The pharaoh of the Bible is called only "the pharaoh who had not known Joseph." The first words of this pharaoh merit close attention:
He said to his people: "Behold! The people of the Children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we are. Come, let us strive against them, for fear that they will multiply more, and if war should come, they would join our enemies and fight us, and they would leave the land. " (Aramaic Bible, Exodus 1:9)
According to Rashi, Pharaoh feared being driven out of Egypt himself. Pharaoh, in the situation of being in a minority, wanted to preserve himself and his people from an exodus. The expression "they would leave the land," veala min aarets, was translated by the sages of the Jewish Midrash as "we will leave Aretz." This meant we, the minority, the marginal ones, the monotheists, will be driven out of Akhet-Aten. Consequently, Pharaoh warned his subjects, the inhabitants of Akhet-Aten, about the growth of power of another people of the empire, designated in the Bible as "the Children of Israel" (the sons of the god Re).
The majority of the rest of Amunian Egypt was governed by the Divine Father Ay. These Children of Israel were disturbed by the intentions of Pharaoh and the monotheists. The interpretation of the end of the verse above shows that Amunian Egypt began to ally itself with Pharaoh's enemies. The people outside the sacred city were favorably disposed toward the poly-theist armies of Ay. Archeological studies show that Pharaoh Smenkhkare, caught in a trap, searched out a compromise with Ay and Amunian Egypt.
"The servants of Pharaoh said to him, 'How many times will he [Moses] be a trap to us? Let these people go, that they may serve Adon-Ay their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is lost?'" (Aramaic Bible, Exodus 10:7).
The many similarities between the Bible, the oral tradition, the commentaries of the sages, and Egyptian history, testify to the existence of a first Hebrew Torah, now lost. It revealed the history of the Yahuds. The Yahuds, so as not to lose the memory of their past, wrote down in their sacred book the tale of the exodus from Egypt as they had lived it in the latter days of Akhet-Aten. Modified from century to century, depending on the dominant kings and gods, the Torah became progressively a Mesopotamian history of the Hebrews.
There were those who complained about this practice: "How can you say, 'We are sages and the Torah of Yahwe is with us?' Yes, but the false pen of the scribes has made a lie of it!" (Jeremiah 8:8).
The original Torah was the history of ancient Egypt, reported by the Yahuds.
Relying on the writings in the Theban tomb of Pauah, a priest of Amun and a contemporary of Smenkhkare, Philipp Vandenberg describes that Smenkhkare began to have a temple built in honor of Amun. "It is possible, also, that the pharaoh [Smenkhkare] had recognized how difficult it was to convert the Egyptian people to a single, unique god. They had been offering sacrifices to their local gods for thousands of years."1
Smenkhkare, wanting to perpetuate the monotheistic tradition, was opposed to the departure of the Yahud priests. He ardently searched for a compromise with Amunian Egypt. For that reason, he left his capital, Akhet-Aten, where he lived in security. He made himself vulnerable by going to Thebes, a fiefdom of the Divine Father Ay. Smenkhkare was unaware of the ambitions of the Divine Father and of his "nephews," Generals Horemheb (Aaron) and Ramesses (Moses). Outside Akhet-Aten, political power had for a long time belonged to the family of the Divine Father Ay.
In the Book of Exodus, Pharaoh refuses to let the Yahud priests go, in spite of nine plagues, which symbolize the catastrophic state of Amunian
Egypt left behind by Akhenaten. This situation is described in the Stela of the Return. The tenth plague, which relates to the death of Smenkhkare, the firstborn of Akhenaten, reveals the existence of the plot that was brewing.
Scholars concluded that the journey to Thebes was a sign of appeasement for all the Egyptian people. In the Bible, Pharaoh undertook to regain national cohesion by great construction projects. Amenhotep III is reported to have said, "It is my heart that has inspired me to execute work projects with the best men of my army."2 Pharaoh's words here sound like the order the Biblical pharaoh gave to Moses and Aaron, telling them to continue the work projects: "Pharaoh said to them, 'Why did you lay the people off from their work? Get back to work!'" (Exodus 5:4).
