Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus?

As Passover season approaches, you should learn the amazing truth about this intriguing subject -- one of the most stupefying periods of history in the annals of the human race! In the famous motion picture epic The Ten Commandments, Yul Brynner played the part of the Pharaoh of the Exodus. How well I remember seeing this movie for the first time in Seattle in the late 1950's, and how disappointed I was in the so-called "plagues" on Egypt, as they were illustrated. I was also aware that the movie showed Pharaoh returning to Egypt to the temple of his "god," after the Israelites passed through the Red Sea in their triumphal escape.

Recently, in the March-April 1988 issue of the Good News magazine, author Keith Stump, a protege of Herman Hoeh, wrote on this subject, claiming that the pharaoh of the oppression of the Israelites has been identified in history as Tutmose III, "the Napoleon of ancient Egypt." He went on to claim that Amenhotep II was the pharaoh of the Exodus. Stump, who follows the current thinking and teaching of Herman Hoeh, who has jumbled up the reigns of Egyptian kings and dynasties for decades, writes as if he has proved conclusively his claims. The drop-head of the article claims, "Read here Egyptian accounts of the pharaohs who ruled at the time of the oppression and the Exodus."

Stump introduces his subject by recounting the discovery of the tomb of Amenhotep II in the Valley of the Kings in 1898 by the French archaeologist Loret. Loret found a sarcophagus containing the mummy of this ancient king in the tomb of Amenhotep II. Keith then claims Amenhotep reigned about 1440 B.C., at which time he places the Exodus of Israel. He then identifies the famous queen Hatshepsut with the "daughter of Pharaoh" who found Moses in the bulrushes (Hatshepsut was the grandmother of Amenhotep II and mother of Tutmose III, the great conqueror). All these claims are made without any evidence or proof supplied. as if we should all understand (or take the word of the author). But the word of YEHOVAH God commands us to "prove all things" (I Thess. 5:21). Why have so many today, including the 1,000,000 readers who receive the Good News magazine every month, resist this Biblical imperative?

This is a very important subject, for it involves the very Passover celebration which YEHOVAH God commands us to observe every year, as a memorial of deliverance from Egypt and sin (Exodus 12). Who, then, was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, who stubbornly refused to let Israel leave Egyptian slavery? What is the truth?

A noteworthy, even crucial, part of Stump's article makes the bold assertion, "Contrary to the common notion about the Pharaoh of the Exodus, Amenhotep II did not drown in the Red Sea with his army. Read carefully Exodus 14:23-31. Ancient records reveal that Amenhotep II's reign lasted no less than into his 26th year....Sixteen of those 26 years followed the Exodus."

The mummy, or body, of Amenhotep II presently rests in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquity in Cairo, where I have personally seen it.

This fact brings up a major disproof of Keith Stump's (and therefore Herman L. Hoeh's) contention that Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus.

The question is, whom will we believe -- these egregious claims? Or the plain and simple inspired Word of the living God?

Obviously, if we can PROVE BEYOND DOUBT that the Pharaoh of the Exodus died in the Red Sea, then this would prove beyond question that Amenhotep could not have been the Pharaoh of the Exodus, by any bizarre stretch of the imagination! If the Pharaoh of the Exodus drowned and perished in the raging waters of the Red Sea, then his body could not possibly be the mummified remains of Amenhotep II, now lying in the Egyptian Museum!

What does the Bible say about this question?

Let us quickly read through the Biblical account of this most amazing time and event. Beginning in Exodus 14, the LORD said to Moses, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that HE shall follow after them; and I will be honored UPON PHARAOH, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord" (Exodus 14:4).

Notice! YEHOVAH God said He would harden Pharaoh's heart, and that HE -- Pharaoh -- would follow after the fleeing Israelites, not just an army he sent after them. Then YEHOVAH God said He would be "honored upon Pharaoh," as well as upon "all his host." This certainly sounds like YEHOVAH meant He would bring calamity on both Pharaoh and his army. But notice, also: YEHOVAH then said that as a result, the "Egyptians" would know that He is the LORD. If YEHOVAH God had intended Pharaoh to survive the holocaust, then why didn't He say that then "Pharaoh would know that He is the Lord"?

