famous for its LOFTY MORALITY
which even goes far beyond the pragmatic wisdom of the famous Egyptian Ptahhotep.
In reading this work you can't help but get a feeling for this king's morality
and humility. No proud boasts and flowery language we usually associate with
the inscriptions of the Egyptian pharaohs -- just plain, down-to-earth
advice and instruction to his son.
Notice:
The beginning of the instruction
which the King of Upper and Lower Egypt...made for his son, King Meri-ka-Re....
Be a craftsman in speech,
(so that) thou mayest be strong, (for) the tongue is a SWORD to [a man],
and SPEECH IS MORE VALOROUS THAN ANY FIGHTING. No one can circumvent the
skillful of heart....They who know his wisdom do not attack him, and no [misfortune]
occurs where he is...
Copy thy fathers and thy
ancestors....Behold, their words remain in writing. Open, that thou mayest
read and copy (their) wisdom. (Thus) the skilled man becomes learned....
Advance thy great men, so
that they may carry out thy laws....
Mayest thou speak justice
in thy (own) house, (that) the great ones who are on earth may fear thee.
Uprightness of heart IS FITTING FOR THE LORD....
Do justice whilst thou endurest
upon earth. Quiet the weeper; do not oppress the widow; supplant no man in
the property of his father; and impair no officials at their posts. Be on
thy guard against punishing wrongfully. Do no slaughter: it is not of advantage
to thee. (But) thou shouldest punish with beatings and with arrests; this
land will be (firmly) grounded thereby --
Do not prefer the wellborn
to the commoner, (but) choose a man on account of his skills....(Ancient
Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James B. Pritchard.
Princeton University Press, Princeton.)
King Wah-ku-Re
then goes on to say how he pacified the Delta region of Egypt and created
A SPECIAL DISTRICT which he filled with A SPECIAL PEOPLE:
I arose as lord of the city, Whose heart was sad because of the
Northland; From Hetshenu to Sembaqa, and south to Two-Fish-Channel I
pacified the entire West as far as the coast of the sea. It pays taxes,
it gives cedar wood, One sees juniper wood which they give us.... THE
INNER ISLANDS ARE TURNED BACK, AND EVERY MAN WITHIN, The
administrative districts say: "Thou art more honored than I." The
land they had ravaged has been made into nomes, All kinds of large
towns [are in it]; What was ruled by one is in the hands of ten, Officials
are appointed, tax-[lists drawn up]. WHEN FREE MEN ARE GIVEN LAND, They
work for you like a single team; No rebel will arise among them.... The
due of the Northland are in your hand, For the mooring-post is staked
IN THE DISTRICT I MADE IN THE EAST FROM HEBENU TO HORUSWAY IT
IS SETTLED WITH TOWNS, FILLED WITH PEOPLE, OF THE BEST IN THE LAND.... Medenyt
[in the Fayum] has been restored to its nome, Its one side is irrigated
as far as KEM-WER, It is the [defense] against the Bowmen. Its
walls are warlike, its soldiers many, Its serfs know how to bear arms, Apart
from the free men within. The region of Memphis totals ten thousand
men, FREE CITIZENS WHO ARE NOT TAXED; Officials are in it
since the time it was residence, The borders are firm, the garrisons
valiant. Many northerners irrigate it as far as the Northland, TAXED
WITH GRAIN IN THE MANNER OF FREE MEN; Lo, it is the gateway of the
Northland, They form a dyke as far as Heracleopolis. Abundant
citizens are the heart's support....
(Ancient Egyptian Literature, by Miriam Lichtheim. University of California
Press, Berkeley, CA 1975. Pp.. 103-104).
The "Two-Fish
Channel" mentioned above is the name for the branch of the Nile that
flowed through the nome of Letopolis -in other words the Canopic branch.
In this passage IT DESIGNATES THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE WESTERN DELTA.
Hetshenu was a town near Heliopolis.
The "Inner Islands"!
The phrase "The
Inner Islands are turned back" has puzzled the scholars and produced
a variety of less than satisfactory explanations. Under Wah-ku-Re Achtoy
IV Egypt became a VAST MEDITERRANEAN POWER, and one of the areas early settled
by the Egyptians at this time was CRETE (an important naval gateway) AND
OTHER ISLANDS of the Mediterranean Sea.
Herman L. Hoeh of
Ambassador College notes: "From CreteCaphtor in Hebrew -- came the Philistines
(Jer. 47:4 and Amos 9:7). The Philistines descended from MIZRAIM, father
of the Egyptians (Gen. 10:13-14). RULING OVER THE EGYPTIANS AND PHILISTINES
IN CRETE AND THE EASTERN NILE DELTA WAS A LITTLE-KNOWN DYNASTY OF EGYPTIAN
KINGS. They are mentioned in the Book of Sothis by Syncellus. Manetho does
not include them among true Egyptian dynasties because THEIR SEAT OF GOVERNMENT
WAS ON CRETE. The Cretan king of this dynasty, WHO WAS SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION OF
THE GREAT PHARAOH IN EGYPT [Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV], was Rameses" (Compendium
of World History. Ambassador College, 1963. Vol. II, pp.. 46-47).
The links between
Egypt and Crete become obvious when one understands that Crete was a part
of the land of Goshen. When British archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie unearthed
the village of KAHUN (consisting of 2,000 separate dwellings dispersed over 18
acres and built to house the Israelites who were erecting the tomb of Sesostris
II), he discovered some beautifully crafted pieces of pottery. "These
sherds turned out to be 'KAMARES WARE', a distinctive type of painted vase
named after THE CAVE SANCTUARY ON MOUNT IDA IN CENTRAL CRETE where they were
FIRST FOUND. Similar vases also emerged in Sir Arthur Evan's 'FIRST PALACE
LEVEL' at Knossos [on Crete]...." (Discovering the World of the Ancient
Greeks, by Zofia Archibald. Facts-On-File, N.Y. 1991. P. 64).
A number of facts
should be highlighted here: This pottery, discovered by Petrie, was used
by the ISRAELITES erecting the pharaoh's pyramid; and the town built to house
the workers was called "KAHUN" -- a Hebrew word derived from KOHAN
meaning "priest"! Since this pottery has not been found amongst
the general necropoles of the Egyptians, it must have been manufactured
by the Israelites themselves!
As well as at Kahun,
Kamares pottery has been excavated from ILLAHUN (another Hebrew name) and
Abydos.
One of the things that struck
the archaeologists was the beauty and exquisiteness of this pottery; it is
of superb craftsmanship, and only in later Venetian glass, according to the
experts, can equal feeling in color effects be found. "It is said that
the potters who produced this fine work ADMIRED THE SHEEN WHICH THE WORKERS
IN BRONZE HAD MANAGED TO ATTAIN and had finally succeeded in achieving it
in their own 'eggshell' pottery" (The House of the Double Axe: The Palace
of Knossos, by Agnes Carr Vaughan. Doubleday & Co., N.Y. 1959. Pp.. 139-140).
A characteristic of
this style of pottery is the SPIRAL MOTIF (found delicately incorporated
into the design) which, as mentioned earlier, is a NOTABLE FEATURE of pottery
from Mycenae, Etruria, and other sites that were inhabited by the Celtic tribes.
The Kamares
pottery (which prevailed for about 300 years in Crete) was highly valued
by the pharaohs, and a vessel of this type was found in the tomb of King
Senusert III (Sesostris) at Abydos in Upper Egypt.
Another link between Egypt
and Crete was forged when a statue of an Egyptian dignitary, crafted in diorite
stone and inscribed with his name in Egyptian hieroglyphics, was found IN
A COURT OF THE PALACE AT KNOSSOS in Crete. Its style makes it evident that it
was sculptured during the 12th Dynasty -- the time that Egypt was at the
height of her power and had control of the Mediterranean!
The late professor
Percy Newberry, addressing the British Association in 1923, pointed out that
at the very beginning of the historic period in LOWER EGYPT the CULT OBJECTS
OF THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH-WESTERN DELTA (nearest to Crete) "included (1)
THE HARPOON, (2) THE FIGURE OF EIGHT SHIELD with crossed arrows, (3) THE
MOUNTAIN and probably, (4) THE DOUBLE AXE and, (5) A DOVE or Swallow. With
the exception of the Harpoon ALL OF THESE CULT OBJECTS ARE ALSO FOUND IN
CRETE" (Quoted in The Bull of Minos, by Leonard Cottrell. Facts-On-File
Publications, N.Y. 1984. Pp. 200-201). Even the Harpoon may have been later modified
into the familiar MINOAN TRIDENT -- which appears on the walls of Knossos
and Phaestos, usually in association with Poseidon.
