Egyptian records show that Thutmose II appointed his young son as co-regent at the time of a Spring (Passover) full moon and his successors had to restore Egypt's prosperity.
Synchronistic Chart
Introduction
The many attempts to identify the proud Pharaoh of the Exodus
have so far failed to provide convincing proof as to his
identity. Unlike the Bible, secular ancient annals tend to
treat failure with silence, and this Pharaoh was a
spectacular failure. It seems strange then that the most
popular candidates have been the strong warrior Kings, for
example, Thutmose III or Ramesses II. 1
Some workers have proposed unorthodox chronologies,2,3 which, if adopted,
would place this pharaoh in a totally different dynasty.
While there are problems with the standard dating and lengths
of certain Egyptian periods, there seems to be no convincing
evidence requiring drastic corrections to the orthodox dates
for the early eighteenth dynasty, which Biblical chronology
parallels to the time of the Exodus. There are still some
unsolved problems in Biblical chronology but, if we accept
the secular date of 586 B.C. for the destruction of the
Temple, it leads us to a date for the Exodus around the mid
fifteenth century BC. This is not a treatise on chronology so
actual dates4 are
not given but Egyptian reign lengths given by Sir Alan
Gardiner5 are
used in the above chart to show synchronisms between Egyptian
and Israelite records. Thus, within the constraints of
Biblical and Egyptian chronologies, readers can fit the
scheme to their own favoured dates. See also Framework for Biblical chronology.
A New Dynasty
The Exodus story, after reference to the sojourn of Jacob's
family in Egypt and the death of Joseph (Ex.1:1-6), states,
"Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not
Joseph" (Ex.1:8). According to orthodox chronology: about
eighty years before the Exodus, a new native Egyptian dynasty
overthrew the asiatic Hyksos (the so-called Shepherd Kings)
who had taken over Egypt shortly after the death of Joseph
and ruled for upwards of 100 years. This new (XV111th)
dynasty of Theban kings was founded by Ahmose I
who took about four years to expel the hated Asiatic Hyksos
from their stronghold of Avaris. One is immediately struck by
the similarity between this new king's name (sometimes
written Amosis), which was a component of many of the royal
names and officials of this period, and that of Moses. The
name Moses is Egyptian in origin and means born or drawn out
and Pharaohs daughter (called Thermuthis according to
Josephus6)
appeared to have two reasons for naming him thus, "And she
called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew
him out of the water" (2: 10). The implication of the
first And being that she called him after the Dynastic
name.
Ahmose I reigned for twenty-five years. It is reasonable to
place the birth of Moses towards the beginning of this reign
because there is no record of Aaron, who was three years
older than Moses, having been threatened by the new kings
edict that all the male Hebrew children were to be killed at
birth (Ex.1:16). There is, of course, an indeterminate period
covering the start of the reign, the start of the oppression
and the issuing of the edict. Placing the birth of Moses
early in this reign, near the start of the dynasty, narrows
the choice of the pharaoh of the Exodus, which occurred
eighty years later, to one individual (Thutmose II)
because his predecessor ended his reign only about sixty-five
years from the start of the dynasty and his successor ruled
for fifty-four years, which would have been too late in the
dynasty for him to have died in the Exodus as required by
Scripture (see below).
The Pharaohs of Moses' exile
Amenhotep I, son of Ahmose I, was the next
king and he reigned for twenty-two years. Moses, then aged
forty, must have fled to Midian towards the end of this reign
(Acts 7:23-29). Josephus claims that Moses had been general
of the Egyptian army, and had married an Ethiopian princess.
Josephus has a mixed reputation but has proved his
reliability time and again. The enigmatic Biblical reference
to Moses having married an Ethiopian woman (Nu.12:1) suggests
there is some truth in this latter claim, and certainly, "
Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and
was mighty in words and in deeds" (Acts 7: 22). He also
had the option of being called "the son of Pharaohs
daughter" and sharing in the treasures of Egypt (Heb. 11:
24, 26). Josephus suggests that Moses fled because he was
suspected of sedition and that the king was jealous of his
success in the field. This is not necessarily at variance
with the account of his flight given in Exodus chapter two,
following his killing of an Egyptian, "And [the
Hebrew] said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And
Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when
Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses
fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of
Midian" (vv.14, 15). The implication is that Moses was a
prince and judge in Egypt until he rejected his adoptive
heritage and cast in his lot with his people (v.11; Heb. 11:
24 - 27). From the Egyptian point of view, the favour shown
towards the Hebrews (linked so recently with the hated
Hyksos), would have been a very alarming, if not seditious,
act from one who possibly had a legitimate claim to the
throne. The killing of the Egyptian could have been the
opportunity a rival heir needed to be rid of Moses and his
departure may have simplified the succession.
