Sinai in Yemen

It seems most websites talking about the idea that Sinai was in Yemen aren't giving a specific Mountain.  Just referring to Teman of Habakkuk 3:3 paralleling Deuteronomy 33 with Teman in place of Sinai.  And how Teman was a Jewish name for Yemen.  And mentioning the Kadesh-Barnea as Mecca theory and how that involves identifying the first Meribah, Exodus 17, with Ma'rib in Yemen.

Teman is also often translated South and Jesus called the Queen of Sheba the Queen of The South.  And that Kingdom we know was in Yemen.

First I want to mention how all the Tribes of Arabia were wandering nomads, so it doesn't surprise me that many place names may repeat in both Northern Arabia/Jordan and Southern Arabia/Yemen.  Like with Teman or Midian/Medan, or Seir, or Paran.  And there is no doubt there was more then one Kadesh and Meirbah in the Wandering account.

Jebel El-Lawz supporters like to emphasize how Josephus called Sinai the tallest Mountain in the area.  And I agree that it is in Arabia.  Well it seems to me unclear whether he meant just where ever he meant by Midian, or all of Arabia.  So I've decided maybe we should start our search by looking for the tallest mountain in Arabia.

Well the tallest Mountain on the Arabian Peninsula happens to be in Yemen.  And the second tallest is very near by it.  It's name is Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb, the second tallest is Jabal Tiya.  Both are located on opposite sides of the city of Sana'a.  And a district in Sana'a is called Madina.  They are part of or near a mountain range called Jabal Haraz.  And another linked location is Tihamah.  And there is also near to Yemen's north the Asir region. 

Some of those names sound awfully familiar don't they?  Yet they don't seem to come from local traditions claiming any such Biblical connection.  Since the Israelites were traveling towards the Promised land when they went from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea.  If Barnea is Mecca and Sinai was in Yemen, then the Asir Mountains would be the Mountains of Seir between Sinai and Kadesh.  Doesn't mean the traditional location of Seir isn't the place in mind in other references to Seir.  There is actually no doubt that The Bible refers to more then one Seir since there is also a Seir near Hebron in Joshua 15.

BTW, the only two mountains in the entire middle east that are taller don't come close to even fitting the loosest definition of Arabia, one's in Lebanon and the other in Iran.

The tallest mountain in Arabia is named after Shu'ayb.   A Midianite Prophet mentioned in the Quran, who is linked to Mt Sinai and often either identified with Jethro or viewed as a predecessor of Jethro's priesthood.  Yet this mountain which bears his name isn't where current Islamic traditions say he lived, no the Northern Arabia/Jordan assumption is the basis for the official site of his tomb.

I then Google searched and found at least one person had came to this conclusion before I did.

Sana'a is the Capital of modern Yemen, while we're used to thinking of Sinai as being away from civilization.  But Sana'a wasn't always the capital, and the city, even the old city, is barely older then Islam, first popping up around 530 AD.  The very tall Mountain was always there, but the City was not.

I also want to talk a little more about the name of Sheba.

I obviously disagree with the premise of The Bible Came from Arabia.  I think Jerusalem was always what we today call Jerusalem, and Beth-El to the north of it.  Likewise with Hebron and Galilee ect.

But I do think in some senses what God promised to Abraham did extent further south then we usually think.  Especially since the sons of Keturah were totally South of what God gave Abraham according to most traditional maps of the Abrahamic covenant.

Beersheba is often given as a southern border of Israel.  But it's not a boundary marker included in Ezekiel 40-47.  It is usually contrasted with Dan, and since I think what is meant by Dan can extend pretty far North of the proper tribal allotments (Dan's proper allotment wasn't in the North at all), perhaps Beersheba as a southern border includes in a sense the sons of Keturah.  And thus lands that David ruled as Tributaries rather then directly.  Elijah stopped at Beersheba on the way to Horeb.