Egyptologists discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb some headbands that came from Smenkhkare's tomb, from which Smenkhkare's name had been scraped off. Christiane Desroches Noblecourt writes: "Several specialists agree in thinking that his [Smenkhkare's] sepulcher was, a few years later, pillaged by Ay, to Tutankhamun's benefit."3
According to Pierre Grandet, Smenkhkare and Tutankhamun were pressured to return to the ancient polytheistic religion,4 and Howard Carter was intrigued by the subject also: "It appears that the return of Tutankhamun to the old faith was not entirely dictated by conviction."5
Since Tutankhamun was around eight years old at this time, it is certain that the intrigue to seize power related to the return of Amunian orthodoxy, could only have been fomented by Ay and his family.
Smenkhkare's cartouche always carries the name of Aten, even though the compromise with Amun had already been concluded. After Akhenaten's death conflict erupted between his successor Smenkhkare and the Divine Father Ay. This conflict was described in the Book of Exodus. The compromise is attested to by Tutankhamun's mummy, which displays the principal symbols of both the Amunian and Atenian religions.
"A new king arose over Egypt, one who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). Rashi's commentary, as brief as it is surprising, is nonetheless evocative of historical memories. "He pretended he did not know him." Tradition affirms that Joseph was still living in this pharaoh's time, which does suggest that there was conflict between Joseph and Pharaoh.
When the new pharaoh came to the throne, Ay was still considered to be a servant and not a divine being superior to pharaoh. Historically, the deified Ay corresponded with Smenkhkare by way of intermediaries: Generals Horemheb and Ramesses. The conflict broke out when Pharaoh refused to recognize Ay as a divinity of Egypt: "But Pharaoh said, 'Who is Ay that I should be obedient to his voice and send Israel away? I do not know Ay at all. Moreover, I will not let Israel go.' They answered, 'The god of the Yahuds is manifested in us"' (Aramaic Bible, Exodus 5:2).
According to the Aramaic Bible, Moses and Aaron were letting Pharaoh know that Ay was the god of the Yahuds, publicly disavowing the authority of the king of Egypt. After this disavowal, Pharaoh let Moses and Aaron leave again. Why didn't the king of Egypt react to that humiliation?
Did Smenkhkare fall into a trap by going to Thebes?
"Moses said to him [Pharaoh], 'As soon as I leave the city I will extend my hands towards Ay. The thunder will cease and there will be no more hail, that thou mightst know that the land [Aretz = Akhet] belongs to Ay'" (Aramaic Bible, Exodus 9:29).
Ay ordered Moses and Aaron to claim possession of Aretz (Akhet). In which city were the negotiations taking place? Was it in Akhet-Aten or in Thebes? Here is Rashi's commentary: "As soon as I have left the city (Exodus 9:29) ... And why was the word of God [to Moses] not given inside of the city? Because the city was full of idols."
Only Thebes, the ancient polytheistic capital of the kingdom, fits in with historic reality. The Theban city had been Ay's fiefdom for a long time, and nothing could stop him from pressuring Smenkhkare to yield and adhere to his cause. Rashi (Exodus 8:17) emphasizes "The Hagada gives a reason for each plague, why there was this one and why another. God attacked them following the tactical plan of a king laying siege to a city. First, destroy the water sources. Then sound the trumpets with loud blasts to frighten them and sow terror."
According to different commentaries, it is probable that, historically, the army of the Divine Father Ay laid siege to Thebes, exercising blackmail and intimidation against Smenkhkare, keeping him hostage. Smenkhkare was unable to act in any way against the generals.
In taking the initiative of going to Thebes, Smenkhkare was an heroic pharaoh, animated by the desire for a permanent peace between Aten and
Amun. It would be beneficial for the people of Akhet-Aten as well as for the rest of Egypt.
The sarcophagus in Tomb Number 55 containing Smenkhkare's mummy has the following inscription at the level of his feet. It is addressed to Akhenaten:
Words spoken by [name chiseled out]. May I breathe the sweet breath which comes from thy mouth, may I see thy beauty every day. My wish is to hear thy sweet voice, like the breeze, and that my members might be regenerated to life, thanks to my love for thee. Would that thou shouldst extend towards me thy arms bearing thy spiritual strength, that I might receive it and that I might live therein. Would that thou couldst call me by my name forever and ever! ... Thou who art... Living eternally, as the solar disk... The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, living in justice, the master of the two lands... Thou, the perfect child of Aten, who shalt live eternally.