Amenhotep I, not having a son of his own, chose as his
successor Thutmose I, who reigned for eighteen
years. He was a son of a woman of non-royal blood but was
married to a younger sister of Amenhotep I called
Ahmose (that is, a daughter of Pharaoh Ahmose I)
and she bore him four children. Three of them predeceased
him, but the fourth (Hatshepsut) was of "fine royal
blood". Hatshepsut married one of her half brothers (son of a
lesser queen named Mutnefert, possibly a younger
sister of queen Ahmose) who became Thutmose II.
(It is very interesting, in the light of the death of all the
firstborn children of Egypt at the Passover, that secular
Egyptian history furnishes the information that neither of
these two later monarchs were first-born children). After a
successful reign Thutmose I died, he: " ...rested
from life, going forth to heaven, having completed his years
in gladness of heart."7.
Thutmose II: The Pharaoh of the
Exodus
After the death of the two previous kings, and a 40 year
sojourn in Midian, Moses was free to return from exile during
the reign of Thutmose II, hence the command of God,
"Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which
sought thy life" (Ex.4:19). Thutmose II (who is
thought by Gardiner, although not by others, to have reigned
for twenty years) is regarded by historians as a weak king
dominated by his wife (the later female Pharaoh, Hatshepsut )
although he speaks proudly of his campaign against Vile Cush
and there is evidence that he conducted at least one campaign
in the land of Canaan (later identified with Israel and
Palestine). Some regard his reign as short and ineffectual
but Gardiner sees no reason to discount a now mislaid stela
recording an 18thyear.
Thutmose II, according to the chronology adopted
above, is the only candidate for the Pharaoh of the Exodus
(named as Tethmosis by Josephus) in this dynasty and, if we
adopt this view, some historical records regarding him and
his successors take on a new significance. That his body was
recovered is supported by Scripture: he was drowned in the
Red Sea (Psa.136:15) but, "Israel saw the Egyptians dead
upon the sea shore" (Ex.14:30). (It should be noted
however that, although there is no controversy concerning the
identity of the mummy of Thutmose II, the identity the
Egyptian Royal mummies is not established with certainty due
to their re-labelling and re-interment in the twenty-first
Dynasty.)
Gardiner writes concerning the death of Thutmose II,:
"Despite the terse way in which the fact is recorded,
there is no reason to think that Tuthmosis died other than a
normal death." If he were the Pharaoh who ruined Egypt
however, there would be every reason for a terse
report of his death! Gardiner continues his narrative, "An
almost undecorated tomb is confidently ascribed to
[Thutmose II], and from its neglect one might conjecture
that no one cared very much what was his fate; his funerary
temple, is a paltry affair." the lack of decoration could
indicate a sudden death and it is clear that his life and
death were not recorded for posterity with any great
reverence or enthusiasm. This is a fitting memorial for one
who was so stubborn, (as God said of him, "...How long
wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?" (
Ex.10:3)), that he brought his country to ruin ("knowest
thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?"(v. 7), said his
servants). Thus was he humbled before his people. A salutary
lesson also that this proud Pharaoh, who said, "Who is the
LORD, that I should obey his voice" should go down in
history as a weak king dominated by his wife! Mertz 9 follows Breasted
7 in giving an
interesting translation concerning the death of
Thutmose II, "He went forth to heaven, having mingled
with the gods." This seems the wrong way round for the
usual report of a pharaoh's death he would normally have been
reported as ascending to heaven before mingling with the
gods, but this report could be literally true from the
Egyptians point of view, as God said to Moses, "See, I
have made thee a god to Pharaoh." (7: 1)
Another Scriptural fact concerning the death of the Pharaoh
of the Exodus that fits Egyptian history of the time of
Thutmose II is that his drowning took place shortly
after the time of the first Passover, and Passover is
celebrated in spring. Thutmose II was succeeded by
Thutmose III, who was a boy at the time, the son
of a palace concubine of low birth named Isis, and he seemed
to have been destined initially for the priesthood. This
suggests that he was a replacement heir after the loss of
Pharaohs first-born, another point that fits Scripture. Also,
it is known that he was not the first child of Isis, for he
had an elder sister. Since Scripture defines first-borns as
"all that openeth the matrix" (13:15),
Thutmose III would not have survived Passover night had
he been the first-born of Isis but not the first-born of his
father. Again the facts are in accordance with Scripture.