Linked to Beersheba is a place called Shebah (Genesis 26:33) and Sheba (Joshua 19:2).  They're in land allotted to the Simeonites, but remember from Genesis 49 the Simeonites ultimately lost their own land to be absorbed into the other tribes.  But one clan of Simeon was the Yamin (Jamin in the KJV) clan.

Now the Strongs lists those references to Sheba as totally separate words from the Genesis 10 Shebas and the Queen of Sheba.  But the variation is really rather small, involving a letter that sometimes gets used as a vowel.  And interestingly for the Queen, only Genesis 26 uses the name in a Feminine form.

Perhaps Beersheba is the border between Peleg and Joktan?  And king Abimelech of Genesis 20 and 21 was a Joktanite King?  And the Philistines of Genesis 26 had not yet fully migrated to the Gaza Strip from Caphtor?  2 Chronicles 14 refers to Cushites in Gerar, which is interesting given my Cushites in Arabia observations.  Abimelech was probably a title not a personal name.

The Yam Suf clearly refers to the Red Sea, as that is where Solomon had his port.  But perhaps the Red Sea crossing was at Bab-el-Mandeb?  It is called that because in some traditions early migrations to Africa from Babel crossed there.  So it would make sense to lead the Israelites there, going the opposite direction.  And Afro-centrists sometimes claim this is where men first left Africa.

Update June 12th 2017: Goshen's location.

In conjunction with the Bab-el Mandeb aspect of this theory.  I feel like questioning the traditional location of Goshen in the Delta.  It's largely dependent on thinking Exodus mentions Ramses II's capital, but we in revised Chronology know that is wrong.

But first I should note, Exodus tells us Yahuah went out of his way to make sure their path to the Promised didn't run into the Philistines.  So I think it makes sense that He would avoid the "Sinai" Peninsula altogether.

That Joshua conquered all the way to Goshen normally makes one think it can't be too deep into Egypt.  But if Joshua was during the Second Intermediate period, as the Hyksos were establishing themselves.  Or maybe even the First Intermediate period.  Then the idea of him briefly conquering all of Egypt isn't so out there.  Especially for those who think the River of Egypt used as a boundary marker for the Covenant is The Nile.  Identifying Yaqub-Har with Jacob as some like to clearly doesn't work.  But maybe Yacub-Har was a name the Egyptians call Joshua?  As a leader of the descendants of Jacob.  Or Joshua could have conquered a different Goshen.

The Migdol of Eygpt may not always be the same place, Migdol just means any Tower or fortification.  But interestingly many interpret Ezekiel's reference to Migdol in Egypt as being in the South near Syene/Aswan.  And I've seen Jeremiah's Migdol in Egypt interpreted as being an Island in The Nile Isrealites settled on, from what we know outside The Bible that best fits Elephantine, in the South/Upper Egypt.

Genesis 45:10 says Goshen was near Joseph.  I have become convinced Joseph's Pharaoh was a Second Dynasty one due to the Second Dynasty having an ancient account of a somewhat similar Famine during the reign of Neferkasokar.  (The more Popular Imhotep Famine story is a Ptolemaic ea invention, not ancient enough, and is less similar then this to the Biblical story anyway.)  The office of Grand Vizer seems to not show up in exiting Egyptian Records till later then the 2nd Dynasty.  It could be it was basically invented for Joseph.  The 2nd Dynasty Pharaohs ruled from an Upper Egypt capitol.  So at this time that description makes an Upper Nile location for Goshen more logical.

I before and many others got confused by exactly what Velikovsky was claiming in his Kadesh-Barnea theory, he wasn't placing Sinai in Yemen, he was saying Mar'ib wasn't in Yemen.  He actually did place Sinai in the traditional Helena selected location, and argued how Mecca could be 11 days from there.  In that context needing around 20 days for Israel to get from Southern Egypt or Northern Sudan to Bab-el Mandeb is perfectly feasible.  As said above Sinai being north of Barnea doesn't fit because they were traveling to the Promised Land when they traveled from Sinai to Barnea.