But let's read on. The account continues, "And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

Notice how clear the account is that Pharaoh himself led this massive army. He was at the head. He wanted the glory to be his, and his alone. He was a megalomaniac of his time, and his people worshipped him as a "god."

YEHOVAH God Almighty, however, had other ideas in mind. He told Moses again that He would "get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen" (Ex. 14:17).

In verse 23 we read, "And the Egyptians PURSUED, and went in after them to the midst of the sea. EVEN ALL Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen." Not one remained behind! Everyone plunged into the sea, in hot pursuit -- including Pharaoh himself!

Now verse 27 -- ". . . and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and ALL the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; THERE REMAINED NOT SO MUCH AS ONE OF THEM" (vs.27-28)!!!

Did you get that? Not a single one of them escaped! Not a single one of them remained alive to tell the story!

How awesome! Indeed, YEHOVAH God did "get Himself glory," not only upon Pharaoh's army and chariots, but also upon Pharaoh himself!

How clear it should be -- how inescapably clear and plain -- that Amenhotep II, whose mummy today lies in the Cairo Museum, could not possibly be the Pharaoh of the Exodus!

But there is even more crystal clear evidence. Notice further: In chapter 15 of Exodus, the children of Israel sang a song about this fantastic, incredible deliverance from Egypt. They sang, "unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER hath he thrown into the sea" (verse 1). "Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea" (verse 4).

This should be perfectly clear, but the final nail in Pharaoh's watery coffin is driven home by verse 19. Notice this final, conclusive, incontrovertible proof. YEHOVAH God records in His inviolate Word: "FOR THE HORSE OF PHARAOH WENT IN WITH HIS CHARIOTS AND WITH HIS HORSEMEN INTO THE SEA, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them..." (Ex. 15:19).

How clear! Unfortunately for Keith Stump and Herman Hoeh, they overlooked this plainspoken undeniable Scripture, as well as all the other evidence we have discussed thus far in this article. How sad for them! How ignorant of the truth they are, who are "esteemed somewhat" by so many ignorant and naive members of the flock, who hang on their words as if they were Scripture!

YEHOVAH God says plainly that "the horse of Pharaoh" himself went in "with his chariots" and "with his horsemen" -- where? "INTO THE SEA"! And the waters covered "them" -- including therefore Pharaoh himself!

What more evidence could we ask for?

In Psalm 78:53 we read that "the sea overwhelmed their enemies," and Pharaoh was certainly their chief enemy! In Psalm 106:11 we read, "And the waters covered their enemies: THERE WAS NOT ONE OF THEM LEFT"! What could be clearer than that? If Pharaoh was "left alive," and returned to Egypt, to continue business "as usual," still a mighty Pharaoh after losing his entire army and ALL his chariots, as would have to have happened if he were Amenhotep II, who supposedly reigned another 16 years after the Exodus, then the Scriptural account we have been reading would have to be in error -- flawed -- uninspired error!

We cannot have it both ways. Either Stump and Hoeh are in utter error -- or the Scriptural account is totally mistaken! Which is it? Where do you place YOUR faith and confidence?

Clearly, the Biblical account completely disproves the erroneous theory of Stump and Hoeh, his mentor. They are teaching diabolical error and should know better. The truth about the identity of the Pharaoh of the Exodus has been available to them for decades -- yet they have somehow overlooked it, or rejected it.

Now that we have proven Amenhotep could not be the Pharaoh of the Exodus, let us return to the question of who was this figure in history? What is the true account of ancient history?

Egyptologists divide Egypt's historic past into the following major periods:

1. The Old Kingdom, when most of the pyramids were built; the fourth and sixth dynasties are the best known.

2. The first interregnum, when the land fell into chaos, and central authority was abolished. Of the seventh to tenth dynasties, almost nothing is known.

3. The Middle Kingdom, comprising the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth dynasties. Feudal Egypt became united in the twelfth dynasty. Egyptian literature reached a height never again attained.