"The district
I made in the East" can only refer to the area the Bible calls GOSHEN,
and the confines of the district ("from HEBENU [another Hebrew name]
to HORUSWAY") refers to somewhere near modern Minich in Middle Egypt
to the Suez frontier on the Way-of-Horus -- the road that led from Egypt
to Canaan. "Thus the east Delta was anchored along a newly established
frontier line" (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, footnote
31, p.416). "Horusway" and "Horusways" are synonymous with
the eastern frontier fortress of SILE.
Kem-Wer was a town of the
FAYUM district; and under Wah-ku-Re "the east bank of the twenty-second
nome was recovered by the Heracleopolitans and brought under cultivation
up to the point where it joined the Fayum which they had held all along" (Ancient
Egyptian Literature, footnote 16, p. 108).
Such were the conditions
in Egypt when Joseph arrived with the Midianite traders.
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
While working as a
superintendent of Potiphar's household, Joseph (who evidently was a very
handsome young man) was noticed by Potiphar's wife who became infatuated
with him. "Archaeological evidence indicates that the arrangement of Egyptian
houses appears to have been such that a person had to pass through the main
part of the house to reach the storerooms. If Potiphar's house was laid out
similarly, it would have been impossible for Joseph to avoid all contact
with Potiphar's wife." (Insight on the Scriptures, p. 107).
Eventually Potiphar's wife
took advantage of the situation when there were no other men in the house,
and grabbed hold of his garment, saying: "Lie down with me!" Joseph,
being obedient to the laws of God, fled the scene leaving his garment in
her hand. Potiphar's wife began to scream and made it appear that Joseph had
made immoral advances toward her. Upon relating this to her enraged husband,
Potiphar had Joseph thrown into the prison house where the king's prisoners
were kept under arrest.
This event in the life of
Joseph did not go unnoticed by the Egyptian bards. There is a papyrus in
the British Museum (#10183), dated to the 19th Dynasty, that tells the story
of a conscientious young man who was falsely accused of adultery by the
wife of his elder brother after he had rejected her advances. The Story of
Two Brothers is so similar to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife that
it must be based on the remembrance of Joseph's ordeal in the household of
Potiphar.
During the course
of centuries the story of Joseph attracted occasional details from other
popular stories which had nothing to do with Joseph. The Story of Two Brothers
is the story of Anubis and Bitis. Bitis was the younger, and was entrusted
with all the older brother's property -- just like Joseph was entrusted
with all the affairs of Potiphar. The affectionate relationship between the
two brothers was disturbed, however, by the wife of Anubis. One day, when
Bitis went to the house to get some seed, the wife attempted to seduce him.
He angrily resisted, but said nothing to the brother. That evening, when Anubis
came home, the wife complained to her husband that she had been mistreated
by Bitis, whereupon the latter was forced to flee for his life. "This
story corresponds so EXACTLY to the biblical tale of Joseph and the wife
of Potiphar (Gen. 39:7ff) that scholars have generally taken it as a MYTHOLOGICAL ACCRETION
TO THE LIFE OF JOSEPH." (Biblical Archaeology, by G. Ernest Wright.
The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1962. P. 54).
Numerous other elements
in the Book of Genesis have been explained in a similar fashion -- but none
as clear as this!
Notice:
Now [after] many [days]
after this, they were in the fields and ran short of seed. Then he sent his
younger brother, saying "Go and fetch us seed from the village."
And his younger brother found the wife of his elder brother sitting and doing
her hair. Then he said to her: "Get up and give me (some) seed, for
my elder brother is waiting for me. Don't delay!" Then she said to him:
"Go and open the bin and take what you want! Don't make me leave my
combing unfinished!" Then the lad went into his stable, and he took
a big jar, for he wanted to carry off a lot of seed. So he loaded himself
with barley and emmer and came out carrying them.
Then she said to him: "How
much (is it) that is on your shoulder?" [And he] said to her: "Three
sacks of emmer, two sacks of barley, five in all, is what is on your shoulder."
So he spoke to her. Then she [talked with] him, saying "There is [great]
strength in you! Now I see your energies every day!" And she wanted
to know him as one knows a man.
The Story of the Two
Brothers continues:
Then she stood up
and took hold of him and said to him: "Come, let's spend an [hour] sleeping
(together)! This will do you good, because I shall make fine clothes for
you!" Then the lad [became] like a leopard with [great] rage at the
wicked suggestion which she had made to him, and she was very, very much
frightened. Then he argued with her, saying: "See here -you are like
a mother to me, and your husband is like a father to me! Because being older
than I -- he was the one who brought me up. What is this great crime which
you have said to me? Don't say it to me again!....
But the wife of his elder
brother was afraid (because of) the suggestion which she had made. Then she
took fat and grease, and she became like one who has been criminally n,
wanting to tell her husband: "It was your younger brother who did the beating!"
And her husband left off in the evening, after his custom of everyday, and
he reached his house, and he found his wife lying down, terribly sick. She
did not put water on his hands, after his custom, nor had she lit a light
before him, and his house was in darkness, and she lay (there) vomiting.
So her husband said to her: "Who has been talking with you?" Then
she said to him: "Not one person has been talking with me except your
younger brother. But when he came [to] take the seed to you he found me sitting
alone, and he said to me: 'Come, let's spend an hour sleeping (together)!
Put on your curls! So he spoke to me. But I wouldn't listen to him: 'Aren't
I your mother? -- for your elder brother is like a father to you!' So I spoke
to him. But he was afraid, and he beat (me), so as not to let me tell you.
-- Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, p. 24.
Joseph's Rise to Power
Evidently, Joseph
was initially treated severely in prison, as Psalm 105:17-19 points out:
"He sent a man before them -Joseph-- who was sold as a slave. They HURT
HIS FEET WITH FETTERS, HE WAS LAID IN IRONS. Until the time that his word
came to pass." Later, however, the chief officer of the prison house
placed Joseph in a position of trust over the other prisoners because of
his exemplary behavior under adverse conditions. In this capacity, the prisoner
Joseph again showed himself to be AN ABLE ADMINISTRATOR by ensuring that
all the work was done in the prison.
Later on, when two
of Pharaoh Achtoy's officers -- the CHIEF OF THE CUPBEARERS and the CHIEF
OF THE BAKERS -- were thrown into the same prison, Joseph was assigned to
wait upon them. During their incarceration, both of these men had dreams
which Joseph explained to them. Since the cupbearer's dream indicated that
he was to be restored to his position with the pharaoh in three days
time, Joseph requested that the cupbearer remember him and mention him to
the pharaoh so that he might be released from prison. The baker's dream was
interpreted by Joseph to mean that he would be put to death in three days
time. Both dreams were fulfilled on schedule -- on the pharaoh's birthday.
By this time some 11 years had already passed since his being sold by his brothers.
Insight on the Scriptures
reveals what happened next:
Again restored to his position,
the cupbearer forgot all about Joseph. (Ge. 40:23) However, at the end of
two full years, Pharaoh had two dreams that none of Egypt's magic-practicing priests
and wise men could interpret. It was then that the cupbearer brought Joseph
to Pharaoh's attention. At once Pharaoh sent for Joseph. In keeping with
EGYPTIAN CUSTOM, Joseph, before going before Pharaoh, shaved and changed
his garments. Also in this case he did not take any credit to himself but
ascribed the interpretation to God. -- Page 107.
Joseph then explained
that both of Pharaoh's dreams pointed to SEVEN YEARS OF PLENTY to be followed
by SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE. Also, he recommended measures to be taken to alleviate
the upcoming famine (Gen. 41:1-36).
The pharaoh,
in his wisdom, realized what must be done:
Pharaoh recognized
in 30-year old Joseph the man wise enough to administer affairs during the
time of plenty and the time of famine. Joseph was therefore constituted SECOND
RULER IN EGYPT. Pharaoh gave Joseph his own signet ring, fine linen garments, and
a necklace of gold. (Ge. 41:37-44, 46; compare Ps. 105:17, 20-22) This manner
of investiture IS ATTESTED BY EGYPTIAN INSCRIPTIONS AND MURALS. It is also
of interest that from ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RECORDS it is known that several Canaanites were
given high positions in Egypt and that Joseph's change in name to Zaphenath-paneah
is NOT WITHOUT PARALLEL. Joseph was also given Asenath the daughter of Potiphera
(from Egyptian, meaning "He Whom Ra Has Given") the priest of On
[Heliopolis] as a wife. -- Ge. 41:45.
Thereafter Joseph toured
the land of Egypt and prepared to administer affairs of state, later storing
great quantities of foodstuffs during the years of plenty. Before the FAMINE arrived,
his wife Asenath bore him two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. -- Ge. 41:46-52.