I've seen people suggest that the Slavery of the Israelites in Egypt maybe wasn't the kind of Slavery we usually picture, but perhaps almost a kind of Serfdom, or like the Helots were to Sparta.  I'm not sure what I think of that in general, but it could arguably fit Egypt's relationship with Kerma.  Also Kerma first appears in Egyptian records after the 2nd Dynasty and thus after my placement for Joseph.

The continuity between Kerma of the Old and Middle Kingdoms and even early 18th Dynasty, with the Nubian civilization that appeared at Napata during the Third Intermediate Period and went on to spring the 25th Dynasty, is a subject of controversy.  It's unclear to me whether or not the Egyptians called anyone Kush before the 18th Dynasty.  Some depictions of the Kermites seemingly show them as not quite as dark as the later Nubians, but that could be misleading, and how they looked works with my argument here either way.  I'm fine with thinking the Israelites were once very Dark Skinned.  And I certainly believe many Black people groups today have Israelite Ancestry, the Aksumites, the Lemba and the Igbo to name a few.

But I've also wondered.  What if Goshen and Cushan can be the same name?  Both have distinct Hebrew spellings in the Hebrew Bible.  But Egypt used a different Alphabet and Goshen could come from attempting to represent what the Egyptians called this area.  The same Hebrew name, Yeshua, can become in English Bibles both Joshua and Jesus depending on if Greek is a middle man in the Transliteration process.  Goshen and Cushan could be the same kind of thing here.

This theory can still have Kerma exist after the Exodus.  Just as many Egyptians and other gentiles who placed Blood on their Doorpost left with the Israelites, thus them being called a mixed multitude.  Likewise Hebrews who didn't place their faith in the Passover Lamb were left behind.  And to begin with Israelites may not have been the only people in Kerma.  And when Joshua conquered all the way to Goshen he may have left some settlers there.  And perhaps some Hyksos settled there, ones with Edomite or Ishmaelite ancestry may have felt a kinship.  The Hyksos mainly based their power in the Delta, but one Hyksos ruler was named "The Nubian".

Sinai in Midian/Arabia

I've agreed before with placing Sinai in Midian and identifying it with Jabal El Lawz, and citing the research of Bob Cornuke to support that.

Recently I've read some critics of the view, fellow believers who are critics of it and who support the traditional site (or at least a Sinai Peninsula view), not Atheists.  Mainly two from the Idolphin website, Is Mt Sinai in Saudi Abrabia? and Problems with Mt Sinai in Saudi Arabia.

I'm not interested in addressing every criticism there, no one is perfect, and I'm very open to Sinai being not Jabal El Lawz but some other site in Midian or really anywhere in Arabia for reasons that will become clear later.  The main reason for favoring this mountain over other Midianite candidates is that it's the tallest.  1, only Extra Biblical sources say Sinai was the tallest, 2, things change and others might have been taller in the past.  I've recently developed an interest in Jabel al-Madhbah near Petra.

I've also been thinking, maybe Horeb and Sinai aren't the same mountain.  They certainly must be near each other though.

Nor am I as interested in denying that the traditional site has antiquity to it, maybe even before Helena though we're pretty much dependent on her word that a tradition already existed.

One argument against the traditional site not addressed is the significance of Edom not letting the Israelites pass through their land in Numbers 20.

First of all if they were coming from the Sinai Peninsula they would not have been dependent on Edom to enter the Promised Land from the South.  The Philistine lands at least were lands Edom wouldn't have ruled.

But second, Edom controlled everything between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, so if Israel couldn't pass through Edom how did they wind up east of the Jordan when the wandering was over?  And if you're going to object that maybe Edom didn't always control all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba then you are only further undermining the significance of not being allowed to pass through Edom being such an inconvenience and a large part of why they were stuck in this wilderness for 40 years.

I also do not see the necessity of crossing the Red Sea in the traditional view, and it often overlaps with the ridiculous "Sea of Reeds" argument, which only even works as a pun in English, the Hebrew is Yam Suf.  I've seen it claimed that Yam Suf refers specifically to the Gulf of Aqaba, but I'm not going to bet on that right now, but I know it includes that Gulf from references to Solomon's port on it in 1 Kings 9:26.

