Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

      The issue of the nameless Pharaoh involves the
 approximate date of the earliest sources of Exodus
 composition. The Egyptian evidence gives it a
 chronological frame. This particular subject does
 not touch upon the reality of the events described
 in Exodus.     

   George Athas asked, inter alia:

  "And what then do we do with the fact that Pharaohs
 are specifically named in the books of Kings?"

  According to Kitchen, the custom of not naming  
the Pharaoh changed later on, both in Egypt and
in the HB: "Again, Egyptian and biblical usage
marched together through changing times."
   
    
 James Hoffmeier adds another perspective to the issue -
"It was normal in New Kingdom inscriptions not to
disclose the names of Pharaoh's enemies."

  He gives several examples: from the Annals of
 Thotmose III; from a stela of Amenhotep II, from
 Seti I and Ramesses II. *
 
  Surely, the Egyptians and their ruler in Exodus
 were enemies, and in the spirit of the time his name
 was excluded.  
  

 Best,

 Uri Hurwitz                                   Great Neck, NY
 
 
   *  James K. Hoffmeier, Israel in Egypt, pp 109/10