Misled several times by the words of Aaron and Moses, Smenkhkare perceived too late the trap into which he had fallen. Moses and Aaron addressed Pharaoh:
"It is three days journey in the desert that we wish to go, and we will sacrifice to Adon-Ay our God, as he has commanded us." Pharaoh said, "I shall let you go to sacrifice to Adon-Ay your God in the desert. But be careful not to go too far away. Intercede for me." (Aramaic Bible, Exodus 8:23)
Why did Moses and Aaron hide the truth from Pharaoh? Why didn't they declare that they were accompanying the people to Canaan?
Pharaoh knew the anarchic situation in the Canaanite territories (testified to by the Amarna Letters). He would not have allowed himself to be duped by Moses and Aaron, who gave the pretext of a sacrifice three days' march away. In Thebes, which was under siege, it was impossible for Smenkhkare to send an emissary to warn his army in Akhet-Aten. That's how the strands of the intrigue and the coup d'etat fomented by Ay came together, followed by the exodus of the monotheist population.
The image of the evil pharaoh is contradicted by a verse where he accepts the departure of the Children of Israel, but refuses to let the women and children leave:
He [Pharaoh] replied, "May Adon-Ay be with you if I let you go, you and your children. Look how evil [raha] is before you [= against you]! It will not be thus! ... Go then, you men, and serve Adon-Ay, since you desire to go there." And they were driven away from Pharaoh's presence. (Aramaic Bible, Exodus 10:10)
The verse employs the word neged, which means either "with" or "against." Pharaoh is saying that "raha is against you." Smenkhkare was opposed to the exodus, predicting a catastrophe. Rashi's commentary confirms that the pharaoh of the Biblical Exodus fought desperately to avoid just such an outcome:
Behold how evil is before us. To translate it like the Targum: The evil that you intended to do comes back against you. Here is an interpretation of the Hagada: There is a star that bears the name ra'ha (evil). Pharaoh said to them, "I study astrology and I see this star approaching to meet you in the desert. It announces blood and slaughter."
Smenkhkare's prediction was realized in the desert, but also within the Egyptian empire, in which a slow and irreversible decline began with the Amarnian heresy. The decline continued for centuries. By refusing a compromise with Aten, Ay had broken the eternal alliance between Egypt and its priests. During the Babylonian exile, the empire collapsed, dragging down in its fall the Kingdom of Judah, the province of the Yahuds, worshipers of Pharaoh. The last Yahud survivors melted into the Erev-rav and were called the Hebrews, preserving through the Biblical tradition the essence of the Egyptian religion.
The Holy of Holies of Tutankhamun's tomb comprises three containers that cover the red granite sarcophagus enclosing the royal casket, layered within each other. The first two were in gold-covered wood, while the third was made of solid gold. Nine centuries before the discovery of the tomb, Rashi6 gives particulars about the Ark of the Covenant, which only an oral tradition based in the depths of the ages and jealously conserved by the people who went out of Egypt could reveal:
In the interior and on the exterior wilt thou cover it. Betsalel7 had made three chests. Two in gold and one in wood, each one having the four walls and the base, but open above. Then he placed the wooden chest inside the golden one, then the other golden chest inside the wooden one, and he covered the top with gold. The result was that the Ark was covered inside and outside.
The description compares with Tutankhamun's sarcophagus. The Hebrew word Aron used in the Bible (Exodus 25:10) is the same as the word for coffin in the stories of Jacob and Joseph (Genesis 50:26). Was the Ark of the Covenant a sarcophagus?
On the lid of each of the three caskets of Tutankhamun were carved two large wings directed towards his head. On the lid of the last sarcophagus, in solid gold, there are two angels, facing each other, wings deployed above and below, like the two angels of the Ark of the Covenant.
