The Hyksos Kings of Egypt
ACCORDING to the Biblical History, two hundred years intervened between Abram’s visit to Egypt and Joseph’s early experiences there. It was at the close of the Eleventh Dynasty that Abram was in Egypt. Two hundred years from then brings us to a date within the period during which Egypt was ruled by the Hyksos kings. The Hyksos people invaded Egypt from the south of Canaan, with overwhelming success. Some writers have tried to minimize this success; but the testimony available is decidedly against them. The Hyksos dominion in Egypt lasted for centuries. They had founded (or else rebuilt) Hebron in Canaan; and, seven years later, on invading Egypt, they built Zoan (see Num. 13:2222And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) (Numbers 13:22)). These Hyksos (“shepherd-kings”) had immense herds and flocks, and were not loved by the conquered Egyptians (see Gen. 46:3434That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. (Genesis 46:34) and 43:32). Their very memory, so to speak, was afterward persecuted. Indeed, not much has been discovered in Egypt concerning these foreign dynasties, because of the determined destruction of their monuments and inscriptions by the native dynasty which was founded by the Egyptian prince who drove them out. The problem of arriving at the truth is made still more difficult by what seems to be a deliberate confusing or concealment of the historical facts in various records left by the Pharaohs that followed the final Hyksos Dynasty. Fresh light has however recently been shed upon the Hyksos by Sir FLINDERS PETRIE’S excavations at and near Gaza, especially during the 1930-1 season. These discoveries show that the Hyksos people were much more advanced in culture than had previously been supposed.
WEIGALL’S recent “History of the Pharaohs” shows clearly that it is impossible, from purely Egyptian monuments and documents, to arrive at any sure chronological conclusions for this period. (See Vol. II., pp. 192, 203, 208, 209.) Rev. J. URQUHART, however, in “The New Biblical Guide,” Vol. III (1900), has adduced a mass of evidence in support of the ancient tradition that the Pharaoh of Joseph was that Apepi who ruled over all Egypt, and who was probably the greatest of all the Hyksos kings. WEIGALL places Joseph’s elevation to power at an earlier date, under a king of the Twelfth Dynasty; but to accomplish this he has arbitrarily to reject some portions of the Biblical History, while acknowledging the reliability of other portions of it. Professor YAHUDA also places Joseph at a period earlier than that of the Hyksos kings; but he is proceeding upon the assumption that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years, which, as we have already proved, is an error. It is noteworthy that nothing that either WEIGALL or YAHUDA proves invalidates the conclusions stated by J. URQUHART.
The Collapse of Hostile Criticism
Now the critics of the Bible assert that the Book of Genesis was not written till long after the time of Moses; that it was not written till long after the time of Samuel; that indeed it was not completed until the time of the Babylonian Captivity. It must be remembered that the Egypt of Joseph was in many respects different from the Egypt which Moses knew, and was, of course, far more different from the Egypt known to the Jews of later ages. It necessarily follows that, if the “Higher Critical” assumption be correct, this narrative about Joseph must be crammed full of misrepresentations of that ancient Egypt. Through the wonderful discoveries of modern times, we now know that ancient Egypt better than we know our own England of say two hundred years ago. This knowledge of that Egypt was not available to the Jews of the Babylonian Captivity, nor even to Jews of the time of Samuel. Here, then, is a straight-out issue. Is the truth with the Bible, or is it with the critics of the Bible? What is the verdict of archeology on this matter? On such a matter as this, that verdict is final; from it there can be no appeal. And that verdict has been given clearly and emphatically. It is, that in the Biblical narrative concerning Joseph we have a wonderfully full picture, an exact reflection, of the Egypt of that very period—200 years after Abram, and 200 years before Moses.
The Many Accuracies of the Narrative
We now proceed to detail a number of the marvelous accuracies which have been noted as the result of recent archaeological investigations.
The royal court was then in Lower Egypt, in the Delta, where the Hyksos kings established their seat of government.
“Potiphar” (meaning “consecrated to Ra”) was a name of that period, and of that region of Egypt.
“Captain of the Guard.” There was a corps of the ancient Egyptian army especially charged with police duties, and with the execution of the royal orders.
Thrice over in five verses it is stated as a noteworthy circumstance that this officer was “an Egyptian.” Under a Hyksos king, this was indeed remarkable.
This nobleman had a manager of his estate; and this position was occupied by a slave. In ancient Egypt, “every great Egyptian family placed a chosen slave at the head of its establishment.”
Just as the Scripture implies, the Egyptian women of that time were neither secluded nor veiled; and yet they did not, as a rule, bear a good moral character.
The upper-class homes were so constructed that the manager had to pass through the central rooms to reach the store-chambers at the back.
In a lecture before the Royal Asiatic Society, in 1935, Dr. A. S. YAHUDA remarked that “the dungeon in which Joseph was imprisoned could be identified from the Biblical particulars as a well-known Egyptian fortress used for the incarceration of political offenders.”
