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  • From: MarianneLuban AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Moses
  • Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 17:04:40 EDT

In a message dated 7/30/2004 1:23:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
kwrandolph AT email.com writes:


> There are several clues, taken individually don't mean much, but taken
> together suggests to me that the pharaoh of the Exodus could very well
> have been Hyksos

Many of the ancient historians believed there was an exodus of the Hebrews at
the time of the Hyksos--but that the pharaoh who presided over that was
Ahmose I, which these chroniclers named specifically. The Hyksos was
Semites.
They sacked Memphis ca. 1760 BCE and assumed rule over the Delta as far south
as
Hermopolis--but no farther. But it wasn't until around a half a century
later
that one of their number actually felt sufficiently confident to proclaim
himself "pharaoh" in the north of Egypt, assuming Egyptian throne names, etc.

The Hyksos rule lasted about 108 years. Then, as Manetho tells us, a fierce
and
prolonged war broke out between the Hyksos and a dynasty ruling from Thebes
in the south. Several Theban princes fought the Hyksos, but only Ahmose I
succeeded in driving them into Canaan. The reason some of the historians of
antiquity believed an exodus took place at this time was because the Land of
Goshen
was part of the Hyksos holdings. And, yes, it would seem likely that, once
it became known that Ahmose was on the water, everyone in the eastern Delta
headed for Avaris, a large and very great Hyksos fortified city with
legendary
walls, for shelter. I really do not know of any evidence at all that a
Hyksos
king could be the pharaoh of the BOE. On the contrary, Manetho seems have
have indicated that it was Joseph who served a Hyksos King, Apophis, and even
gave the exact years of his lengthy reign when Joseph arrived in Egypt and
then
became vizier. If one credits this, then it is impossible for any Hyksos
ruler
to have been coexistent with Moses because Joseph came into Egypt 215 years
prior to the exodus. Manetho--quite obviously-- did not agree with the
theory
that an exodus took place at that time. He said the negotiations for a
release did not arise until the time of a king named Thutmose, Avaris having
been
resettled by then--and Manetho admitted he didn't know just what kind of
people
the Hyksos really were. There is a lot to be said about the ancients and
their various theories--but Manetho was considered to be a very great
authority by
them all. In order for me to set it down here, I would have to re-type my
whole book. Too much work :-(




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