Biblical Hebrew Forum

[<david.kimbrough AT charter.net>]

Harold,

Dr. Merrill is of course correct that no one likes to admit defeat, and the 
ancient Egyptians were no different (there are plenty of Americans who think 
the US won the war of 1812).  He is also correct that different kings of 
Egypt exerted different amounts of effort to maintain Egyptian control of 
Canaan.  Nonetheless, Egypt did control Canaan more or less from the 
expulsion of the Hyksos to some time just before the reign of King David.  
The Armana Letters, the Merneptah Stele, and other evidence all point this 
out.  Judges and Joshua do not even mention any Egyptians in Canaan although 
their presence there is well documented both in Egypt and Canaan for just 
about any realistic period for the conquest. There is simply no way a group 
could flee Egypt and then conquer Canaan forty years later and be consistent 
with the evidence.  

> 
> From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
> Date: 2004/05/26 Wed AM 11:36:14 GMT
> To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Exodus & Hyksos
> 
> Dear David,
> 
> >A key element overlooked in trying to tie biblical
> >chronology to the archeological record is that fact that
> >after the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt, the Hyksos
> >fled across the Sinai to Canaan, to a fortified city
> >Sharuhen (Tell Ajjul, not far from Gaza).  Ahmose pursued
> >the Hyksos across the Sinai and destroyed their fortress. 
> >He then conquered all of Canaan and large parts of what is
> >now Lebanon and Syria.  Egypt control this region lasted
> >for hundreds of years after. The Merneptah Stele (1210 BC)
> >mentions that Egyptian forces under the command of
> >Merneptah in Canaan defeated ?Israel?.  Specifically it
> >states "Israel is laid waste, its seed is not." (Ashkelon
> >and Gezer are also mentioned). The determinative is for a
> >people, rather than a state.  As late as 1210 Egypt held
> >sway over Canaan.
> >
> >The point here is for hundreds of years after the expulsion
> >of the Hyksos, there is no way for the Israelites to flee
> >Egypt, wander about for 40 years, and then enter Canaan.
> >Canaan was under Egyptian rule.
> 
> HH: Dr. Eugene H. Merrill, in his book Kingdom of Priests, dates the 
> Exodus to 1440 B.C. and says this:
> 
> It might seem strange that Egyptian history knows nothing of the 
> exodus and conquest, but given the Egyptian penchant for recording 
> only victories and not defeats, one should not be surprised at the 
> omission. Amenhotep II (1450-1425), the pharaoh of the exodus, had 
> either little interest or little stomach for Palestinian conquest 
> following his fifth year. the year of the exodus. His son Thutmose IV 
> (1425-1417) apparently undertook only one northern campaign-to Aram 
> Naharaim. This would have occurred while Israel was in the Sinai 
> wilderness and so would have had no effect on the conquest. Amenhotep 
> III (1417-1379) was ruling during Israel's invasion and occupation of 
> Canaan, but his attention was directed not towards defending his 
> interests in Canaan, but toward hunting and the arts. Whatever 
> military activities he did undertake were against Nubia in the south. 
> This obviously was providential for Israel, for, as has been seen, 
> the Mitannians, Hittites, and (later) the Assyrians were for the most 
> part at loggerheads, unable to fill the vacuum that Egypt's 
> disinterest in Canaan had produced. Only the Canaanites, themselves 
> totally disorganized, stood in the way.
> 
>                               Yours,
>                               Harold Holmyard
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David Kimbrough
San Gabriel