Also I personally have come to see the limited geography associated with the wandering even by Conruke and other Jabal El Lawz supporters as being pretty silly given this a 40 year wandering.  Yet if they were stuck in Sinai you have no choice but to limit it, and that limitation is the reason we became so used to viewing it's scale as so small.  Basically I think it's possible they wandered all over Arabia and Jordan.  The narrative parts of Exodus-Deuteronomy are mostly about specific situations and I do not think are a complete record of 40 whole years at all.   For a modern comparison, that is equivalent to from the Bicentennial, 1976, to this year (I'm writing this in late April 2016).  From the last year of Ford to the last year of Obama.  Also both World Wars happened in less then 40 years.

Arguing whether or not all of what we today call Sinai can be considered part of Egypt I would agree shouldn't be as big a deal.  But their certainty it was not has one big unacknowledged problem, that the Wadi Al-Arish is by any descent scholar known to be the the "River of Egypt" often refereed to as a Border of what was Promised to Abraham.  A few uninformed commentators will act like that is the Nile, but that idea is obviously absurd, clearly Egypt's heart was not it's border with Israel.

The allotments of Ezekiel 40-48 make clear the Sinai Peninsula was not part of what God promised to Israel.

They do not deny that Midian refers to land in North Western Saudi Arabia east of the Gulf of Aqaba.  But make all kinds of convoluted arguments to justify saying Jetho was a Priest East of Aqaba but his flocks were west of it.  His argument about Shepherds sometimes traveling long distances to tend their flocks is valid, in the modern world, and maybe in the ancient world, but that a Midanianite Priest wold have his flocks on effectively a different continent is ridiculous.

The first article attempts to use Exodus 18 and Numbers 10 to Prove Sinai was outside Midian.  Neither chapter says "Midian" in the verses cited, both are Midianite individuals talking while at Sinai of returning to their homeland.  Their homeland could very well have been a different part of Midian then where Sinai was.  Genesis 25:4 gives Midian 5 sons, and Numbers 31:8 divides Midian between 5 kings at this time.  (Speaking of Numbers 22, 25 and 31, how was Israel involved in a geo-political scenario that involved both Midian and Moab from the Sinai Peninsula?)  Bill Cooper in After The Flood (A book this same Website supports) says in Appendix 1 that the Kenites descended from Midian's son Henoch, why he thinks that is still unclear to me.

But it could be explained other ways too.  Like how when I go to Burlington, I've left Racine City but am still in Racine County.  Josephus in Antiquities of The Jews Book 2 says Moses came to a City called Midian.

For dealing with what Paul said in Galatians 4:24-26, they cite a few ancient Greek sources that define Arabia in a way that includes the Sinai Peninsula.  While I would concede that allows sufficient room for doubt, but it's clear the majority of Roman and Jewish references to Arabia clearly do not include it. Also in-context Paul is linking the mountain to Hagar and Ishmael, who were never located west of the Dead Sea/Edom.

The second article cites Josephus quoting Apion in against Apion as saying Sinai was "Between Egypt and Arabia" and says if Josephus disagreed with that he would have said so.  Josephus had bigger concerns here then a geographical error.  And we can't be sure what Apion meant given how Arabia clearly means different things in different references, either way Apion certainly doesn't agree with the other sources they care so much about that defines Arabia broadly enough to put Sinai within it.

Overall Josephus supports Sinai in Midian.  That website is a little confused by what Jospehus means when he refers to Petra, and how that effects dating Josephus.  Petra was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom already before Rome conquered it.  But that need not discredit it's overall point.

But either way Josephus doesn't settle the matter, I unlike most fellow Revised Chronologists think Josephus was wrong when he said the Queen of Sheba ruled Egypt.  And I already said an antiquity for the traditional view proves nothing.  I don't necessarily expect the correct view to have antiquity because eventually the Midianites became Pagans and Israel as a Kingdom never ruled where Sinai was.