(Ibid., p. 108).
As pointed out
in the quote above, the position to which Joseph attained in Egypt is well
illustrated by inscriptions and reliefs. "Joseph not only was SECOND
IN POWER to none but Pharaoh, but in view of the approaching FAMINE he was
placed in control of all grain and granaries. From EGYPTIAN RECORDS we should
judge that he therefore COMBINED IN HIS PERSON TWO OFFICES: that of 'governor'
or Prime Minister at the head of the government, and that of 'superintendent
of the granaries.' The duties of the Prime Minister were various; he was
not only minister of the interior and chief magistrate, but occasionally MINISTER
OF PUBLIC WORSHIP also" (Biblical Archaeology, pp.. 54-55).
The office of
"Superintendent of the Granaries" was extremely important at all
periods of Egyptian history because the real wealth and stability of the
nation lay in its grain. The prime responsibility of the Superintendent was
to see to it that the supply was plentiful; and every year, in a solemn ceremony,
the Superintendent presented to the pharaoh an "account of the harvests."
If there had been a bumper crop -- "a better harvest than for thirty
years" -- then the official would be given special honors by the pharaoh,
anointed and arrayed with valuable necklaces.
The Seven-Year famine
The biblical story
of SEVEN YEARS of famine was not at all unusual in Egypt. Many inscriptions
speak about famines in the land, and at least two officials, giving glowing
summaries of their good deeds on the walls of their tombs, tell of distributing
food to the hungry "in each year of want." One inscription that
Herman L. Hoeh of Ambassador College (now Ambassador University) latched
upon to prove his particular arrangement of the Egyptian dynasties, is that
written under Pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty. Carved on a rock on the island
of Siheil near the First Cataract of the Nile, the inscription reads, in
part, as follows:
I was in distress
on the Great Throne, and those who are in the palace were in Heart's affliction
from a very great evil, since the Nile had not come in my time for a space
of seven years. Grain was scant, fruits were dried up, and everything which
they eat was short....The infant was wailing; the youth was waiting; the
heart of the old man was in sorrow....The courtiers were in need. The temples
were shut up....Every(thing) was found empty.-- Translated by J. B. Pritchard,
Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 31.
That this particular
famine was NOT the one of Joseph's time is evidenced by a number of observations.
First of all, the reign of Pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty was far TOO
EARLY to coincide with Joseph's sojourn in Egypt -- there are many factors
that PROVE the time of the and exodus was in the MIDDLE KINGDOM,
and counting back the 400 years the Israelites were in Egypt brings us to
the First Intermediate Period, NOT the time of Djoser!
Also, famines of seven
year's duration are not uncommon in Egyptian history. G. Ernest Wright notes
"that seven-year famines [plural] were otherwise known in Egypt"
(Biblical Archaeology, p. 53). The text of the inscription at the First Cataract
states that Djoser's Prime Minister was Ii-em-(ho)tep, the son of Ptah --
NOT Zaphenath-paneah or Joseph! Ii-em-(ho)tep (or Imhotep) was famous in
Egyptian history, and later became deified.
Finally, in reading
the inscription, we learn that the "seven lean years...by a contractual
arrangement between pharaoh and a god, were TO BE FOLLOWED BY YEARS OF PLENTY."
(Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 31). The Bible plainly shows that SEVEN YEARS OF
PLENTY WERE TO BE FOLLOWED BY SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE -- not the other way
around!
To top this off, there is
some question regarding the authenticity of this inscription -- James Pritchard
notes that "it is a question whether it is a PRIESTLY FORGERY of some
later period, justifying their claim to territorial privileges, or whether
it correctly recounts an actual grant of land more than 2,500 years earlier.
This question cannot be answered in final terms." (Ibid., p. 31).
There are numerous
inscriptions of the First Intermediate Period that tell of the terrible famine
of Joseph's time. One in particular (the stela of the Butler Merer of Edfu)
contains an important CLUE for dating the inscription and the famine.
Notice:
An offering which the king
gives (and) Anubis, who is upon his mountain and in the place of embalming,
the lord of the necropolis, in all his good and pure places: an offering
for the revered one, the Sole Companion, Butler and Overseer of the slaughterers
of the House of Khuu in its entirety, who says:
I was the priest for slaughtering
and offering in two temples on behalf of THE ruler. I OFFERED FOR THIRTEEN
RULERS without a mishap ever befalling me....
I buried the dead and nourished
the living, wherever I went IN THIS DROUGHT WHICH HAD OCCURRED. I closed
off all their fields and mounds in town and countryside, not letting their
water inundate for someone else, as does a worthy citizen so that his family
may survive. When it happened that Upper Egypt barley was given to the town,
I transported it many times. I gave a heap of white Upper Egyptian barley
and a heap of hmi-barley, and MEASURED OUT FOR EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS
WISH....(Ancient Egyptian Literature, p. 87).
Now the sentence "I
offered for THIRTEEN RULERS without a mishap ever befalling me" poses
problems for the historians. Obviously, Butler Merer could not have "offered"
for 13 consecutive kings -- he would not have lived long enough! The historians
explain it away by saying: "The point Merer is making is that he served
his superiors without ever making a mistake. These superiors may have been
dead rulers for whom he performed funerary sacrifices." As far as I
am concerned the "historians" can explain it away any way they
like -- the fact remains that Merer meant what he said! He offered for 13
rulers all rightnot consecutive or dead rulers but 13 CONTEMPORARY ONES!
Who could these 13
rulers be? We will answer that question shortly!
Another stela
of the First Intermediate Period, that of the Treasurer Iti of Imyotru, deals
with the SAME FAMINE and relates how he supplied his town during the famine
and also helped the towns of Hefat and Iuni, while not attempting to help
the hungry citizens of Thebes. The similarities in style and content make it
certain that this stela is CONTEMPORARY with that of Merer.
It reads, in part:
An offering which the king
gives (and) Anubis, who is upon his mountain and in the place of embalming,
the lord of the necropolis: an offering for the revered one, the Royal Seal-bearer,
Sole Companion, Seal-bearer of the God, Iti, who says:
I was a worthy citizen who
acted with his arm. I was a great pillar in the Theban nome, a man of standing
in the Southland. I NOURISHED IMYOTRU IN THE YEARS OF MISERY. Though four
hundred men were in straits through it, I did not seize a man's daughter,
nor did I seize his field....(Ancient Egyptian Literature, pp.. 88-89).
A stela discovered
in the necropolis of Naqada, which lay within the Coptic nome (the fifth
nome of Upper Egypt -- 25 miles N.E. of Thebes), refers to the SAME PROLONGED
FAMINE once again and is known as the stela of the Steward Seneni of Coptus: "An
offering which the king gives (and) Anubis, who is upon his mountain and
in the place of embalming, the lord of the necropolis: an offering for the
Eldest of the House Seneni, who says: I MEASURED OUT UPPER EGYPTIAN BARLEY
AS SUSTENANCE FOR THIS WHOLE TOWN IN THE GATEWAY OF THE COUNT AND CHIEF PRIEST DJEFI,
IN THE PAINFUL YEARS OF DISTRESS. Having acted in the proper manner, I was
praised for it by the whole town. Never did I do what everybody hates. The
royal chamberlain Senen(i)." (Ibid., pp.. 89-90).
In all likelihood,
these contemporary stelae from the First Intermediate Period record the great
SEVEN-YEAR FAMINE in the time of Joseph.
Jacob's Arrival in Egypt
The great seven-year
famine not only affected Egypt, but also surrounding countries. Eventually
Canaan was also languishing under drought conditions and Jacob was forced
to send his sons (Joseph's half-brothers) down to Egypt to buy food. When
Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers, he said: "I am Joseph; does
my father still live?....But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with
yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve
life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are
still five years in which there will be neither plowing or harvesting. And
God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to
save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me
here, but God; and He has made me a FATHER TO PHARAOH, AND LORD OF ALL HIS
HOUSE, and a RULER THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT." (Gen. 45:3-8,
NKJV).
Joseph then directed
his brothers to return to Canaan and bring his father with them to Egypt:
"Hasten and go up to my father, and say to him, 'Thus says your son
Joseph: "God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not
tarry. You shall dwell in THE LAND OF GOSHEN, AND YOU SHALL BE NEAR TO ME,
you and your children, your children's children, your flocks and your
herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, lest you and
your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; FOR THERE ARE STILL
FIVE YEARS OF FAMINE."'" (Ibid., verses 9-11).