4. Another period of chaos followed, during which Asiatic invaders, known as Amu or Hyksos seized control over a prostrate Egypt and ruled without mercy for 400 years. This chaos occurred because of the plagues of YEHOVAH God upon Egypt, bringing an end to the "Middle Kingdom" and paving the way for the incursion of barbaric hordes. The Biblical record calls these Hyksos invaders the "Amalekites," whom Joshua and Israel fought bitterly in the wilderness of Sinai when they left Egypt. Rabbinic sources put the number of Amalekite soldiers whom Joshua fought at 400,000. As Israel was moving out of Egypt, the Amalekites, a fierce and nomadic tribe, were moving toward the ancient civilization they left behind in ruins, the Egyptian army totally buried beneath the Red Sea, Egypt's economy in a shambles, her people desolate.

5. The New Kingdom -- the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt at the same time the Amalekites were defeated by king Saul of Israel. At this time the eighteenth dynasty, founded by Ahmose (Amasis I) arose to power, with the renowned kings of Thutmose I, Queen Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, the greatest of all Egyptian conquerors, Amenhotep II, and so forth; this was a period of the building of the magnificent temples at Luxor and Karnak, in the Valley of the Nile.

If the Exodus occurred during the eighteenth dynasty, in the reign of Amenhotep II, then it must have been "apparently a minor occurrence in the history of that time, so minor, indeed, that the nations most concerned in it next to the Jews themselves, the Egyptians, never took the trouble to record it" (Hugo Winckler, Berlin, Kritische Schriften). For so great an event to totally escape any mention in the famed eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, had it occurred then, would have been the strangest anomaly in all history!

The Biblical story shows the Exodus clearly was not your everyday event. It was a colossal, stupendous event! It could not have escaped the notice of the Egyptians of the powerful eighteenth dynasty, had it occurred at that time!

Was it on so small a scale that the Egyptians never thought it worth recording? The Bible shows from 3-5 million Israelites left Egypt during that Passover season. Such an event could hardly be described as trifling, minute, or trivial. When, then, and during what dynastic reign, did the Exodus really occur?

How can we date the Exodus? The first key is to remember that the Scriptural account is inspired by YEHOVAH God, so we must start there. The chronology of the Old Testament by Archbishop Ussher shows clearly that the Exodus occurred about 1491 B.C. and the entrance into Canaan approximately 1451 B.C.

The second key to remember is that the Scriptural account shows the Exodus was a catastrophe upon Egypt -- a holocaust such as seldom happens in the history of entire nations. It could scarcely go unrecorded as such.

Earth, sea and sky participated in the event. The plagues of YEHOVAH God were not merely localized phenomena. They included tectonic upheaval, volcanic eruptions, turgid atmospheres of smoke, ashes, and palpable darkness, and cyclonic windstorms.

An entire nation's agriculture was laid bare. Cattle were destroyed by the millions. The earth's largest standing army of that time was destroyed and overwhelmed in one fateful night of terror.

Did this colossal event go unnoticed by the Egyptians? Not at all!

Notice the amazing, incredible truth!

The Bible says of that time, "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke...and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly" (Exo. 19:16, 18). Here is a mountain in the throes of a volcanic eruption, accompanied by severe earthquakes!

The Exodus was a time of tectonic violence seldom witnessed by man. The Bible says, "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord" (Psalm 97:5). In the book of Judges we read, "Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir...the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel" (Judges 5:4-5).

Incredible as it may sound, such a catastrophe as the Bible describes in vivid detail was also recorded in ancient Egyptian historical documents!

An Egyptian eye-witness testified to the plagues which YEHOVAH God sent upon ancient Egypt -- a sage by the name of Ipuwer who lived during the terminal phase of the Middle Kingdom.

The Ipuwer papyrus was acquired by the Museum of Leiden in the Netherlands in 1828. The text is now folded into a book of 17 pages, written in hieratic signs. Portions of it are poorly preserved, but of the portions which has been translated by Alan H. Gardiner in 1909 we have an amazing corroboration of the dramatic plagues YEHOVAH God Almighty sent upon ancient Egypt!