At the ancient Egyptian royal court everything was highly organized. There was a “chief of the bakers,” and there was a “chief of the cup-bearers.” The chief baker of Rameses III, according to a contemporary papyrus, had in store 114,064 loaves at one time.
On ancient Egyptian monuments the very act described in Gen. 40. 11 is pictured. The ancient Egyptians were connoisseurs in wine; yet the critics formerly denied that wine was then used at all in Egypt.
The art of baking and pastry-making was then very highly developed in Egypt.
The bakers used to carry their loaves and cakes in shallow baskets on their heads. (Women in Egypt carried their loads on their shoulders).
The punishment of the chief-baker was exactly of a kind practiced in the Egypt of that time. Mummies of decapitated bodies have been found; but this man, though high in rank, by the nature of his sentence was debarred from the consolation of embalmment. (The ancient Egyptians considered that if the body was not embalmed there would be no resurrection.)
The celebration of the royal birthday, in ancient Egypt, was a great occasion, and was accompanied by the release of prisoners.
The ancient Egyptians attached great importance to dreams, which they regarded as “messages from the gods.”
A special class of men practiced as interpreters of dreams, and were held in the highest esteem.
A number of purely Egyptian words, and Egyptian idioms, are in this narrative; and no interpretation or explanation is given: which would be inexplicable, on the critical hypothesis.
The vital importance given to the Nile is a purely Egyptian feature.
(19) So is the representation of the cattle coming forth from the Nile.
(20) “Seven cows:” the invariable number in Egyptian religious representations.
(21) The cow was, to the ancient Egyptians, the symbol of fruitfulness and prosperity.
(22) The Egyptian variety of wheat bore several ears upon one stalk.
(23) Wheat was the main crop in ancient Egypt. Compare the rice in India.
(24) The ancient Egyptians believed that all evil came from the east. Thus in all these particulars we can see how God was speaking to the Pharaoh in symbols at once familiar and striking.
(25) Pharaoh’s grave concern about his dreams is another specially Egyptian feature of this narrative.
(26) “All the magicians (scribes)... all the wise men.” In ancient Egypt, “the entire body of priests were divided into four classes, and to each class were assigned five representatives, who lived in the capital, and were the appointed counselors of the king.”
(27) Although the king was in such haste, Joseph had to be shaved and had to change his raiment before being brought before the king. The former is a specially Egyptian trait; not Jewish, and not Babylonian.
(28) As to the suddenness of Joseph’s exaltation, this was a characteristic of many promotions in ancient Egypt.
“All the land of Egypt.” Under the Hyksos monarch, Apepi II, Egypt was an undivided kingdom.
“Upon thy mouth shall all my people kiss” (Heb. in chap. 41:40). In ancient Egypt there was a state dignitary called “the superior mouth of the land of Egypt.”
Also, “kiss” was the idiomatic Egyptian expression for “eat” or “be fed.”
Pharaoh’s seal-ring. The critics used to deny that the kings of Egypt had such rings; but now it is well known that they were customary at that time.
“Fine Linen” in ancient Egypt was used for the costumes of kings and of nobles. One specimen discovered has, to each inch, 270 double-threads in the warp, and 110 in the woof.
The gold “chain.” An Egyptian word is here used, “rabid,” now known to mean “collar,” and referring to a royal decoration much coveted by the Egyptian grandees.
“Potipherah” and “Asenath” were names used at that period in that part of Egypt.
The priest of On was then the most important person, apart from royalty.
There are strong indications that Apepi II became a monotheist; and we can easily see the likelihood that the king who knew and honored Joseph would come to know and to honor the God of Joseph.
The seven-years’ famine. An inscription has been found, engraved on the rock-hewn tomb of an official named Baba who served under Sekenen-Ra (the vassal-king at Thebes under Apepi II), and stating: “I collected the harvest, as a friend of the harvest-god. I was watchful at the time of sowing. And now when a famine arose, lasting many years, I issued out corn to the city each year of famine.”
“Ye are spies,” was the accusation leveled against Joseph’s brothers on their arrival in Egypt from the south of Canaan. The Hyksos conquerors, who had successfully invaded Egypt from that same region, were naturally nervous lest fresh invaders should come thence and conquer them.
“They sat before him” (Gen. 43. 33). The Egyptian custom was to sit at meals, not to recline, as the Jews did in later times.
Also, they sat according to their ages. This was the old Egyptian custom.
Just as is here related, it was customary in Egypt for the host to send portions of food from before himself to honored guests.
As is indicated in the Genesis narrative, the land of Goshen lay to the east of Memphis—towards Canaan.
And it was a district especially suitable fox cattle.
And it was at that time inhabited largely by foreigners, most of whom were Semites. We know from ancient Egyptian records that Zoan (Tanis) was an essentially non-Egyptian town. The title of the chief official of Goshen was “Governor of the, Foreign Peoples.”