Thutmose III was prevented from ruling in his own right
at first due to the existence of a regency and later due to
usurpation by Hatshepsut, the widow of Thutmose II.
However, he counts his accession from the time of his father
Thutmose II.
Thutmose III celebrated the twenty-second anniversary of
his accession at Gaza on a spring campaign in Canaan.4 Seventeen days after
this celebration he fought the battle of Megiddo on the day
of the true New Moon. Twenty-two Egyptian years of 365 days
(leap years were not used until much later) added to
seventeen days gives 8047 days. This figure, divided by the
average synodic month of 29.53 days (Full Moon to Full Moon)
gives almost exactly 272.5 lunations. Thus, if he fought the
battle of Megiddo on the day of the New Moon, his accession
must have been on the day of a spring Full Moon. At first
sight this could pose a problem for our identification,
because the Passover also takes place on or about the time of
the Full Moon, whereas the crossing of the Red Sea, wherein
Pharaoh perished, was at least 3 days after the Passover.
However, there is the intriguing possibility that, after the
horrors of the Passover night, Thutmose II panicked and
made his surviving son co-regent. This latter act would
legitimise and reinforce his sons claim to the throne in the
face of his ambitious step-mother Hatshepsut, who bore the
titles, "Kings Daughter, Kings Sister, Gods Wife and Kings
Great Wife." In fact, just such a co-regency is suggested by
an inscription on the seventh Pylon of the Temple at Karnak.
Here Thutmose III states that, while he was a youth
serving in the Temple of Amon, "There was assigned to me
the sovereignty of the Two Lands upon the throne by the side
of my father, the Good God, King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Okhepernere (Thutmose II).7 Thus the Bible
supplies a convincing reason for a co-regency which otherwise
makes little sense. Why was a young boy, destined for the
priesthood, suddenly elevated to the throne of Egypt? And
Egyptian records supply the data to prove that his accession
could have occurred on the very day (counting evening to
evening) of the Passover, his father perishing a few days
later while pursuing the departing Israelites through the Red
Sea.
Hatshepsut
After the death of her husband, Hatshepsut reigned twenty-two
years. At first this was as regent, but she soon usurped the
throne and called herself King. Gardiner remarks upon the
unusual prominence of the women of the
XVIIIth Dynasty (cf. Pharaohs
daughter above) but it is difficult to imagine how the
Egyptians could have accepted this usurpation were it not for
the mess that her predecessor had made. There was little
military activity during her reign but she rebuilt Egypt's
prosperity; the famous trading trip to Punt brought great
wealth. In an inscription at Speos Artemidos, Hatshepsut
makes a claim which Gardiner regards as exaggerated,
referring, as he believes, to the restoration of the damage
caused by the Hyksos, who had been expelled by her ancestor
Ahmose I eighty years before. Hatshepsut claims, "I
have restored that which had been ruined. I have raised up
that which had gone to pieces since the Asiatics were in the
midst of Avaris of the Northland, and vagabonds [wanderers,
nomads, strangers] were in the midst of them, overthrowing
that which had been made. They ruled without Re, and he did
not act by divine command down to (the reign of) my majesty I
have made distant those whom the gods abominate, and the
earth has carried off their foot(prints).4, 10 Rather than being
an empty boast, this could be her rightful claim to have
restored Egypt after the chaos following the reign of her
husband, with a reference to the departure of the Israelites
who's exodus coincided with the start of her reign.
The succession after Thutmose II is described thus,:
"His son stood in his place as King of the Two Lands,
having become ruler upon the throne of the one who begat him.
His sister, the Divine Consort, Hatshepsut, settled the
affairs of the Two Lands...Egypt was made to labour with
bowed head for her," 7 Thus again
suggesting that the affairs of the two lands (Upper and Lower
Egypt or desert and valley) were in need of
settlement!
