Friday, March 21, 2014

My Pharaoh of the Exodus working theory

During the time Khnumhotep II was Nomarch (from year 19 of Amenenhat II to 6 of Senruset II) a Semitic chief named Abishai, a Biblical Hebrew name,offered gifts to him in the Bani Hassen region.  (Bard, Kathryn A. An Introduction To The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Ltd, 2008. p. 190.).  Also this link.

We do have documented Evidence of Semitic Slaves with Hebrew names during the 13th Dynasty at least one of them matches a name of an individual mentioned in Exodus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiphrah
The text in question is discussed here, with no mention of a possible Exodus tie in.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3369/Historical_Papyrus_in_Five_Pieces
Add to that the mysterious Sithathor being listed on some kings-lists between Neferhotep I and Sobekhotep IV though Archaeology presents no evidence of his Reign, in my theory he was the 1st Born of Pharaoh, who may have been made a Co-Ruler with Neferhotep already before he died as was a common Egyptian practice.

Sir Flinders Petrie excavated the city of Kahun in the Fayum and Dr Rosalie David wrote a book about his excavations in which she said,
‘It is apparent that the Asiatics were present in the town in some numbers, and this may have reflected the situation elsewhere in Egypt … . Their exact homeland in Syria or Palestine cannot be determined … . The reason for their presence in Egypt remains unclear.’(David, A.R., The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce, Guild Publishing, London, p. 191, 1996.)

Neither Rosalie David nor Flinders Petrie could not identify these Semitic slaves with the Israelites because they held to the traditional chronology which placed the Biblical event centuries later than the 12th dynasty.

There was another interesting discovery Petrie made. ‘Larger wooden boxes, probably used originally to store clothing and other possessions, were discovered underneath the floors of many houses at Kahun. They contained babies, sometimes buried two or three to a box, and aged only a few months at death.’(David, Ref. 15, Plate 16.)

My time frame for the Hyksos period is longer then normally given, It really begins with the later 13th Dynasty. Dedoumes was the Pharaoh they overthrew, and I believe Hor II was the same as the Midianite king Hur mentioned in the Bible as contemporary with the Wandering.

The original reason for identifying Neferhotep is that he's the last Pharaoh attested by Scarabs at Kahun.

There are also numerous inscriptions in the Aswan region mentioning Neferhotep I's name, as well as the names of family members and officials serving under this king. It is from these inscriptions that we know the name of his wife (Senebsen) and his son Haankhef and his daughter Kemi. (Ryholt, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, 231)
He had a Son, and yet the throne was passed to his brother, this suggests his Son predeceased him, and perhaps was the same person as Si-Hathor (That being his Throne name or something like that).

I don't agree with the Traditional assumption (Which also influenced The Ten Commandments) that the Bithiah mentioned in Chronicles is Moses's foster mother. Mostly for two reasons, she probably adopted Moses in part because she was barren (She may have been at the Nile at the time doing a sort of fertility ritual) and Bithiah bore Children to Mered. At the time of the Exodus Moses's Foster Mother would have been nearly 100 at the youngest if still alive which is itself unlikely.

Bithiah is interesting though, she was probably the Daughter of the Exodus Pharaoh, or one soon before. Bithiah is not an Egyptian name, it's Hebrew, in fact it's Yahweh theophoric. So that wasn't her original name but one she took after converting. It's possible she is the same person as Kemi.

There are several monuments mentioning Neferhotep I and Khaneferre Sobekhotep IV together. This could mean that they may have reigned for some time together. Nevertheless the reigns of these two brothers in the Thirteenth Dynasty mark the peak of this otherwise rather shaky era.[W. Grajetzki: The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, London 2006] There are many private monuments date-able under these kings, and especially in sculpture some remarkably high quality art works were produced.

Artpanus claims Chenephres/Khaneferre was the Phraorh Moses served under when he campaigned for Egypt against Ethiopia (an extra Biblical detail about Moses recorded by Josephus) he may have had garbled information that Chenephres/Khaneferre was involved in Moses's life, but was mistaken on how. If this Pharaoh did campaign against Nubia, perhaps it was to try and replace the recently lost Hebrew slaves? Maybe in a fictional depiction based on this theory, if Neferhotep did perish in the Red Sea (I've decided it's unclear whether or not the Bible says that happened, but Neferhotep doesn't have a Mummy found yet) then maybe it's Chenephres who should get the "His god is God" line, though originally I would have given that to either Jannus or Jambres.

The 13th Dynasty was originally just a local Theban Dynasty under the 12th, Sobekhotep II is the soonest one to have likely had sole rule of Egypt, his reign starts about 25 years before Neferhotep died. So that means it was under the 12th Dynasty that Moses fled. It makes sense, if I recall God said ALL who sought Moses's life where gone, which could imply an entire change in Dynasty.

Amenemhet IV is frequently listed as a son of Amenemhat III, but there isn't much evidence to back that up, it seems how long it took Amenemhat III to choose a co-regent implies a dynastic Crisis. I think Moses was exiled right before Amenemhat IV was made co-regent (And perhaps Moses had an alternate Egyptian Throne or Horus name while being groomed as a possible Heir that could potentially be Hellenized as Lamares or Ameres, who Manetho throws into the 12th Dynasty though no records of him exist).

This would make Moses's birth early in Amenemhat III's reign.
http://ggreenberg.tripod.com/writings/articles/w-m12d-jssea29-t2.htm
I agree with this timeline for the 12th Dynasty.

I would sort of put Sobekneferu in the Nefertari role, the woman the successor has to marry. Given the length of this Pharaoh's Reign, I think she was a much younger Daughter then the lesser known Neferuptah, who seems to have predeceased her Father and was originally the intended Dynastic wife. Neferuptah was the Foster Mother of Moses I think.

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