The second article also mentions the Muslim origins of the Arabian Sinai theory to try and discredit it.  I'm not so reactionary that I need to reject anything Muslims have ever thought just because their religion has a horrible theology.  I think the Muslim view of the Desert of Paran is probably the correct one, as I argued for on my Prophecy Blog about the Wandering.

The first article likewise cites the traditional Sinai view derived placements of Paran, Kadesh Barnea and Seir to support their Sinai view.  Jerome and Eusebius were Pre-Islamic non Arabic Christians who placed Paran is Arabia Desteria.  Arabia Desteria is a far more precise Roman geographical term that can't be reinterpreted by citing the broadest possible meaning for Arabia.  It refers specifically to the vast Arabian desert between the Nabatean Kingdom (Jordan) and Arabia Felix (Yemen).  Meaning Saudi Arabia basically.  And there is no proposed site for Sear that is east of the Gulf of Aqaba.

They argue that the Kadesh Barnea location suggested by Jabal El Lawz supporters to fit the eleven day journey statement would, since Barnea is also cited as a border of Israel, place all of Edom in Israel.  They are overlooking that the Tribal Allotments of Joshua also gave Asher all of Phoenicia including Tyre and Zidon in Joshua 19:24-31, and the Trans-Jordan Tribes much of Ammon they never actually took.  Israel was supposed to subject all these people but failed to, that is part of the theme of Judges.

The eleven days journey is also less of an issue if it's a more Northern Midianite mountain.  And I often think our modern assumptions underestimate how far an Ancient could travel in a given time period, this effects my perspective on a number of things.

There is good reason to believe Teman is modern Ma'an.  And the way Habakkuk 3:3 parallels Deuteronomy 33:2 has me thinking Seir was in Teman.

So Sinai being in Midian remains the only Biblically viable option.

The refrence to Chaneferre in Artapanus

Artapanus of Alexandria, was a Hellenistic Jewish writer who's works haven't survived directly, we know them form Eusebius and Clement of Alexandria quoting Alexander Polyhistor's quotations of him.

Sites on the subject of revised chronology make much of him referring to a Chaneferre as a Pharaoh linked to the life of Moses.  The name Chaneferre is very rare and can only be linked to 1 known Pharaoh,  Khaneferre Sobekhotep IV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobekhotep_IV

While other facts far more solid then a much later Jewish writer reciting Extra-Biblical legends lend credence to looking for Moses in this period of the Thirteenth Dynasty, there is a major Problem with taking what we're told Artapanus said as face value.

Clement of Alexandria Stormata Book 1 Chapter 23.

And so Artapanus, in his work On the Jews, relates that Moses, being shut up in custody by Chenephres, king of the Egyptians, on account of the people demanding to be let go from Egypt, the prison being opened by night, by the interposition of God, went forth, and reaching the palace, stood before the king as he slept, and aroused him; and that the latter, struck with what had taken place, bade Moses tell him the name of the God who had sent him; and that he, bending forward, told him in his ear; and that the king on hearing it fell speechless, but being supported by Moses, revived again.