Pharaoh Wah-ku-Re
Achtoy IV was almost as excited as Joseph, and provided wagons for Joseph's
brothers so that they might bring Jacob and his entire household to Egypt.
When Jacob heard the
news he could not believe that his son Joseph was still alive. But, when
finally convinced, the 130-year-old Jacob exclaimed: "It is enough.
Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die" (Gen.
45:28, NKJV). Later, on the way to Egypt with his household, Jacob had a
vision from God at Beer-sheba. In the vision, God gave Jacob His divine approval
for the move and told him: "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I
will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on yours
eyes" (Gen. 46:4). Joseph, therefore, was to be the one to close Jacob's
eyes after his death. Since the FIRSTBORN customarily did this, God thereby revealed
that Joseph was to receive THE RIGHT AS FIRSTBORN.
Having been advised of his
father's arrival within the borders of Egypt by Judah -- who had been sent
in advance -- Joseph prepared his chariot and went to meet Jacob IN GOSHEN.
The Stone That Roared!
With Jacob when he arrived
in Egypt was a MYSTERIOUS STONE -- a stone that was destined to travel to
the ends of the earth and become the center of legends and traditions that
have been preeminent amongst various Celtic tribes.
The story begins early
in Jacob's life:
Now Jacob went out
from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed
there all night, because the sun had set. AND HE TOOK ONE OF THE STONES OF
THAT PLACE AND PUT IT AT HIS HEAD, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
-- Gen. 28:10-11, NKJV.
During the night Jacob
dreamt of a ladder going up to heaven with angels ascending and descending
on it. God then made certain promises to Jacob regarding the future of his descendants
and the greatness they were to attain.
"Then Jacob awoke
from his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not
know it'....Then Jacob rose early in the morning, AND TOOK THE STONE THAT
HE HAD PUT AT HIS HEAD, SET IT UP AS A PILLAR, AND POURED OIL ON TOP OF IT....Then
Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me, and keep me in this way
that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that
I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.
And THIS STONE which I have SET AS A PILLAR shall be God's house...."
(Gen. 28:16, 18, 20-22, NKJV).
A number of historians,
including Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, record the removal of Jacob's STONE to
Egypt: "The stony pillar on which Jacob slept at Bethel was by his countrymen
TRANSPORTED TO EGYPT." (Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey. John ,
London. 1876. P. 57).
Also, author Raymond
F. McNair notes: "Tradition identifies this stone [the Coronation Stone
in Westminster Abbey, London] with the one upon which JACOB RESTED HIS HEAD
AT BETHEL...Jacob's sons CARRIED IT TO EGYPT...." (Quoted in the manuscript
In Search of the Lost Ten Tribes from the Westminster Abbey Official Guide).
After Jacob and his
household were settled in Goshen, tradition seems to support the idea that
a building or temple was built to house the stone which, according to the
Cronicon Rythmicum, became known as the "LAPIS PHARAONIS" or "PHARAOH'S
STONE."
Why was Jacob's pillow
stone known as "Pharaoh's Stone"? Because Jacob was a KING in Egypt!
A tradition arose in the
land of Egypt of a "VOCAL-STONE" that "ROARED" whenever
a prince of the ROYAL LINE OF THE HEBREWS sat or stood on it: "If it
would make a noise under the person who sat on it, it was an infallible sign
of his accession to the crown; but if it proved silent, it precluded him
from any hopes." (Ogygia, or, a Chronological Account of Irish Events,
by Roderic O'Flaherty -- translated by James Hely. W. M'Kenzie, Dublin.
1793. Pp.. 66-68).
Ancient authors
have made mention of a "vocal-stone" which was evidently housed
in a statue of an Egyptian king (Jacob?) which was afterwards broken by Cambyses
to the middle of the breast.
The Land of Goshen
After greeting his
father when he arrived in Goshen Joseph, along with five of his brothers,
requested an audience with Pharaoh Achtoy.
Insight On the Scriptures
relates what transpired in the presence of the pharaoh:
As directed by Joseph,
his brothers identified themselves as herders of sheep and requested to reside
as aliens IN THE LAND OF GOSHEN. Pharaoh granted their request, and Joseph,
after introducing his father to Pharaoh, settled Jacob and his household
IN THE VERY BEST OF THE LAND. (Ge. 46:28-47:11) Thus, wisely and lovingly
Joseph made the best of an Egyptian prejudice against shepherds. It resulted
in safeguarding Jacob's family from being contaminated by Egyptian influence
and eliminating the danger of their being completely absorbed by the Egyptians
through marriage. -- Page 109.
Exactly where
is the land of Goshen?
Modern scholars try
to tell us that "the best of the land" is a small, semi-desolate
region east of the Nile -- halfway between the Nile and the Suez Canal today.
More generous scholars, such as G. Ernest Wright, allow that it was the Wadi
Tumilat: "This Wadi (the Arabic for a river bed which is usually dry
except in the rainy season) is A NARROW VALLEY BETWEEN THIRTY AND FORTY MILES
LONG, connecting the Nile with Lake Timsah. In both ancient and modern times
the area around the Wadi Tumilat, especially to the north of it, was one
of the richest sections of Egypt [outside of the Fayum], truly 'the best
of the land,' as it is described in Gen. 47:11. The great American explorer, Edward
Robinson, reported in 1838 that it yielded more revenue at that time than
any other province in Egypt, and that there were more flocks and herds there
than elsewhere. The population was half migratory, large numbers of people
still retaining their nomadic habits. This was exactly the situation in Joseph's day,
as we infer both from the Bible and from Egyptian texts. If there is any
place in Egypt where the Hebrew shepherds should have settled, THIS was the
region" (Biblical Archaeology, p. 56).
The question is, how
could an area such as this between the Nile and the Suez Canal support a
population of 600,000 Israelite men -- excluding women and children -- at
the time of the exodus? Similarly, how could a narrow wadi between thirty and
forty miles long support such a population? These areas probably could not
have sustained more than 6,000 men (exclusive of women and children) along
with all their cattle! So -- is the Bible wrong? No, the so-called scholars
simply have not understood WHERE the land of Goshen was!
Let Herman L. Hoeh
explain:
Genesis 46:28 tells
us more of the story. "And he (Jacob) sent Judah before him unto Joseph,
to direct his face unto Goshen." Jacob was coming down from Beersheba
in Palestine into Egypt. "And they came into the land of Goshen. And
Joseph made ready his chariot, and went UP (NORTHWARD) to meet Israel his
father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him."
Did you notice that Joseph
was not in the land of Goshen? Joseph dwelt where Pharaoh was. AND PHARAOH
WAS AT MEMPHIS, the [administrative] capital of lower Egypt. "Joseph
made ready his chariot, AND WENT UP TO MEET ISRAEL his father." He went
up to Goshen. He was going NORTH. Therefore, the land of Goshen was NORTH
of the capital of Egypt at this time. -- Compendium of World History, vol.
II. Ambassador College, 1963. Pp.. 224-225.
If we turn to Genesis
46:33 and 34 we read: "So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says,
'What is your occupation?'" Here Joseph instructs his father to reply:
"...you shall say, 'Your servants' occupation has been with livestock
from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers"...' Why
did Joseph tell Jacob to say this? "...that you may dwell in the land
of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." The
Egyptians quite often hired foreigners to take care of their cattle; so the
purpose was to have the children of Israel live in the land of Goshen and
tend the Pharaoh's cattle there.
The story continues
in Genesis 47:5. "Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, 'Your father
and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have
your father and brothers dwell IN THE BEST OF THE LAND; let them dwell in
the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them
chief herdsmen over my livestock."
Herman Hoeh asks: "Did
you notice that Pharaoh said to the children of Israel, 'The land of Egypt
is before you, THE BEST OF THE LAND, the land of Goshen.' This is the portion
of Egypt that Pharaoh is actually turning over to the children of Israel because
of what Joseph did!"
We should recall that God
told Abraham (Gen. 15:18) that his descendants were going to control land
all the way to the river of Egypt -- the Nile! God was now beginning to fulfill
that promise.
So the land
of Goshen was NORTH of Memphis and stretched all the way from the Nile to
the eastern border of Egypt. Since the river Nile had many branches where
it approached the Mediterranean, the land of Goshen must have stretched to
the westernmost branch -- therefore the ENTIRE DELTA REGION was included
in the land of Goshen!
If we read verse 11
of Genesis 47, we learn that the land of Goshen was also called "THE
LAND OF RAMESES": "And Joseph situated his father and his brothers,
and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land,
IN THE LAND OF RAMESES, as Pharaoh had commanded."
The best of the land,
in verse 6, is called "the land of Goshen," while in verse 11 the
best of the land is called "the land of Rameses." Obviously, then,
the land of Goshen and the land of Rameses are the same! It is the ENTIRE
delta region of Egypt!