As Gardiner writes, "It is no merely local disturbance that is here described, but a great and overwhelming national disaster" (Gardiner, Admonitions).

Now notice the incredible parallels between this document and the record of the book of Exodus:

Ipuwer describes an incredible story of lamentations, ruin, and horror. His story is an Egyptian version of a great national calamity. He writes:

PAPYRUS 2:8 Forsooth, the land turns round as does a potter's wheel.

PAPYRUS 2:11 The towns are destroyed. Upper Egypt has become dry (wastes?).

PAPYRUS 3:13 All is ruin!

PAPYRUS 7:4 The residence is overturned in a minute.

PAPYRUS 4:2 ...Years of noise. There is no end to noise.

The play on the word "noise" here could mean "earthquake," as the Hebrew word raash signifies both noise and earthquake. Earthquakes are often accompanied by loud ominous sounds from the bowels of the earth.

PAPYRUS 6:1 Oh, that the earth would cease from noise, and tumult (uproar) be no more.

Now notice this amazing parallel between the Bible account of the plagues on Egypt and the Papyrus Ipuwer:

EXODUS 7:21 ...there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

PAPYRUS 2:5-6 Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.

EXODUS 7:20-24 ...all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood . . . And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.

PAPYRUS 2:10 Men shrink from tasting -- human beings and thirst after water.

PAPYRUS 3:10-13 That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof? All is ruin!

EXODUS 9:3 ...the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

PAPYRUS 5:5 All animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan.

After plagues of frogs, lice, flies, and the disease of murrain on the cattle, YEHOVAH brought on Egypt the destruction of a massive hailstorm which destroyed crops everywhere. This also was recorded by the Egyptian Ipuwer. Notice!

EXODUS 9:25 ...and the hail smote every herb of the every tree of the field.

EXODUS 9:23-24 ...the flax and the barley was smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled.

EXODUS 10:15 ...there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the fields, through all the land of Egypt.

PAPYRUS 4:14 Trees are destroyed.

PAPYRUS 6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found...

PAPYRUS 2:10 Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire.

PAPYRUS 10:3-6 Lower Egypt weeps...The entire palace is without its revenues. To it belong (by right) wheat and barley, geese and fish.

PAPYRUS 6:3 Forsooth, grain has perished on every side.

PAPYRUS 5:12 Forsooth, that has perished which yesterday was seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax.

This last statement shows clearly these plagues on Egypt were not the consequence of long-lasting drought. Rather, this was a sudden onslaught of disaster, virtually overnight! What was visible yesterday was perished today! The produce of Egypt was cut down, like the cutting of flax -- a sudden, incisive event!

EXODUS 10:4-5 ...tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: And they shall cover the face of the earth . . . and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remains unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field...

PAPYRUS 6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found...hunger.

EXODUS 10:22-23 ...and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days

PAPYRUS 9:11 The land is not light...

This plague of darkness is further described in another ancient Egyptian document, a black granite monolith or shrine at the border of Egypt, inscribed with hieroglyphics all over its surface. The shrine's message declares:

With the plague of locusts covering the skies and earth proceeding the plague of darkness, of three days, undoubtedly the Egyptians counted nine days as the total length of the time of impaired vision and light. Even the Jewish Midrash books explain the plague lasted seven days -- during the first three days one could still change his position, but during the next three (the three of the Bible) one could not stir from his place!

The final, culminating plague upon ancient Egypt has not been fully understood. The last night before the Exodus, we know, the death angel slew the firstborn of the Egyptians, but the Israelites who had the blood of a lamb over their front doorposts were spared. But let us notice this account more fully.

EXODUS 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord SMOTE all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh...unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

EXODUS 12:30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a GREAT CRY in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. What was this awesome plague which destroyed everywhere, throughout the land, causing the death of multiple thousands, including cattle?

The Hebrew word for "smote" is nogaf and is used for a violent blow, such as the thrusting with horns by an ox. Now notice the Papyrus Ipuwer account of this traumatic event.

PAPYRUS 4:3, 5:6 Forsooth, the children of princes are dashed against the walls.

PAPYRUS 6:12 Forsooth, the children of princes are cast out in the streets.