Eusebius  of Caesarea Praeparatio Evangelic Book 9 chapter 27

'AND Artapanus says, in his book Concerning the Jews, that after the death of Abraham, and of his son Mempsasthenoth, and likewise of the king of Egypt, his son Palmanothes succeeded to the sovereignty.
'This king behaved badly to the Jews; and first he built Kessa, and founded the temple therein, and then built the temple in Heliopolis.
'He begat a daughter Merris, whom he betrothed to a certain Chenephres, king of the regions above Memphis (for there were at that time many kings in Egypt); and she being barren took a supposititious child from one of the Jews, and called him Mouses (Moses): but by the Greeks he was called, when grown to manhood, Musaeus.
'And this Moses, they said, was the teacher of Orpheus; and when grown up he taught mankind many useful things. For he was the inventor of ships, and machines for laying stones, and Egyptian arms, and engines for drawing water and for war, and invented philosophy. Further he divided the State into thirty-six Nomes, and. appointed the god to be worshipped by each Nome, and the sacred writing for the priests, and their gods were cats, and dogs, and ibises: he also apportioned an especial district for the priests.
'All these things he did for the sake of keeping the sovereignty firm and safe for Chenepbres. For previously the multitudes, being under no order, now expelled and now set up kings, often the same persons, but sometimes others.
'For these reasons then Moses was beloved by the multitudes, and being deemed by the priests worthy to be honoured like a god, was named Hermes, because of his interpretation of the Hieroglyphics.
'But when Chenephres perceived the excellence of Moses he envied him, and sought to slay him on some plausible pretext. And so when the Aethiopians invaded Egypt, Chenephres supposed that he had found a convenient opportunity, and sent Moses in command of a force against them, and enrolled the body of husbandmen for him, supposing that through the weakness of his troops he would easily be destroyed by the enemy.
'But Moses with about a hundred thousand of the husbandmen came to the so-called Nome of Hermopolis, and there encamped; and sent generals to pre-occupy the country, who gained remarkable successes in their battles. He adds that the people of Heliopolis say that this war went on for ten years.
'So Moses, because of the greatness of his army, built a city in this place, and therein consecrated the ibis, because this bird kills the animals that are noxious to man. And he called it Hermes' city.
'Thus then the Aethiopians, though they were enemies, became so fond of Moses, that they even learned from him the custom of circumcision: and not they only, but also all the priests.
'But when the war was ended, Chenephres pretended to welcome him, while in reality continuing to plot against him. So he took his troops from him, and sent some to the frontiers of Aethiopia for an advanced guard; and ordered others to demolish the temple in Diospolis which had been built of baked brick, and build another of stone from the quarries of the neighbouring mountain, and appointed Nacheros superintendent of the building.
'And when he was come with Moses to Memphis, he asked him whether there was anything else useful for mankind, and he said the breed of oxen, because by means of them the land is ploughed: and Chenephres having given the name Apis to a bull, commanded the troops to found a temple for him, and bade them bring and bury there the animals which had been consecrated by Moses, because he wished to bury the inventions of Moses in oblivion. 'But when the Egyptians were alienated from him, he bound his friends by an oath not to report to Moses the plot which was being contrived against him, and he appointed the men who were to kill him.
'When however no one would obey him, Chenephres reproached Chanethothes, whom he had especially addressed; and he, on being thus reproached, promised to make the attempt when he found an opportunity.
'And Merris having died about this time, Chenephres professed to give the body to Moses and Chanethothes to carry it over into regions beyond Egypt and bury it, supposing that Moses would be slain by Chanethothes.
'But while they were on the way, one of those who were cognizant of the plot reported it to Moses; and he being on his guard buried Merris himself, and called the river and the city thereby Meroe. And this Merris is honoured by the people of the country not less highly than Isis.
'Then Aaron the brother of Moses, having learned about the plot, advised his brother to flee into Arabia; and he took the advice, and sailed across the Nile from Memphis, intending to escape into Arabia.
'But when Chanethothes was informed of the flight of Moses, he lay in ambush intending to kill him; and when he saw him coming, he drew his sword against him, but Moses was too quick for him, and seized his hand, and drew his sword and slew Chanethothes.
'So he made his escape into Arabia, and lived with Raguel the ruler of the district, having married his daughter. And Raguel wished to make an expedition against the Egyptians in order to restore Moses, and procure the government for his daughter and son-in-law; but Moses prevented it, out of regard for his own nation: and Raguel forbidding him to march against the Arabs, ordered him to plunder Egypt.