The Shepherd-King was naturally glad to establish upon his eastern border an enthusiastically loyal population.
Notice the emphasis upon “occupation.” In ancient Egypt work was highly honorable; every one was expected to have some definite occupation.
The Bible narrative tells us that during the seven-years’ famine, Joseph accomplished a tremendous stroke of public policy. He transferred the population within Egypt, breaking thus the power of the old Egyptian nobles, and so securing a long period of peaceful rule for his royal masters.
We can appreciate the real generosity of Joseph’s treatment of the peasants of Egypt, now that we know of the vast and intricate system of irrigation provided and maintained by the Government in those times.
When Jacob died, Joseph’s physicians (plural) embalmed his body. Every noble in ancient Egypt retained the services of a number of doctors; for every doctor was compelled to specialize.
(51) The most expensive method of embalming took forty days. About three miles of linen bandages were used in the process.
(52) For the “great,” the period of mourning lasted for seventy days: not thirty days, as with the Jews (Dent. 34. 8).
(53) Mourners went unshaven until the burial was over. Hence Joseph could not himself make his request to Pharaoh (Gen. 50. 4).
(54) Women mourners had special place in the old Egyptian funeral processions (Gen. 50. 8).
(55) The three classes enumerated in verse 7 is found to be exactly accurate.
(56) “Chariots and horsemen” (v. 9). The Hyksos introduced horses into Egypt.
(57) It is twice stated (vv. 22 and 26) that Joseph lived 110 years. We know from the Egyptian records that in ancient times this length of life was one that was specially longed for by Egyptians. God thus honored Joseph before them.
(58) The word translated “coffin” in the last verse of Genesis is a reference to the wooden mummy-case enclosing the embalmed body.
We trust that our readers’ patience has not been exhausted by this detailed evidence, to which a number of other points could be added. Our object has been to exhibit the minute and unfailing accuracy of this narrative; an accuracy which, apart from Divine inspiration, would hardly have been possible for even Moses to achieve, and utterly impossible for the “writers” postulated by the critics of the Bible.
The Argument From Language
One chief recent contribution to the discussion of this period of Biblical History is Professor A. S. YAHUDA’s research work, detailed in his 1933 volume on “The Language of the Pentateuch in its Relation to Egyptian,” and in his 1935 volume on “The Accuracy of the Bible.” This author proves that the Hebrew of the first five Books of the Bible is an Egyptianized Hebrew, written therefore by a writer and for readers who were familiar with both those languages. He further proves that the Egyptian elements which are in the language of the Joseph-history and that of the Exodus-history are minutely in agreement with the linguistic peculiarities of Egyptian. The dispassionate thoroughness of this author leaves his readers with a sense that finality is reached as to all the main issues and as to most of the details dealt with. Now these things being established, the conclusion inevitably follows that the writer of the Pentateuch was Moses, and also that the readers for whom it was first written were the Israelites whom he led out of Egypt. As contrasted therefore with the uncertainties of the existing Egyptian records of the 13th to the 17th Dynasties, we have, in the Genesis record, an account written by one who had ample sources of information and who was born within sixty years of Joseph’s death.
Additional Chronological Evidence
The Scripture clearly implies that when Jacob died, twenty-six years after Joseph was made the ruler of Egypt, the Egyptian king was in complete control of Southern Canaan; for the large company that went with Joseph and his brothers to bury their father in Machpelah, near Hebron, was not a military expedition, and was accorded a peaceful reception by the Canaanites. The recent discoveries by PETRIE at Gaza, and by GARSTANG at Jericho, enable us to understand why this was so: those regions at that time formed part of the Hyksos dominion. But when Joseph died, seventy years later, no attempt was made to do the same for him. At that time the power of the Hyksos was waning.
Further light comes from the earlier chapters of 1 Chronicles, a portion of Scripture generally considered to be wearisome and unprofitable. In chapter 7, verses 20-24, we are told (1) that two of Joseph’s grandsons were killed in a battle with “the men of Gath;” and (2) that a grand-daughter of Joseph built, i.e., fortified, three cities in Canaan. A consideration of Gen. 50. 23 shows that these events must have occurred some time previous to Joseph’s death, and indicate that the Hyksos Pharaohs were then having trouble with their subjects in Southern Canaan. The outcome of that trend of things was, that by the time Joseph died, the rulers of Egypt had lost those provinces.
Now the Books of Chronicles were written a thousand years later than the Book of Genesis. Thus we see that to the inspired writers of Scripture the far-distant past was clearly and accurately revealed. Left to their own resources, they would often have gone astray; but their feet were kept steadily in the path of truth by the God to whom what we call “past” or “future” is an eternal present.
In the so-called “Higher Criticism” of the Bible by the unbelieving “scholarship” of the nineteenth century, the enemy came in like a flood; but in the twentieth century discoveries of archeology, the Spirit of the Lord has lifted up a standard against the enemy, and is putting him to flight.