PAPYRUS 6:3 The prison is ruined.

PAPYRUS 2:13 He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere.

PAPYRUS 3:14 It is groaning that is throughout the land, mingled with lamentations.

What happened? The evidence indicates that during this final night of the Passover, a great earthquake struck Egypt, killing those YEHOVAH God had marked for death all over the land, from the houses of princes to those lying in dungeons, and even cattle. The Church historian Eusebius quotes an ancient source in a book by Artapanus which tells of "hail and earth quake by night (of the last plague), 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 earthquake. And at that time all the houses fell in, and most of the temples."

This must have been a massive earthquake! It must have been a forerunner of the final earthquake and hail which will culminate the "seven last" plagues mentioned in the Book of Revelation (see Rev. 16:17-21). The Ipuwer Papyrus says:

PAPYRUS 4:4, 6:14 Forsooth, those who were in the place of embalmment are laid on the high ground.

A legend in the Haggada tells that in the last night, when Egypt was smitten, the coffin of Joseph was found lying on the ground, lifted out of the grave. Earthquakes in modern times have been known to have similar effects, causing coffins to protrude from their graves in hillside cemeteries.

YEHOVAH God smote strong and weak alike, just as an earthquake would do. The Midrashim say that "as many as nine tenths of the inhabitants have perished" (Ginzberg, Legends, II, 369).

YEHOVAH judged ancient Egypt. If this Judgment caused nine tenths of the population to perish, then indeed it was a TYPE of the future destruction YEHOVAH will wreak upon this earth during these "last days," in our lifetime! In the future "time of trouble" we find that only a tenth of the population shall survive (Isaiah 6:13). YEHOVAH God will overthrow the land as He did Sodom and Gomorrah (Amos 4:11). Only ten percent of the population of the nations comprising modern "Israel" shall escape death (Amos 5:3). This same figure can be extended to the judgment of the Gentiles, also, who will be judged and found wanting by YEHOVAH (compare Isa. 10:18-19; Isa. 47:1-9; Rev. 18; Isa. 24:6).

The Papyrus Ipuwer continues its amazing parallel with the book of Exodus. As Israel prepares to leave Egypt, we read:

EXODUS 11:2 ...let every man borrow (demand) of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.

PAPYRUS 3:2-3 (gold and jewels) are fastened on the neck of female slaves.

EXODUS 12:33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.

PAPYRUS 4:2 Forsooth, great and small say: I wish I might die.

PAPYRUS 5:14f. Would that there might be an end of men, no conception, no birth! Oh, that the earth would cease from noise, and tumult be no more!

The Papyrus describes men fleeing the cities in tents, even as Israel fled Egypt and abode in tents as they journeyed.

PAPYRUS 10:2 Men flee. . . . Tents are what they make like the dwellers of the hills.

The Scriptures show that a "mixed multitude" of Egyptians fled Egypt with the Israelites (Exo. 12:38). Their first brief stopover was at a place called "Succoth," which, in Hebrew, means "tents" or "huts."

As Israel left Egypt, YEHOVAH God went before them. We read:

EXODUS 13:21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and by night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night...

PAPYRUS 7:1 Behold, the fire has mounted up on high. Its burning goes forth against the enemies of the land.

But as Israel left Egypt with a high hand, what happened to the Pharaoh? The Ipuwer Papyrus only records that the Pharaoh was lost under unusual circumstances "that have never happened before." The Egyptian eye-witness to the plagues lamented his fate, in the broken lines which are still discernible:

PAPYRUS 7:1-2 ...weep...the earth is...on every side...weep...

After this destruction, chaos reigned in Egypt. There was no longer any authority in the land. Mob rule prevailed. Brigands and thugs seized what they could carry. Plunderers looted the royal storehouses. Ipuwer records:

PAPYRUS 6:9 Forsooth, the laws of the judgment-hall are cast forth. Men walk upon (them) in the public places.

PAPYRUS 10:3 The storehouse of the king is the common property of everyone.

PAPYRUS 8:14 Behold, the chiefs of the land flee.