The Proof of "Sais"!
Historical proof
that the land of Goshen stretched to the westernmost branch of the Nile can
be found in the town of SAIS. An ancient city of the Egyptian Delta, Sais
lay WESTWARD of the Thermuthiac or Sebennytic branch of the Nile. It was
the capital of the 5th nome of Lower Egypt, and was an important town from very
remote times. Today, all that remains to be seen of Sais is the brick enclosure
wall of the temple near the little village of Sa-el-hagar (Sa of stone),
and crude brick ruins and rubbish heaps scattered over the site.
By the time of the
exodus Sais was an important city held by the Israelites and a DEPARTURE
POINT for those escaping from the harsh rule of the 12th Dynasty pharaohs.
According to The Harmsworth
Encyclopedia CECROPS (who was, it can be proven, none other than CHALCOL
of I Kings 4:31 and brother to DARDA) was the "mythical" founder
of ATHENS and its FIRST KING. He was said to have been the LEADER of a band
of HEBREW COLONISTS FROM EGYPT!
This is confirmed by Diodorus
Siculus who says: "Now the Egyptians say that also after these events
[the plagues of the exodus] a great number of colonies were SPREAD FROM EGYPT
all over the inhabited world....They say also that those who set forth
with Danaus, LIKEWISE FROM EGYPT, settled what is practically the oldest
city of Greece, Argos and that the nations of the Colchi in Pontus and that
of the Jews (remnant of Judah), which lies between Arabia and Syria were
founded as colonies by certain EMIGRANTS FROM THEIR COUNTRY [EGYPT]; and this
is the reason why it is a long-established institution among these peoples
to circumcise their male children, THE CUSTOM HAVING BEEN BROUGHT OVER FROM
EGYPT. Even THE ATHENIANS, THEY SAY, ARE COLONISTS FROM SAIS IN EGYPT."
(Diodorus of Sicily, by G.H. Oldfather. Vol. I, bks. I-II, 1-34, p. 91).
The Greek philosopher
Plato (about 427-347 B.C), in his Dia s, makes the SAME connection:
In the Egyptian Delta,
at the head of which the river Nile divides, there is a certain district
which is called the district of SAIS, and the great city of the district
is also called Sais, and is the city from which King Amasis came. The citizens
have a deity for their foundress; she is called in the Egyptian tongue NEITH,
and is asserted by them to be the same whom the Hellenes call Athene; THEY
ARE GREAT LOVERS OF THE ATHENIANS, AND SAY THAT THEY ARE IN SOME WAY RELATED
TO THEM.Translated into English by B. Jowett. Vol. 2. Random House, N.Y.
1937.
Geoffrey Keating puts
a date on the emigration, as follows: "Cecrops was the FOUNDER OF THE
ATHENIAN NATION. He was A NATIVE OF EGYPT. He led his colony to Attica about
1556 YEARS BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA." (The History of Ireland. Translated
by John O'Mahony. P.M. Haverty, N.Y. 1857. Footnote p.152).
Obviously Sais, in the very
western part of the Delta, was inhabited by the Israelites and therefore
a part of Goshen!
Who Was Rameses?
One of the titles
belonging to rulers of the Delta and the island of Crete was "Rameses."
This title was used by these rulers LONG BEFORE the pharaoh "Rameses
the Great" came on the scene, and can be found mentioned in the Book
of Sothis by Syncellus. Manetho does not mention them because their SEAT
OF GOVERNMENT WAS ON CRETE. When Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV pacified the Delta
region he took control of Goshen away from "Rameses" and made it
his own personal property or estate. It was this land that he gave to the
father and brothers of Joseph!
As Herman L. Hoeh
notes:
Ancient Egypt was
a feudalistic world. In feudalism the king claims theoretically to own everything.
He leased the land out to his princelings and lords (who lease parts of their
land to others of still lower rank), but the king reserves a certain portion
for himself.
Pharaoh naturally reserved
the BEST land for himself -- the land of Goshen. IT BELONGED PERSONALLY TO
PHARAOH. So Pharaoh was not taking land leased to his lords. He is granting
this territory to Joseph, who was next highest in the kingdom, for his
services. The fee for receiving the land of Goshen or Rameses is stated in
verse 6: "And if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make
them rulers of MY cattle."Compendium of World History, vol. II. P. 227.
So by the command of Pharaoh
Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV all the land of Goshen (the land of Rameses), including
THE ISLAND OF CRETE, was given to the children of Israel as partial fulfillment
of God's promise that Abraham's seed should extend to the river of Egypt
-- to the Nile!
Jacob -- A Ruler Under Pharaoh?
As we have seen, Jacob was
a man of renown in Canaan, and scarabs have been unearthed showing that he
was a chief or king in the land. When Jacob moved to Egypt and took up residence
in Goshen, he also became KING over the newly acquired territory!
Notice:
The king [of Egypt]
with the unmistakable Hebrew name YAAKOV, as JACOB is pronounced in Hebrew,
PROVIDES A PARALLEL to the biblical name of the father of Joseph. The name
YAAKOV appears on NUMEROUS SCARABS OF THE PERIOD FOUND IN EGYPT, [and] in
NUBIA (biblical Kush)...in the form of the Egyptian transliteration Y'QB-HR....Another
scarab, almost identical to that of the Shiqmona, was published by Martin
Pieper in 1930 and so closely resembles the Shiqmona scarab it appears to
be produced by the same artisan. The SINGLE DIFFERENCE between the two scarabs
is, however, highly significant: THE NAME Y'QB-HR IS FRAMED ON THE LATTER
SCARAB BY A CARTOUCHE, THE USE OF WHICH INDICATES ROYALTY AND IDENTIFIES
THAT YAAKOV AS A KING IN EGYPT....(The Eighth Day:The Hidden History of the
Jewish Contribution to Civilization, p. 67).
If you will
recall, the stela of the Butler Merer of Edfu states the following: "I
offered for THIRTEEN RULERS without a mishap ever befalling me." I mentioned
earlier that modern scholars are in a quandary regarding the identity of
these rulers, and usually dismiss them as being metaphoric. However, these
kings were real! The thirteen rulers were JACOB AND HIS 12 SONS!
Let's examine
the evidence. The Icelandic LANGFEDGATAL, which traces the ancestry of Odin,
shows that he was descended from KING SATURNUS OF KRIT. Who was this Saturnus
of Krit?
Herman L. Hoeh reveals the
answer:
In modern English
the name would be SATURN OF CRETE. There were many Saturns in antiquity,
often confused with one another. Usually the name was applied to a man who
FLEES or who HIDES himself.
Saturn is a Latin word derived
from a root meaning TO FLEE INTO HIDING. The Greek term was KRONOS. This
particular SATURN OF CRETE was so famous that the Phoenician historian Sanchoniathon spoke
of him. Fragments of his works have been preserved by Eusebius in Preparation
of the Gospel, book i, ch. x. Here are his words: "For Kronos or (Saturn),
whom the Phoenicians call ISRAEL...." (Corey's Ancient Fragments of
the Phoenician, Carthaginian, Babylonian, Egyptian and other Authors, by
E. Richmond Hodges, page 21.)
Israel was the name of JACOB....But
why was Jacob called Saturn? Because Jacob became famous for fleeing or hiding
from his enemies. Jacob's mother warned him of his brother Esau's wrath:
"Now, therefore, my son, hearken to my voice; and arise, flee thou to
Laban my brother in Haran" (Genesis 27:43). "And it was told Laban...that
Jacob was fled" -- this time back to Palestine. (Gen. 31:22).
But how is one to account
for the title to Crete in Jacob's name? Certainly Jacob did not have title
to it prior to descending into Egypt. The answer is, JACOB OBTAINED IT FROM PHARAOH
IN EGYPT. -- Compendium of World History, vol. II. Pp.. 44, 45-46.
Since Crete
was part of Goshen, JACOB WAS THEREFORE KING OF THIS NEWLY ACQUIRED TERRITORY!
He was the overall king, or HIGH-KING of Goshen!
Now what about the
other 12 KINGS mentioned by the Butler Merer of Edfu?
According to
the History of Herodotus, THE EGYPTIANS WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE
A PANTHEON OF 12 GODS and to divide the solar year into 12 months, each month
being dedicated to one of the gods. Later they divided all Egypt into 12
regions and appointed a king over each. THIS COMMEMORATED A PREVIOUS ERA WHEN
THE GODS RULED IN PERSON OVER THE 12 PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. The 12 kings were
UNITED BY FAMILY TIES and also by a strict treaty which they renewed at regular
formal meetings IN ONE OF THE 12 TEMPLES. -- Twelve-Tribe Nations, by John
Michell and Christine Rhone. Phares Press, Grand Rapids, MI. 1991. P. 38.