After having taken the mummy out of the golden sarcophagus, the archeologists delicately removed the cloth strips to extricate from the young king's body the many precious objects, knives, amulets, golden collars, and the golden pectoral. The left forearm of the mummy wore six golden bracelets, with a single one at the biceps8 and two rings on the left hand; one on the middle finger and the other on the ring finger. The bracelets and rings placed in this way correspond to the position of the phylacteries or tefillin9 of the Hebrew tradition, encircling the left forearm and the two fingers of the hand.
The golden headband10 on Pharaoh's head displays the uraeus on the front, the vulture and serpent, insignia of Upper and Lower Egypt. It ends by two straps falling on the back of the neck. It evokes both the "tefillin of the head," and the phylacteries, formed of a case bearing the divine name," a frontal band and two straps.
"Thou shalt attach [the sacred words] as a symbol on thy arm, and thou shalt wear them on thy forehead between thy eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:8).
In a letter addressed to Akhenaten, the King of Tyre, Abimalich, informs him that he wears him on his forehead between his eyes.
When the king, my Lord, saith, "Be ready before the arrival of a great army," then the servant says to his Lord, "ia-a-ia-a [Yah, the same name of God as in the Bible], in my forehead and in my back I wear the word of the king. " (EA 147)
The head of Tutankhamun's mummy, wearing a skullcap adorned with golden seals engraved with the name of Aten, seems to be the ancestor of the kippa worn by practicing Jews.
The ornaments of Egyptian royalty, worn by Tutankhamun, Pharaoh of Egypt, and the symbols of Biblical monotheism: the tefillin, the kippa, and the tallith, are analogous.
Representation of Tutankhamun's mummy. By removing the "pictures of the gods, "the principal symbols of the Hebrew religion appear.
Shawl (or tallith,) and phylacteries (or tefillin,) of the Hebrew tradition.
The following verse is from the wisdom of Merykare:
Venerate God on thy way, Whatever form he may manifest, Be he made of rare stones Or incarnated in a copper statue, One form will replace another form, As one inundation followeth another. Give thy love to the entire land.12
Notes
1. Philipp Vandenberg, Nefertiti. Pierre Belfond, 1987, p. 258.
2. Ibid., p. 87.
3. Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Vie et mort d'un Pharaon. Hachette, 1963, p. 220.
4. Pierre Grandet, Hymnes de la religion d'Aton. Le Seuil, 1995, p. 63.
5. Howard Carter, The Tomb of Tutankhamun. Pygmalion, 1978, p. 86.
6. Pvashi, The Pentateuch according to Rashi, Exodus. Samuel and Odette Levy, 1990.
7. One responsible for artistic works.
8. Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Vie et mort d'un pharaoh, p. 232. The bracelet was a golden band placed just above his elbow.
9. In the Hebrew tradition, for morning prayers the faithful wear (every day except Saturday) leather straps around their left arm (phylacteries in Greek), tefillin in Hebrew. This cultural ornament surrounds at the level of the biceps, and continues with seven twists around the forearm. The strap ends by tightly hugging the palm of the hand, then one or two fingers: the middle and the ring. The phylactery or tefiline of the head circles the head and divides into two straps, which fall to the back of the neck. The two containers located in front of the head and against the biceps contain the sacred words. The ritual of the embalmers requires that the right hand wear the golden finger ornament and the fist hold gold: "Then thou embalmest thy God. Submerge his left hand so that the fist is in the oil... Place a golden ring on his fingers, and put the gold in his fist." Philipp Vandenberg, Nefertiti, p. 141.
10. Called seshed in Egyptian. Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, CD Rom Tutankhamon. Syrinx, 1997.
11. Scholars of the Hebrew tradition wear two containers instead of one. Two signs (Tot in Hebrew); Rashi explains that Tot means "two" in Coptic.
12. Translated by Christian Jacq, La sagesse vivante de l'Ancienne Egypte. Robert Laffont, 1998, p. 41.
The preceding chapters are a narrative description of the thesis that the Biblical Book of Exodus is derived from the historical events that occurred in the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt.
The remaining chapters explore in detail the linguistic and cultural evidence of the relationship between the Biblical and the historical records.
World History