'About the same time Chenephres died, having been the very first person attacked by elephantiasis; and he is said to have incurred this misfortune because he ordered the Jews to wear linen garments and not to wear woollen clothing, in order that they might be conspicuous, and be punished by him.
'But Moses prayed to God now at last to put an end to the sufferings of the tribes. And God being propitiated, fire, it is said, suddenly blazed up out of the earth, and went on burning though there was no wood nor any other fuel in the place. And Moses was frightened at the occurrence and took to flight; but a divine voice spake to him, to march against Egypt, and rescue the Jews and lead them into their old country.
'So he took courage and determined to lead a hostile force against the Egyptians: but first he came to his brother Aaron. And when the king of Egypt heard of the arrival of Moses, he called him before him, and asked what he had come for: and he said, Because the Lord of the world commanded him to deliver the Jews.
'And when the king heard this, he shut him up in prison. But when it was night, all the doors of the prison-house opened of their own accord, and of the guards some died, and some were sunk in sleep, and their weapons broken in pieces.
'So Moses passed out and came to the palace; and finding the doors opened he went in, and the guards here also being sunk in sleep he woke up the king. And he being dismayed at what had happened bade Moses tell him the name of the God who sent him, scoffing at him: but Moses bent down and whispered in his ear, and when the king heard it he fell speechless, but was held fast by Moses and came to life again.
'And he wrote the name in a tablet and sealed it up; and one of the priests who made light of what was written in the tablet was seized with a convulsion and died.
'Also the king told him to work some sign for him, and Moses threw down the rod which he held and turned it into a serpent; and when they were all frightened, he seized it by the tail and took it up, and made it a rod again.
'Then he went forth a little, and smote the Nile with the rod, and the river became flooded and deluged the whole of Egypt, and it was from that time its inundation began: and the water became stagnant, and stank, and killed all living things in the river, and the people were perishing of thirst.
'But when these wonders had been wrought, the king said that after a month he would let the people go, if Moses would restore the river to its proper state; and he smote the water again with his rod, and checked the stream.
'When this was done, the king summoned the priests from above Memphis, and said that he would kill them all, and demolish the temples, unless they also would work some wonder. And then they by some witchcraft and incantations made a serpent, and changed the colour of the river.
'And the king, being puffed up with pride at what was done, began to maltreat the Jews with every kind of vengeance and punishment. Then Moses, seeing this, both wrought other signs, and also smote the earth with his rod, and brought up a kind of winged animal to harass the Egyptians, and all their bodies broke out in boils. And as the physicians were unable to heal the sufferers, the Jews thus again gained relief.
'Again Moses by his rod brought up frogs, and besides them locusts and lice. And for this reason the Egyptians dedicate the rod in every temple, and to Isis likewise, because the earth is Isis, and sent up these wonders when smitten by the rod.
'But as the king still persisted in his folly, Moses caused hail and earthquakes by night, so that those who fled from the earthquake were killed by the hail, and those who sought shelter from the hail were destroyed by the earthquakes. And at that time all the houses fell in, and most of the temples.
'At last after having incurred such calamities the king let the Jews go: and they, after borrowing from the Egyptians many drinking-vessels, and no little raiment, and very much other treasure, crossed the rivers on the Arabian side, and after traversing a wide space came on the third day to the Red Sea.
'Now the people of Memphis say, that Moses being acquainted with the country waited for the ebb, and took the people across the sea when dry. But the people of Heliopolis say, that the king hastened after them with a great force, having also with him the consecrated animals, because the Jews were carrying off the property which they had borrowed from the Egyptians.
'There came, however, to Moses a divine voice bidding him to smite the sea with the rod [and that it should divide]: and when Moses heard it, he touched the water with the rod, and so the stream divided, and the force passed over by a dry path.
'But when the Egyptians went in with them and were pursuing them, a fire, it is said, shone out upon them from the front, and the sea overflowed the path again, and the Egyptians were all destroyed by the fire and the flood: but the Jews having escaped this danger spent forty years in the wilderness, God raining down meal for them like millet, similar in colour to snow. And Moses they say was tall and ruddy, with long white hair, and dignified: and he performed these deeds when he was about eighty-nine years old.'

 Khaneferre Sobekhotep only reigned about 10 years according to what we can gather from Archeological information.  Also his capital was the Fayum region, so saying he ruled only above Memphis doesn't work.  So maybe Artapanus knew something helpful that's since been lost, but his narrative is clearly exaggerated. 

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.