Clearly, when Jacob and
his 12 sons received title to the land of Goshen, Jacob divided the land
into 12 districts or nomes and placed his sons over each of the divisions!
It also seems evident that the Israelites built a TEMPLE in each of the nomes.
The memory of the
rule of Jacob and his 12 sons over the land of Goshen was incorporated into
Egyptian folklore, with Jacob becoming known as HEPHAESTUS (the god who limps)
and Judah becoming known as the Egyptian and Cretan ZEUS. According to Greek
mythology Hephaestus became lame because of a quarrel with Zeus about Heracles.
"Zeus threw him down from Olympus. Hephaestus' fall lasted for A WHOLE
DAY: towards the evening, he hit the ground in the island of Lemnos, was
rescued by the Sintians and restored to life, BUT HE REMAINED LAME"
(The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology, London. 1991. P. 180).
This myth parallels
the story of Jacob in Genesis 32, where he wrestled with an angel for THE
BEST PART OF A NIGHT and, as a consequence, became LAME for the rest of his
life! Notice: "Then Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him
until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that he did not prevail against him,
He touched the socket of his hip; and THE SOCKET OF JACOB'S HIP WAS OUT OF
JOINT as He wrestled with him....Just as he [Jacob] crossed over Penuel the
sun rose on him, AND HE LIMPED ON HIS HIP. Therefore to this day the children
of Israel do not eat the THAT SHRANK, which is on THE HIP SOCKET,
because He touched the socket of JACOB'S HIP in the that shrank" (Gen.
32:24-32, NKJV).
It is recorded by
Eustathius that every year the ancient Ethiopians used to "fetch the
images of Zeus, and other gods from the great temple of Zeus at Thebes. With
these images they went about a certain period in Libya, AND CELEBRATED A
SPLENDID FESTIVAL FOR TWELVE GODS" (Eustathius on Homer's Iliad, lib.
i. II. Pp.. 423-425).
After the Famine
As the famine continued,
the Egyptians gradually exhausted all their money and their livestock in
exchange for food. Finally they even SOLD THEIR LAND and themselves as slaves
to Pharaoh. Then Joseph settled them in cities -- doubtless to facilitate the
distribution of grain. This was probably a temporary measure because the
Egyptians would eventually have to return to their fields to sow seed.
After the seven-year famine
passed, the land of Egypt gradually returned to normal. Once they were again
enjoying a harvest from the land, the Egyptians (according to Joseph's decree)
were required to give a fifth of their produce to Pharaoh for using the
land. Josephus makes the comment that "when this misery [the famine]
ceased, and the river overflowed the ground, and the ground brought forth
its fruits plentifully, Joseph came to every city, and gathered the people
thereto belonging together, and gave them back entirely the land which, by
their own consent, the king might have possessed alone, and alone enjoyed the
fruits of it. He also exhorted them to look on it as every one's own possession,
and to fall on their husbandry with cheerfulness; and to pay, as a tribute
to the king, the fifth part of the fruits for the land which the king, when
it was his own, restored to them." (Antiquities of the Jews, chap. VII, sec.
7).
The Bible, however,
gives no indication that the land was returned to the people of Egypt. There
is evidence "that the lands were not properly restored, and this fifth
part reserved as tribute only, TILL THE DAY OF SESOSTRIS [pharaoh of the
12th DYNASTY]." (Ibid., footnote p. 54).
Approximately 12 years
after the famine ended, Joseph brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim,
before Jacob for a blessing. It was then that Jacob indicated that the right
of firstborn was to be Joseph's, Ephraim and Manasseh being viewed as equals
of Jacob's direct sons. From Joseph were to spring TWO DISTINCT TRIBES,
WITH TWO SEPARATE TRIBAL INHERITANCES. Although it displeased Joseph, Jacob,
in blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, kept his right hand placed on THE YOUNGER,
EPHRAIM. By giving the preference to Ephraim, HE PROPHETICALLY INDICATED
THAT THE YOUNGER WOULD BECOME THE GREATER (Gen. 47:28-29; 48:1-22 and also
Deut. 21:17; Joshua 14:4 and I Chron. 5:1).
This has unerringly
come to pass in the form of Great Britain and her daughter nations and the
United States of America today. There are many evidences to show that Great
Britain, who came to power first, is directly descended from MANASSEH, while
the Unite States, who came to power afterwards, is the youngerEPHRAIM!
Shortly after Jacob
finished blessing the sons of Joseph, he died. Joseph had the Egyptian physicians
embalm his father's body in preparation for the trip to Canaan, where he
was buried in the cave of Machpelah.
The Incredible Engineering Project!
Eventually Wah-ku-Re Achtoy
IV himself died and his son MERY-KU-RE (MOERIS) ascended the throne of Egypt.
Joseph served the new pharaoh with as much dedication and loyalty as he did Wah-ku-Re,
but soon ran into the same court jealousies and backstabbing as Moses did
centuries later. Joseph was a hero in Egypt, and the court magicians, advisors
and other functionaries wanted to cut Joseph down to size and remove him
from his exalted position!
Zechariah Sitchin,
linguist and biblical scholar, reports what happened:
It was, historians
related, when Joseph was more than 100 but still held a high position in
the Egyptian court. The other viziers and court officials, envying Joseph,
persuaded the Pharaoh that to remain venerated Joseph should not rest on
his laurels. He must PROVE AGAIN his abilities. When the Pharaoh agreed,
the viziers suggested an impossible project -- TO CONVERT THE DESERT INTO
A FERTILE AREA. "Inspired by God" Joseph confounded his detractors
by succeeding. HE DUG FEEDER CANALS AND CREATED THE VAST ARTIFICIAL LAKE
IN 1000 DAYS. -- The Jewish Week and the American Examiner, July 22, 1983.
In honor of his pharaoh
the lake was named MOERIS -- a Greek rendition of the name "MERY,"
and the huge feeder canal that runs parallel to the Nile River was forever
named after Joseph-the BAHR YOUSEF or Sea of Joseph! It can still be seen
on the maps of Egypt today -- a lasting tribute to the awesome engineering
feats of a man of God.
After Joseph
Joseph survived his
father Jacob by about 54 years, reaching the grand age of 110 years. His
advanced age at death made such an impression on the Egyptians that several
papyri from the Middle Kingdom cite 110 as the ideal age for a man to attain!
It was Joseph's privilege to see even some of his great-grandsons. Before
his death, Joseph requested that his bones be taken to Canaan by the Israelites
at the time of their exodus. At death, Joseph's body was embalmed in the
custom of the Egyptians and placed in a coffin to await his removal to the
Promised Land.
During the 10th Dynasty
the kings of Heracleopolis made every effort to consolidate and defend the
territory regained in Lower Egypt. However, they did little to expand their
kingdom to the south, and merely tried to protect their southern boundary
and maintain peaceful relations with the rising dynasty of Thebeswhich
had now become the leader of the allied nomes of Upper Egypt. That peace
with the south existed for long periods of time is indicated by the fact
that the rulers of the 10th Dynasty were able, probably through an arrangement
with Thebes, to obtain blocks of red granite from the quarries at Aswan.
The peace was not to last. During the latter half of the 10th Dynasty
border skirmishes with the warlike Thebans became increasingly frequent and
increasingly serious. To hold them at bay the kings at Heracleopolis depended
mainly upon the ability and loyalty of the nomarchs of Si'ut (Asyut), the
capital of the 13th nome of Upper Egypt.
Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV
was able to gain a temporary victory:
Aided undoubtedly
by one of the nomarchs of Si'ut, King Wah-ku-Re was enabled temporarily to
occupy the border fortress of Thinis, -- a deed which...had not previously
been accomplished, even by his distinguished ancestor Achtoy I. His triumph,
however, was short lived; for the Thebans under WAH-'ONEKH IN-YOTEF not only
captured Thinis but PUSHED NORTH of it as far as Aphroditopolis, in the 10th
Nome of Upper Egypt.The Scepter of Egypt, by William C. Hayes. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. 1960. P. 144.
Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV
was forced to meet the Thebans not far to the south but on the borders of
his own province.
Soon after ascending
the throne, Wah-ku-Re's son Mery-ku-Re began to find himself in real difficulties.
During his reign Si'ut fell to the Thebans and the fighting moved north into
the Fifteenth, or Hermopolite, Nome, which was soon overrun by the undisciplined
armies of the contending dynasts. The new Theban offensive was now being
led by KING MONTUHOTPE II, whom Mery-ku-Re was unable to repel.