Thutmose III
Thutmose III reigned fifty-four years, counting from the
end of the reign of his father. Hatshepsut either died or was
deposed around his twenty-second year. He became Egypt's
greatest king and expanded its empire to the Euphrates with
fourteen separate campaigns against the North Eastern area
from the twenty-third to thirty-ninth year of his reign.
There were no expeditions to Canaan in the last twelve years
of his reign. He would be well into his forties in his
thirty-ninth year, but there could be another reason for this
cessation of campaigning. If the Exodus took place at his
accession, the cessation of these campaigns coincided with
the ending of Israel's forty years sojourn in the wilderness
and the start of their conquest of Canaan. Thutmose III
was a thoughtful Pharaoh; as evidenced by his strategic and
tactical prowess in battle and his diplomatic skills in
running his empire. It would have been foolish to take on the
people who had brought such havoc and destruction in the
reign of his father. Canaan had been part of Egypt's empire
under this great warrior king for nearly twenty years (and
there is evidence of his generalship under Hatshepsut's
rule). Throughout its history, Egypt has always been mindful
of the danger from the North-East and always endeavoured to
control Canaan either directly, or maintain a friendly buffer
state there. It is not inconceivable that this great
warrior/diplomat concluded a non-aggression pact with the
Israelites. This seems a common occurrence during Israel's
sojourn in the land of Canaan, although there is no Biblical
record of it at this period. Either way, the inhabitants of
Canaan were now left to the mercy of the people who had
destroyed Egypt forty years before and who were commanded by
their God Yahweh to dispossess all the inhabitants of the
land. No wonder they were terrified! As Rahab said to the two
spies: " I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and
that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the
inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have
heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you,
when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings
of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon
and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had
heard these things our hearts did melt, neither did there
remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the
LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth
beneath." (Jos.2:9-11).
Amenhotep II
Thutmose III died one month and four days from the end
of his fifty-fourth year. This would have been too early in
the (Solar) year for him to have died at Passover time, which
is another factor which rules out his candidacy for Pharaoh
of the Exodus. He was succeeded by Amenhotep II,
who reigned for twenty-three years. He sustained the empire
largely by diplomacy. There was a single campaign into Canaan
in his ninth year. Places mentioned are Apheq, Yehem, Socho,
Anaharath and the princes of Nahrin, Khatti, and Sangar gave
tribute. His ninth year was approximately sixty-three years
after the Exodus. The land having been divided by lot by the
forty-fifth year, calculated from age of Caleb (Josh.14:10),
Joshua and all that generation could have been dead by then,
after which a new generation arose "...which knew not the
LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel... And
the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel and he delivered
into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold
them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that
they could not stand any more against their enemies...
Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them
out of the hand of those that spoiled them" (Jud. 2: 8 -
10, 14...16). Depending on the chronology of the Judges, this single
campaign of Amenhotep II could have been either in
support of Israel, or as one or more of these raids, after
which there are no more incursions into Canaan from this
Dynasty and the Egyptian Empire, while maintaining its inner
splendour for many years, gradually declines as the era of
the Judges unfolds.
Notes and Bibliography:
Biblical quotations taken from The Authorised (King James)
Version .
(1) Warrior Pharaohs, The
Rise and fall of the Egyptian Empire, P.H. Newby, Faber &
Faber, 1980
(2) Ages in Chaos. Vol.1, I. Velikovsky, Gollancz,1952
(3) A Test of Time, David M. Rohl, Random House, 1995
(4) Recent excavtions at Avaris* date its destruction by
Ahmose to 1530BC. This fits well with the synchronistic chart
above and an Exodus Date of 1446BC calculated in Framework for Biblical chronology.
(5) Egypt of the Pharaohs, Sir Alan Gardiner, OUP, 1961.
(6) Whiston's Josephus.
(7) Ancient Records of Egypt (Vol.2), James Henry Breasted ,
Univ. Chicago Press, 1906
(8) Faces of Pharaohs, Royal Mummies and Coffins from Ancient
Thebes, Robert B. Partridge, BCA 1994 (from which the
photograph of Pharaohs mummy is reproduced with
permission).
(9) Temples Tombs and Hieroglyphs, Barbara Mertz, Gollancz,
London, 1964.
(10) Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old
Testament, James R. Pritchard (Ed.), Princeton Univ.
(11) Picture of Relief used with permission from KMT, A
Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt.
* Manfred Bietak (1996). Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos:
recent excavations at Tell el-Dab.
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