At an archaeological site at Tell ed-Daba which has been accepted as the ancient site of Avaris, there is a palace which has been dated to the time of the XII or XIII Dynasty of Egypt. It is an Egyptian style palace but has some Canaanite influences which show that the owner was probably one of Canaanite descent. The size and furnishings indicate that the owner was also one of large influence, perhaps a wealthy land-owner or Court Offical of the Pharoah.

The palace was built around a central house called a "Mittelsaal Haus" which was of upper Canaan style. Thhe graves in the garden nearby contain material goods which were of Canaanite origin and not Egyptian remakes or imports. This tells us that the occupants of this early palace of the XII Dynasty were more than likely from the Middle East originally.

Then over the original "central house" of heavy Canaanite design, came the more Egyptianized palace, built immediately within the same century.

Could this be Jacob and Joseph's houses? Let's look at the evidence.

• Two palaces of wealthy men built within the same century of each other. The earlier one had a decidedly more Canaan design and feel and the second one with a more of a mixed design. This indicates that the inhabitants were probably related and had gained in wealth in a short period of time while also adopting Egyptian customs. This would match the senerio of Jacob building the first house while Joseph stayed with Pharoah. Then when Jacob dies and Joseph grows older, he builds his own palace where his father lived.
• The palaces were built in the correct Dynasty to be a canidate for the house of Joseph, the time of Sestrosis III. This is a time when Asiatics were looked very much down upon so the odds of a heavily Middle Eastern style house of a powerful person in Egyptian at this time would be very rare indeed.
• The palace was built in Avaris, a major administrative center started in this time. If Joseph was to build a palace, he would probably build it in the administrative center nearest to his People, who were granted the land of Goshen where Avaris is located. Joseph remember, is the one who re-organized the admminstration of government for Pharoah so he would probably live in Avaris, the main center for his goverment.

Let's look at the layout now. The twin chambers at the entrance are evidenced to be later additions to the already standing rest of the palace. Could these have been Manasseh and Ephraim's chambers? As they got older, they would need their own place for themselves and their families. The columns of the inner courtyard are not all the same. The northern, eastern, and western columns are thinner and smaller than those of the southern side. The ones on the southern side are larger and are nearest to the living quarters of the owner.......there are also twleve of them. Could these be representations of the twelve sons of Jacob or perhaps the twleve Nomes that Egypt was divided into under Joseph's guidance?

The Bible tells us that Joseph was  originally buried in Egypt before being taken to Canaan by Moses. Is there a tomb nearby this palace which could be the burial place of Joseph? It turns out that there is a canidate indeed.

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