At his death Mery-ku-Re
(Moeris) was buried at Memphis -- his administrative capital -- in a pyramid
called "Flourishing-are-the-abodes-of-Mery-Ku-Re." His tomb was
located near that of King Tety of the Sixth Dynasty.
The last of the Heracleopolitan
pharaohs -- King Neb-ku-Re Achtoy V -- is probably to be identified with
the pharaoh in The Protests of the Eloquent Peasant, a popular story of the
time preserved in a papyrus of the Middle Kingdom. This tale, which reflects
a concern for social justice on the part of King Neb-ku-Re, tells the story
of an Egyptian peasant who, having been robbed of his belongings by a wealthy
landowner, addressed his complaints to the king's high steward. The peasant
presented his case with such extraordinary eloquence that the pharaoh had him
present his case again and again purely for the pleasure which he derived
from hearing the peasant talk.
Neb-ku-Re's reign
did not last long, and his dynasty was soon terminated by a complete victory
for Thebes and a NEW UNION of Upper and Lower Egypt under KING NEB-HEPET-RE
MONTU-HOTPE of the ELEVENTH DYNASTY.
During this period
of fighting and the eventual takeover of the Fayum province by the Thebans
of the Eleventh Dynasty, much of Joseph's magnificent engineering works in
the Fayum fell into disrepair.
According to Sir Allan
Gardiner:
The ORIGINAL LAKE
sank to below sea-level through the SILTING UP of the channel until A KING
OF DYNASTY XII, by widening and deepening it, AGAIN brought the lake into
equilibrium with the river [Nile]. Thus was [re]formed the famous lake of
Moeris, which by functioning as a combined flood-escape and reservoir, not
only protected the lands of lower Egypt from the destructive effects of excessive
high floods, but also increased the supplies of water in the river after
the flood season had passed. -- Egypt of the Pharaohs. Oxford University,
Oxford. 1979. P. 35).
The Rise of the 12th Dynasty
The Theban Dynasty
XI ruled over all of Egypt for 43 years. Soon after the death of SEANKH-KA-RE
MENTHOTEP (the successor of NEBHEPET-RE), the country was once again thrown
into confusion-and anarchy reigned in many areas. Another Mentuhotep, who
bore the name NEB-TAWI-RE, occupied the throne for part of the seven years
which elapsed before law and order was restored. But, for reasons that are
still unclear, later records do not credit him with having been a legitimate
ruler.
Neb-tawi-Re was succeeded
by his VIZIER and COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AMENEMHAT. Evidently Amenemhet conspired
against his royal master and, after some years of confusion, mounted the
throne in his place and ushered in the 12th Dynasty -- a dynasty that is regarded
as one of the GREATEST in the annals of Egypt. The new dynasty was composed
of four kings named Amenemhet, three kings named Sesostris, and a queen named
Sebek-neferu.
The name of the founder,
which means literally "Amun-is-at-the-head," shows that he was
born in Thebes where the god Amun was already established; his forbears,
however, may have lived in El-Eshmunein -- the earliest home of this god.
The inscriptions on the Egyptian monuments make it clear that his elevation
to the throne was no peaceful hereditary succession, but a STRUGGLE for the
crown and scepter that continued for some time. He fought his way to the
throne, and was accepted as Pharaoh only because he triumphed over his rivals.
After the fighting was ended and the towns of Egypt subdued, the new king began
to consolidate his hold on the country and to strengthen the borders of Egypt.
He did not follow
the example of the kings of the XIth Dynasty by making Thebes his capital
but, profiting from their experience (and perhaps from his own knowledge
of the difficulty which they had found in maintaining control over Lower
Egypt from such a distance), he transferred his seat of government northwards
and established it at a place called IT-TAWI, "SEIZER OF THE TWO LANDS."
Amenemhat's
military expeditions do not seem to have resulted in conquests; and their
aim was perhaps to protect Egypt from predatory incursions by striking terror
into the tribes upon the frontier. He did not extend the boundaries of Egypt
but was content to "stand on the (old) boundaries of the land, and keep watch
on its borders;" to rule all Egypt "from Abu (Elephantine) to the
Athu (the marsh region of the Delta)" was enough for him-- we do not
find him establishing any military posts in the countries which he invaded.
Amenemhet was the
pharaoh "who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), and he "set
taskmasters over them [the Israelites] to afflict them with their burdens....And...[he]
made their lives bitter with hard -- in mortar, in brick, and in
all manner of service in the field" (Exodus 1:11,14). One of the things
the new pharaoh forced the Israelites to build was A GREAT WALL and a FABULOUS
PALACE.
Notice:
....he followed up his victories
by BUILDING A WALL, or defensive work, upon his own frontiers, for the purpose
of "keeping off the Sakti," or, in other words, of checking and repelling
their incursions. This post was probably a little to the east of Pelusium,
near the western extremity of the lake Serbonis....HE [AMENEMHET I] WORKED
THE QUARRIES of Mokattam and Hammamat, adorned Memphis, and constructed two
CONSIDERABLE EDIFICES, which have perished -- A PALACE, supposed to have
been situated at Heliopolis [On], and A PYRAMID, known as Ka-nefer, "Lofty
and Handsome." Of the former [the palace], he tells us that it was "adorned
with gold; its roof was painted blue; the walls and the passages were of
stones fastened together with iron cramps"; it was "made for eternity,"
he says....(History of Ancient Egypt, by George Rawlinson. Dodd, Mead & Co.,
N.Y. 1882. P. 149).
Under the next king
of Egypt (Usurtasen I) the Israelites were put to work raising a temple complex
to the sun-god in the city of Heliopolis.
Henry Brugsch-Bey
writes about this HUGE project:
....a remarkable document
on parchment, which I had the good fortune to acquire at Thebes in 1858,
and which for some years past has been in the possession of the Berlin collection
of Egyptian antiquities, make the fact certain, that USURTASEN I., at
the very beginning of his reign, OCCUPIED HIMSELF WITH BUILDINGS AT THE TEMPLE
OF THE CITY OF THE SUN. This important material informs us how, in the third
year of his reign, he assembled round his throne the first officials of his
court, to hear their opinion and their counsel as to his intention of RAISING
WORTHY BUILDINGS TO THE SUN-GOD...After the address, the assembled counselors
unanimously approve the good intentions of their lord, and encourage him
to carry out the same without delay. The pharaoh immediately gives his command
to the proper court official, enjoins him to watch over the UNINTERRUPTED PROGRESS
OF THE WORK which has been determined upon, and then begins the solemn ceremony
of laying the foundation-stone by the king himself. -- A History of Egypt
Under the Pharaohs, pp.. 151-152.
Eventually a third
Usurtasen, distinguished by the additional name of Sha-kau-ra, mounted the
throne of Egypt and became one of the MOST REVERED monarchs of the 12th Dynasty.
"Manetho says, that he was regarded by the Egyptians as the GREATEST
OF THEIR KINGS AFTER OSIRIS [NIMROD]; and it is certain that he was in such
high repute with the monarchs of the eighteenth dynasty, that they worshipped
him as a god and built temples in his honor" (History of Ancient Egypt,
p. 162).
The reason for this
pharaoh's popularity was that he was regarded as the CONQUEROR OF ETHIOPIA.
He permanently annexed to Egypt the tract known as Northern Nubia, or the
entire valley of the Nile between the First and the Second Cataract. "What
gave him his fame was the fact that, having finally settled Ethiopia, he
was the king to whom its conquest was attributed; and as this was the only
considerable tract which the monarchs of the old empire subjugated, those
of the new, bent upon conquest themselves, singled him out for approval and
admiration. (Ibid., p. 164).
Towards the end of
his reign, Usurtasen III BEGAN RECLAIMING THE WORKS OF JOSEPH IN THE FAYUM.
The Improvements of Amenemhat III
and Moses!
The successor of Usurtasen
III was another AMEN-EM-HAT, THE THIRD OF THAT NAME. According to the monuments
he reigned for 42 years and, as this is the exact number of years assigned
to him by the TURIN PAPYRUS, we may safely conclude that this was indeed
the FULL length of his reign. Instead of following in his predecessor's footsteps
and directing the forces of Egypt to the conquest of new territory he, AFTER
ONE WAR WITH THE NEGROES (which was evidently PROVOKED BY AN INCURSION),
threw the whole energy of himself and THE ISRAELITE SLAVES into RECLAIMING
THE VAST ENGINEERING WORKS OF JOSEPH.
Incidentally, this incursion
by the Ethiopians is the one mentioned by Josephus, who tells how MOSES,
at the head of the Egyptian army, routed the enemy and forced the Ethiopians
to come to terms.