PAPYRUS 9:2 Behold, no offices are in their (right) place, like a frightened herd without a herdsman.

PAPYRUS 6:7 Forsooth, public offices are opened and their census-lists are taken away.

Invaders appeared on the horizon -- the Hyksos attacked Egypt, after their encounter with the Israelites in the desert of Arabia. Egypt was helpless, prostrate before them.

PAPYRUS 3:1 Forsooth, the Desert is throughout the land. The nomes are laid waste. A foreign tribe from abroad has come to Egypt.

PAPYRUS 15:1 What has happened? -- through it is to cause the Asiatics to know the condition of the land.

PAPYRUS 14:11 Men -- They have come to an end for them selves. There are none found to stand and protect themselves.

PAPYRUS 12:6ff. Today fear -- more than a million of people. No seen -- enemies -- enter into the temples -- weep.

But during this time of upheaval and travail, what happened to Pharaoh?

The black granitic monolithic shrine of el-Arish tells of events in a very early time, to King Thom and his successor. The name of King Thom is written in a royal cartouche, pointing to the historical character of the text.

The text speaks of the days of darkness which came over the land, and the great affliction which fell over the earth. It speaks of the tempest that roared, so that no man could see the face of his neighbor.

During this savage time of affliction, and upheaval of nature, the text says that "his majesty of Shou" assembled his forces and ordered them to follow him to regions where they would again see light. We read, "...his majesty of Shou went to battle against the companions of Apopi." Apopi was the fierce god of darkness. The king and his army never returned.

Where was this strange-sounding event? What was this "Whirlpool" and to what does this strange story allude?

His Majesty (here the words are missing) finds on this place called Pi-Kharoti.

A few lines later it says the king was thrown by a great force. He was thrown by the whirlpool high into the air. He departed to heaven. He departed this life.

Where is this "Pi- Kharoti"?

The book of Exodus gives us the answer!

EXODUS 14:9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh...and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-ha-hiroth (Khiroth).

Pi-Kharoti is the Pi-Khiroth of the Hebrew text! This is the very place where Pharaoh and all his hosts came upon the fleeing Israelites as they were camped. This is the same place where Pharaoh met his fate in the maelstrom of the Red Sea -- the place of the "Whirlpool." The Egyptian story says he went to "heaven," a euphemism for the fact that he perished and never returned!

The shrine's inscription continues, saying the son of the Pharaoh, "his majesty Geb," set out to find his missing father. "He asks information." People who witnessed the passage of his father "give him the information about all that happened to Ra in Yat Nebes, the combats of the king Thoum." Those with the prince Geb on his journey perish by a terrible blast, and the prince himself sustains terrible burns before he gives up his expedition to find his father.

Meanwhile, the shrine continues, invaders approaching by way of Yat Nebes came into Egypt and overpowered the country, and conquered only to destroy. "These rebels, they came from the mountains of the Orient by all the ways of Yat Nebes." These invaders, of course, were the Amalekites -- the cruel and barbarous Hyksos.

The prince retreated before the invaders and did not return to Heliopolis. In helplessness, he retreated to a provincial residence away from the carnage being wreaked in his homeland by the hordes of "Apopi."

The inscription at el-Arish says the name of the Pharaoh who perished in the Whirlpool was Thom or Toum. Pi-Thom means "the abode of Thom." Pithom was one of the names of the two cities built by the Israelite slaves for the Pharaoh of the Oppression.

The Egyptian historian Manetho calls the name of the Pharaoh who ruled Egypt just before the invasion of the Hyksos "Tutimaeus or Timaios."

Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century, quotes Manetho in Against Apion, as follows:

This "blast of God's displeasure" was the mighty judgments that the Almighty God poured upon the Egyptians for their cruelty and refusal to allow the children of Israel to leave the country in peace!

Thom, Thoum, or Titimaeus, therefore, was the Pharaoh of the Exodus! He was the last Pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom, before the Hyksos or Amalekites ruled Egypt for 400 years, until the time of king Saul of Israel.

