It is difficult to determine the exact time of the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt. It was simply not in the best interest of a proud nation to proclaim the exploits of a non-Egyptian second-in-command pharaoh, who claimed to know the one true God (Who was NOT one of the Egyptian gods). Adding insult to injury, many scholars believe that while Joseph was in Egypt, the area where he lived was under rule by a foreign pharaoh, not a native-born Egyptian.
It would be as if the United States elected a foreign president who then was, through the wisdom he received from God, able to correct all the current financial problems our nation is experiencing at present. Would historians be kind enough to give credit where credit is due? A cursory glance at the revisionist history being taught in schools today gives you an idea of the answer to that question. An emphatic “NO”!! It is not in the interest of many people, let alone governments to give credit to God concerning anything!
And then there is the matter of the Exodus four hundred thirty years after Joseph. What self-respecting government of sun worshippers would admit to such a huge supernatural defeat as is recorded in the Book of Exodus? Never mind that your Egyptian gods couldn’t out-do Jehovah, the Jewish slaves’ God in a battle of the plagues! These events give further reasons for the scarcity of extra-biblical documentation.
With all of this in mind, what will be proposed here is simply the best of our ability to piece together (through research and study of those who have gone before us) an attempt to shed some light on the melding of the biblical record to those incomplete records of ancient Egypt. While we know that the Bible is true, we feel that by gaining an understanding of what was going on in the world at that time, we are aided in our search for the understanding of scripture and the application of the same.
We present:
EGYPT
The Way in and the Way Out
Scripture tells us that Jacob and his family entered Egypt 430 years before the Exodus, which then places Joseph in what archeologists call the 12th Dynasty, the Middle Kingdom period of Egyptian history. This would then position Moses and the final years of Israel’s slavery there in Egypt during the 18th Dynasty or the New Kingdom period. Following these dates, Joseph would have been vizier over Egypt during the time when Egypt was ruled by the Hyksos people.
The Hyksos were not Egyptian, but were foreign conquerors of mixed Semitic race, one source said possibly Hittite or Hurrian, but this has never been confirmed. They did bring with them some of their own gods, but honored the Egyptian gods as well. They probably thought it best to cover all bases when it came to appeasing various deities. The Hyksos ruled during a period of confusion in Egypt and in fact never controlled the entire country. They introduced the horse, chariot and composite bow to the country and this actually contributed to their eventual expulsion from Egypt. When it came time for them to go, their own weapons were used against them. (Not literally, but in the sense that they were the ones who introduced these new weapons to Egypt)
Ahmose I was the pharaoh who first began to free Egypt of this foreign rule. It is thought that next succession of pharaohs (leading up to the pharaoh who is thought to be the pharaoh of the Exodus; Amenhotep II) continued the expulsion of the Hyksos rulers.
Most believe that it was a foreign Hyksos pharaoh whom Joseph stood before as an interpreter of dreams. This makes sense and is consistent with both the timeline found in Scripture and what is known from Egyptian history. It does explain on a human level why a Hebrew would be able to rise to such an elevated office in a country where most rulers were Egyptian-except in this particular time period when a foreign race had succeeded in conquering part of the land. We can see how a Semitic ruler would find Joseph palatable as a co-regent and can understand how Joseph’s family would be treated well by the pharaoh who would have empathy toward some of the same (Semitic) race as he. We can comprehend such favor especially when we consider Joseph’s wisdom in oneiromancy, which is what the practice of interpreting dreams is called; and the fact that both Egypt and Babylon developed a profession of dream interpretation. They truly believed that dreams determined the future. We do read in Deuteronomy that such practice was part of ancient religion and should be avoided by God’s people, especially if the interpretation of a dream led one to idolatry. Joseph gave God the credit for his ability to give meaning to pharaoh’s dreams; he did not take the credit himself.
As we go on with Israel’s history during the sojourn in Egypt and read about a pharaoh “who knew not Joseph”, we can understand that with the expulsion of the foreign rulers came the native born princes of Egypt as pharaohs and the mistrust of the Semitic people who started out as a small group, but had exploded into a multitude as time had passed. Not insignificant was the fact that Egypt had grown to the point of great strength in the region, economically, diplomatically and militarily. The setting for Israel’s departure is thought to be during the period after Thutmose III (aka, “Napoleon of Ancient Egypt”) was the sovereign who had expanded Egypt beyond its former borders.
Then we come to Moses and find that he would have been growing up during the reign of Thutmose I and II and Queen Hatshepsut for his first 40 years. He would then have been in exile in Midian for the next 40 years and returned to Egypt when the pharaoh Amenhotep II was in power.
In growing up during this 18th Dynasty time period, Moses would’ve been schooled in reading, writing, arithmetic and the languages of Canaan. He would have participated in various outdoor sports, such as archery, horseback riding and probably the martial arts of the day. Though Moses would have been granted special privileges commensurate with his title of “son” of the daughter of pharaoh, he never relinquished his native origin. It is interesting that Queen Hatshepsut was the eldest daughter of Thutmose I and succeeded in ruling by relegating her husband (who was also her younger half-brother who married her to gain better positioning to the throne-his mother was a lesser wife of Thutmose I than was Hatshepsut’s mother) Thutmose II to the background during his short reign. Thutmose II had other wives and Iset is the wife with whom he fathered Thutmose III. Hatshepsut continued in power as regent to Thutmose II’s son Thutmose III until he was old enough to be named pharaoh. Many think Hatshepsut was the pharaoh’s daughter who adopted Moses. She ruled well and developed the resources of Egypt. After Thutmose III came to power, she was regarded as a king rather than a queen and often wore a false beard. After her death, Thutmose III obliterated all references to her on Egypt’s monuments. Below is a picture of a statue of Hatshepsut.
After Moses killed an Egyptian and went into hiding in Midian, Egypt continued to grow, and the pharaohs noted that the Hebrews were rapidly multiplying in number. Knowing that they were a Semitic people and having just rid themselves of Semitic rule from the Hyksos, they were afraid this large “nation within a nation” would rise up and be a real threat in the land. The answer was to enslave them to control the danger and to have them build storage cities. The pharaohs also thought that population control was in order, so they ruled that the male children should be put to death. (This is interesting in light of the final “death of the firstborn” plague that was to come)
The storage cities of Pithom and Raamses are the ones most scholars believe were built by the Hebrew slaves. Both provisions and military hardware would have been stored in the edifices painstakingly constructed by the Hebrews. As their plight grew worse and worse, their collective cries to God were heard and answered. God promised to deliver His people from oppression.
Moses is called into action by God as he is shepherding his father-in-law’s flock in Midian. After arguing with God about his lack of ability to deliver the nation out of bondage, it seems God gets through to Moses that He is interested in Moses availability to do His will that matters most. God in fact, would do the delivering, Moses would be His messenger.