With the assistance
of the Hebrew MOSES, Amenemhat III started by clearing out the SILTED-UP
CANAL that fed the lakes, then constructed a VAST DAM or dyke that formed
the boundary of Lake Moeris to the north and west. Built of solid masonry,
earth and pebbles this dyke, forty feet high in places, extended to the range
of hills which separated the basin of the Fayum from the Nile valley.
George Rawlinson notes:
The artificial barrier
ran a little east of north, from Talut in the south to Biamo in the centre
of the Fayoum, a distance of FIFTEEN MILES; at Baimo it made a right angle,
and was then carried in a line a little south of east from Biamo, past El Ellam
and El Edrua, to the eastern range in about lat. 29 degrees 26 minutes, making
a distance of about TWELVE MILES more. Thus the entire dyke had a length
of TWENTY-SEVEN MILES, and, if it be regarded as averaging thirty feet in
height, and at least the same in width, would have CONTAINED A MASS OF MATERIAL
AMOUNTING TO NEARLY FORTY-EIGHT MILLIONS OF CUBIC YARDS, or three-sevenths
more than the cubic contents of the Great Pyramid of Ghizeh. -- History of
Ancient Egypt. Pp.. 168-169.
Josephus, in his Antiquities
of the Jews, also relates the work the Israelite slaves did for Amenemhet
III and Moses in the Fayum:
....and having, in
length of time, forgotten the benefits they [the Egyptians] had received
from JOSEPH, particularly THE CROWN BEING COME NOW INTO ANOTHER FAMILY, they
[the Egyptians] became very abusive to the Israelites, and contrived MANY
WAYS of afflicting them; FOR THEY ENJOINED THEM TO CUT A GREAT NUMBER OF CHANNELS
[CANALS] FOR THE RIVER...AND RAMPARTS THAT THEY MIGHT RESTRAIN THE RIVER,
AND HINDER ITS WATERS FROM STAGNATING UPON ITS RUNNING OVER ITS OWN BANKS....(Bk.
II, chap. IX, sec. I).
Also, under previous
rulers of the 12th Dynasty, the Israelites "built walls for their cities...they
[the Egyptians] set them also to build pyramids, and by all that wore them
out; and forced them to learn all sorts of mechanical arts, and to accustom
themselves to hard labour" (Ibid.).
While engaged in the completion
of his great work of reclamation in the Fayum province Moses, under the direction
of Amenemhet, also had the Israelites build some structures on the eastern
side of Lake Moeris that became the talk of the ancient world! At a point
on the eastern side, projecting towards the west, he built what really seems
to have been a temple, but what the Greeks and Romans called a "LABYRINTH,"
and believed it to be an architectural puzzle. It was constructed of white siliceous
limestone and red granite and comprised, the ancients tell us, of 3,000 chambers
-- half above ground, and half below. Besides chambers, it possessed numerous
colonnades and courts, covered with sculptures and roofed, Herodotus says,
with stone. At one corner of this complex was a huge pyramid 240 feet high according
to one authority, and according to modern measurements, 300 feet square at
the base.
To supply the materials
for Amenemhet's grandiose projects, the Israelite slaves labored in the quarries
at Hammamat, where inscriptions belonging to Amenemhet's reign record the instructions
which he gave his overseers on various occasions. There is one inscription
there that records a personal visit of the pharaoh in connection with ornamental
work for the Fayumincluding a colossal statue of himself to be set up at
the provincial capital.
Not only did the Israelites
work the quarries at Hammamat, but they also served with rigor in the mines
of the Sinai peninsula-- at Wady Magharah and at Serabit el-Khadem.
The Greatest Era in Egyptian History!
The story of Joseph and
the Israelites is the story of Egypt at its apogee. During the Middle Kingdom
Egyptian civilization attained the fullest expansion that it ever reached
under the pharaohs. New openings were made for trade, new routes established
and provided with wells and guards, forts built and a HUGE WALL AND CANAL
erected on the eastern frontier to check invasion, mines worked, the Nile
carefully watched and measured, and finally the RECLAMATION OF THE HUGE RESERVOIR
CONSTRUCTED BY JOSEPH IN THE 10th DYNASTY. As well as reclaiming Lake Moeris,
a gigantic irrigation system was established along the whole of the
western bank of the Nile river from Beni-Souef to the shores of the Mediterranean.
At the same time commercial
was established with the Nubians, who furnished cattle, gold
and slaves; with the East African tribes (and through them with Arabia and
even India) for spices, gums, rare woods, precious stones and exotic animals;
and with the Syrians for kohl or stibium, ladanum and balsam.
The Egyptian empire of the
12th Dynasty appeared to the world of that time as the CENTER of civilization,
and of all progress in the areas of intellectual, artistic and commercial
activity. Art, in the different spheres of its activity, reached a height and
perfection NEVER AGAIN TO BE REACHED; and the stone memorials and tomb walls
were of the finest in symmetry and precision.
Not least among the
many marvelous materials to which the Egyptians were made acquainted during
the time the Israelites were in the land was a diversity of metals. Silver,
more precious than gold in Egypt, was smelted from argentiferous Asian
ores imported from the Ararat mountains of the Hurrian land of Mitanni and
from the Zagros mountains of the Hittite land of Anatolia. As well as being
mined in the Sinai, copper was imported into Egypt from the island of Cyprus
where it tended to be more abundant and cheaper than that from Sinai.
The Israelites showed the
Egyptians how to improve the quality of their copper by adding arsenic and
then by alloying it with another metal -- processes hitherto unknown in Egypt!
Tin was carried on the backs of asses into Egypt from the far-off mountains
of Badakhshan, more than 3,000 miles away. The Egyptians were taught to alloy
copper with this wonder metal to form a new, harder and more durable material
-- bronze. Bronze tools, because they were harder than anything the Egyptians
had before, could be honed sharper; and they lasted longer because bronze
resisted decay better; they were more penetrating because the tools could
be lighter and wielded with more force. Other new metals were ushered into
the metallurgy of Egypt by the Israelites, AND EGYPT WAS THRUST INTO THE
BRONZE AGE -- a new stage of civilization!
The production of
fabrics, made of flax introduced from Asia by the Israelites in the time
of Joseph, was enhanced by the introduction of Asiatic spinning devices.
"The upright loom, long known in the lands to the east, revolutionized
the Egyptian weaving craft. As production was increased, the cost of fabrics was
reduced and they became universally available. New fibers and new fast dyes
made fabrics more durable and colorful and added another dimension to the
quality of life" (The Eighth day: The Hidden History of the Jewish Contribution
to Civilization, p. 116).
The widespread adoption
by the nobility and commoners alike of the anthropoid coffin made a remarkable
change in Egyptian burial customs. Introduced during the 12th Dynasty, the
coffin as a sort of rectangular house is replaced by the anthropomorphic
case decorated to represent the deceased. The lack of good lumber restricted
the craftsmen of Upper Egypt to carving out coffins from the coarse-grained
logs of the sycamore-fig tree, similar to how dugout canoes are carved. The more
sophisticated carpentry of the Israelites in the Delta and the availability
of suitable woods quickly brought the anthropoid coffin into Egyptian popularity.
Wise men taught astronomy
and medicine and mathematics in the land of Goshen. The Israelites impregnated
Egypt with cultural refinement by enhancing the gentler arts. New musical
forms appeared -- made possible by the introduction of a rich variety of
Mesopotamian musical instruments. The multi-fretted lute, which later found
its way into Europe, and the multi-stringed harp -- both with elaborate forms
of tuning -- gave music in Egypt wide scope and flexibility of tone. The
lyre was regarded as a "foreign" instrument long after the Israelites
left Egypt, and was always represented in the tomb paintings of the 18th Dynasty
as being played by Canaanite women. Legends, both Hebraic and Arab, have
it that JOSEPH AND HIS PEOPLE MADE A GREAT AND EVERLASTING CONTRIBUTION TO
THE CIVILIZATION OF EGYPT.
The application of
metallurgy, arts and crafts and mathematics expanded the more primitive culture
and propelled Egypt to heights never before attained. And of all the wonders
the Israelites wrought for Egypt, probably none exceeds the great flood
control and irrigation works that Joseph constructed in the Fayum for King
Mery-ku-Re, and which Moses, under the reign of Amenemhet III, reclaimed
and added to with almost equal brilliance! "Today, after more than three
thousand years, the BAHR YOUSEF still functions vigorously and its feeder
canals irrigate more territory than does the Aswan Dam" -- a lasting tribute
to Joseph and the Israelites who followed him! (Ibid., p. 128).