During the centuries of the Hyksos domination of Egypt, there was no literary activity in the land. During that time, Israel and Palestine were free from Egyptian domination or influence. Therefore, during the 400 years of the period of the Judges, we find no mention or evidence of any Egyptian excursions into Palestine. All the battles of Israel were with her Palestinian neighbors and enemies. But Egypt is strangely silent and absent. But of course! Egypt was having her own problems with the domination of the Hyksos, or Amalekites!

The whole picture fits together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces fit beautifully.

But what, then about the famous Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, which threw off the yoke of the Hyksos? How does Thutmose III and Amenhotep II fit into the picture? When did they live?

By the time of king Solomon of Israel, the kingdom of Israel had become a mighty world power. Solomon reigned over all the land from the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. He was the lord of a mighty kingdom with fleets that sailed around the globe with the fleets of Hiram, king of Tyre. During this time of relative world peace, Egypt also flourished after throwing off the yoke of the Hyksos. Egypt's greatest dynasty arose -- the Eighteenth, of the New Kingdom.

During the days of Solomon, he had a famous visitor -- the Queen of Sheba. At this time, the great and celebrated ruler of Egypt and Ethiopia was Hatshepsut, a powerful and wise Queen. Egyptian records show that during her reign Hatshepsut visited a land well known to the Egyptians, called "Punt," where she gave magnificent gifts, and received fabulous gifts in return. Upon her return to Egypt, she built a magnificent temple, in the Valley of the Nile, against the cliffs -- a temple unlike any previous Egyptian temple. It was simple in its architecture, and inscribed with paintings of the tremendous treasure she brought back from "Punt."

During this same time Solomon was receiving tremendous treasures from around the world, brought to him by the fleets he sent out. Gold from Ophir, apes, peacocks, algum trees, and spices -- there was no end to his wealth and treasure. Who was this "Queen of Sheba" who visited Solomon in his magnificence?

The word "Punt" comes from the name of Pontus, the ancestor of the Phoenicians. Thus "Punt" was another name for Phoenicia or Palestine! Hatshepsut was none other than the Queen of Sheba (she ruled Ethiopia and Egypt). The emperors of Ethiopia have always traced their lineage back to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba -- and they are right!

Josephus clearly identifies the Queen of Sheba with the "woman who at that time ruled as queen of Egypt and Ethiopia" (Antiquities. VIII, 165).

Punt was also called "Divine Land," or "God's Land." It was located toward the sunrise. It was a land affiliated with Egypt, not a foreign country. The inhabitants of this happy land were white men of a north-Semitic or Caucasian race.

On the walls of her temple in the Valley of the Nile, "The Most Splendid of Splendors," copied after the Temple in Jerusalem, are bas-reliefs depicting the life and trip of Hatshepsut to "Punt" or "the Holy Land." A comparison of these bas-reliefs with the beautiful situation of YEHOVAH God's Temple in Jerusalem, and the marvels the Queen saw in "Punt," clearly shows Hatshepsut was the Queen who visited Solomon in all his glory, and marveled at his wisdom and prosperity.

You can read the entire comparison in Immanuel Velikovsky's Ages in Chaos, the most important book he ever wrote.

Since Hatshepsut corresponds to the time of Solomon, then her son, Thutmose III, the "Napoleon of ancient Egypt," would correspond to a mighty Egyptian ruler who ruled contemporary with Solomon's son, Rehoboam.

Does this identification fit?

Thutmose was a mighty conqueror. The records of his military successes adorn the walls of the great Amon Temple in Karnak. A list of 119 cities in Palestine is engraved three times on the walls of the Temple. Since Thutmose's victorious march through Palestine occurred after the reign of his mother, Hatshepsut, who reigned contemporary with Solomon, Thutmose reigned contemporary with Rehoboam, Solomon' son. Surely the chronicles of ancient Judah and Israel could not have overlooked this victorious Egyptian campaign!

Indeed, they do not.

Thutmose III led his army into Palestine, and defeated the enemy arraigned against him at Megiddo. After Megiddo fell, the king conquered 118 other cities. The most important, and first on his list, was a city called simply "Kadesh." Where was this city? Who was its king?

