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"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. ."--2 Pet. 3:3-4 |
The Berean Christadelphians |
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Index
Chronological Charts |
Who Was The Pharaoh of The Exodus?
The Case for Amenhotep I Egyptology has fascinated many of the world's scholars who have invested much time and energy into this study. There has never been any conclusive proof from Egyptian records concerning the Israeli Exodus, let alone who might have been the Pharaoh at that time. This has to be determined by chronology. Therefore, who the Pharaoh was that Moses and Aaron dealt with in Egypt will depend on how the chronology of the Hebrews is calculated. In this Chronology, I have set the time of the Exodus at 1492 BC. In setting my date for the Exodus, I made no attempt to harmonize my dates with Egyptology. I have no feel whatsoever for the accuracy of their dates. But I do find it interesting that there are certain coincidences in Egyptology which match my dates. For instance, the Pharaoh lines are broken into various divisions which represent strong philosophical and political changes within Egypt itself. They are called
Besides these, there are periods called "Intermediate Periods" which fall between the Kingdoms. The time periods for these are as follows:
According to my chronology, Joseph would have been the hero of the Middle Kingdom
(from the above chart), saving Egypt from famine in 1683 - 1669 BC. But Joseph would have actually died in the Second Intermediate Period, after those who he had worked closely with had been conquered and removed from power. He would have died in 1603 BC at age 11. The change of periods in 1630 BC (27 years
before the death of Joseph) was caused by an invading group of Asians (thought
to be from the land of Palestine) called the Hyksos. The word Hyksos in Egyptian
meant "Ruler of Foreign Lands." These people moved into Egypt, conquered it, and
took on the identity of Egyptians. In his History, Josephus depicts the new
rulers as sacrilegious invaders who despoiled the land. As these men were not
Egyptian natives, they would naturally have no respect for Joseph or the things
he had accomplished some 70 years previous on behalf of Egypt. This change in
political leadership may also explain while Joseph was permitted by the
Egyptians to take his father Jacob back to Israel to be buried, but he himself
knew that the Egyptians would not allow him to be buried in Israel. Joseph was
embalmed in Egypt, awaiting an opportunity for going back to Israel. In my Chronology, Moses is born in 1574 BC, during the reign of the Hyksos. He flees Egypt in 1534, just after Egypt has begun to be reclaimed by an Egyptian native, Ahmose, who eventually sets up the "new Kingdom". Egyptologists say that it took Ahmose till his 10th year (1530) to expel the Hyksos. Moses' flight from Egypt and the people who raised him, would be only 4 years prior to them being driven out of Egypt. Was his flight then, the hand of God preserving him from the fate of his adopted family? When Moses returned to Egypt 40 years later, it was to deal with the true Egyptians, a different race of people than those who raised him. Ahmose, the conqueror of Egypt had died in 1514 BC and left the kingdom to his son, Amenhotep. (History's Amenhotep I.) Amenhotep, then, would be the Pharaoh to whom the plagues of God were unleashed. My Chronology has the Passover/Exodus from Egypt to be 1494. As we recall, the Passover led to the death of the firstborn: Of Amenhotep it is said that he died in the following year 1493 BC. He has no tomb ever found in Egypt, nor did he have an heir to take his throne. Rather he was succeeded by Thutmose I, one of his Generals. This would be consistent with the Pharaoh whose son died in the Passover, and who himself was drowned in the Red Sea. A mummy had been found in another tomb, which was recorded as Amenhotep I, and it was noted that it had been once rewrapped. This has been lost and not found, at this time. 
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