Investigators have been puzzled why so many cities were listed in Palestine, yet the name of Jerusalem was not mentioned in the text. But this Kadesh could not be the Kadesh on the Orontes in northern Syria. The list of cities is of Palestinian cities, not Syrian cities. Secondly, Kadesh is listed first, even before Megiddo, where the king fought his greatest battle. Obviously, Kadesh was considered even more important!

The word "kadesh" in Hebrew means "holy." This was a "holy city." Is Jerusalem ever called "the holy city"?

In many places in the Scriptures, Jerusalem is referred to as "my mount kadesh," my mountain kadesh," thy city kadesh" (Psalm 2:6, Joel 2:1, Isa. 66:18). Daniel refers to Jerusalem as "thy city kadesh" (Dan. 9:24). The "Holy Land" and "Holy City" were names given to Palestine and Jerusalem from early times. Therefore, it is no strange thing for the Pharaoh Thutmose III to refer to Jerusalem by this common name used for it at that time! Kadesh, "Holy," referred directly to Jerusalem, regarded as the "Holy City."

During this time, when the Temple of Solomon stood, it was especially so regarded by the envious peoples of the surrounding nations!

Do the Scriptures also speak of this time of invasion and humiliation for the Jews and Rehoboam, when Jerusalem was attacked and conquered?

We read, "And it came to pass, in the fifth year of king Rehoboam. Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem....With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubim (Libyans), the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem" (II Chron. 12:2-4).

Jerusalem opened its gates to Thutmose III without offering any further resistance. Thutmose, or Shishak) "took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all; he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made" (II Chron. 12:9).

These treasures are reproduced upon a wall of the Karnak temple. The bas-reliefs display in ten rows the legendary wealth of Solomon, including vessels and utensils of the Temple, of the palace, the golden altar, the brazen altar, the shewbread (gold and silver), and the candlesticks. If all Thutmose III's booty had been painted on the Temple wall, it would have been a mile long! But instead numerical signs were marked beneath each picture to illustrate the quantity!

If Thutmose III lived 600 years before Solomon, how could he have possibly captured such a treasure trove which didn't yet even exist?

The Temple pillaged by this king was an extremely rich and significant Temple, with tremendous wealth. It could be none other than the Temple pillaged by Shishak, in the time of Rehoboam, son of Solomon!

No wonder Thutmose III was looked upon as such a mighty conqueror!

Now what about the son of Thutmose III, Amenhotep II? Can we identify him in the Scriptures?

Amenhotep II marched against Palestine and Syria after the death of his father, to suppress rebellion. In the ninth year of his reign, he repeated his expedition, this time going against some unimportant villages. On his next visit he did battle only one day after leaving the border of Egypt, and then retreated. This battle had to have been in southern Palestine.

How victorious was Amenhotep II at this battle? His booty consisted of the following: 2 horses, 1 chariot, a coat of mail, 2 bows, and one quiver of arrows, a corselet, and one other object which cannot be deciphered! Truly this was an amazing victory! Afterwards, instead of marching forward into enemy territory to capture more booty, the king retreated into Egypt!

Is this battle also mentioned in the Bible?

The grandson of Rehoboam was Asa, who built fortified cities throughout Judah. Asa had an army of 580,000 men from Judah and Benjamin (II Chron. 14:8).

During his reign, "there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with a host of 1,000,000, and 300 chariots; and came unto Mareshah" (II Chron. 14:9-10).

During this battle, Asa prayed for YEHOVAH's divine help, and he received it. "So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled" (v.12). Asa achieved a magnificent victory, and the Egyptians and Ethiopians fled the scene of battle!

The evidence is clear that Amenhotep II was none other than Zerah the Ethiopian. Moreshah, where this battle took place, is in southern Palestine, where Amenhotep conquered "horses 2, chariots 1," etc.!

There is much, much more to this story. If you would like to study the history of ancient Israel, as it is correctly aligned with the records of ancient Egypt, then I recommend that you read Ages in Chaos by Immanuel Velikovsky. This book is one of the most amazing histories ever written, and should receive much more study and attention.

Clearly, as we have seen, the Exodus of Israel did not occur during the 18th Dynasty in Egypt at all!