Biblical King of the seven-year Famine

by Damien F. Mackey The Pharaoh whom I am hoping to establish here will certainly be, like Moses' s first two Egyptian rulers were, a king of various names, dynasties, and even kingdoms, conventionally speaking. In reality, of course, he belonged to only the one dynasty, and only the one kingdom, of Egypt. Introduction Moses Egypt's Twelfth Dynasty ('Middle' Kingdom) encompassed the entire early life of Moses, from his birth to his recall to Egypt from his exile in Midian (Exodus 2:1-4:31). This was that mighty dynasty that oppressed, as slaves, the growing number of Israelites in Egypt. The first Oppressor King, the "new king who knew not Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), was Amenemhet (Amenemes) so-called I, "... the first ruler of a new dynasty. This is confirmed by his choice of Horus name: Weḥem-meswt ('He who repeats births'), which suggests that he was the first of a new line" (Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell, 1994, p. 158). This king would express his alarm at the growing number of "Asiatics" (includes Israelites) in the Delta region. He will consequently embark upon a massive building and infrastructural program, pyramids, temples, canals, agriculture, under whose weight the Israelites and other foreigners would groan. But this was also the famous Pyramid-building and sphinxes-raising phase (including Giza) of ancient Egypt. The early career of Moses enables for the beginnings of a comprehensive reconstruction of ancient Egyptian history, with the Fourth, Fifth (probably), Sixth, and the Twelfth dynasties now all to be recognised as being the one and the same. Basically, this era consisted of only the two major oppressor pharaohs, namely: 1. Khufu/Teti-Merenre/Amenemhet; and 2. Chephren-"Chenephres"/Pepi/Sesostris) Then briefly came a woman Pharaoh, Sebekneferure (likely at about the time of the Burning Bush incident of Exodus 3), followed by the Thirteenth Dynasty, with its Pharaoh of the Exodus, Neferhotep, and Israel's departure from Egypt. The career of Moses thus enables for a synchronisation (or tucking up) of Egypt's Old and 'Middle' kingdoms, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Twelfth and Thirteenth (partly) - all within a span of some 80 years - the age of Moses when in confrontation with the hard-hearted Pharaoh of the Exodus (7:7). Joseph Will the same sort of chronological service - but towards the reconstruction of an earlier phase of ancient Egyptian history - be provided by the life of Joseph? The answer to this will be: Yes. Abram (Abraham) Thanks to Dr. John Osgood ("The Times of Abraham", Creation.com), one can now tie up in the life of Abram (Abraham) various archaeological strata: namely, Late Chalcolithic (En-geddi); Neolithic (Jericho); Ghassul IV (Syro-Palestine); a near contemporaneous Narmer level at Arad's Stratum IV; Gerzean in Egypt. And all of this dovetailing at the time of the four-king coalition led by Chedorlaomer of Elam (Genesis 14:1-16), when five kings ruled Pentapolis (14:2: Bera, Birsha, Shinab, Shemeber, and the king of Zoar). A greatly aged Melchizedek (Shem) was yet then still alive as well (14:18-20). Noah And, similarly, I have wondered if Noah and the Flood may even hold the key to a more satisfactory lay-out of those highly-inflated Geological Ages - just as the life of Abram has served to demonstrate that the Stone Ages were not entirely linear, but were partly contemporaneous, and shrinkable. I suspect that, for one, the Eocene Sea (a mere 56-34 million years ago - you're kidding, aren't you?) was actually contemporaneous with the great Noachic Flood (c. 2900 BC), as was the Black Sea flood (c. 7000-5500 BC, conventional dating). The Bible defeats the linear evolutionary and Sothic (dynastic) models at every turn. Biblical King of Jacob and Joseph Old Kingdom (1) I include Jacob here because he, during the Famine, twice blessed the Pharaoh (Genesis 47:7, 10), who, I suspect, may have been quite young. The Pharaoh whom I am hoping to establish here will certainly be, like Moses' s first two Egyptian rulers were, a king of various names, dynasties, and even kingdoms, conventionally speaking. In reality, of course, he belonged to only the one dynasty, and only the one kingdom, of Egypt. To begin with, he is assuredly the notable Horus Netjerikhet, who oversaw the building of the famous Step Pyramid at Saqqara, and who is the king named in the seven-year Famine Stela of Sehel Island. The period is called Egypt's Third Dynasty (Old Kingdom). Netjerikhet's Joseph was Imhotep, also named in the Sehel Stela. But Imhotep needs to be filled out with alter egos, most necessarily with that of Khasekhemwy-Imhotep. Joseph-Imhotep must therefore have been a veritable sub-Pharaoh. King Horus Netjerikhet is often also called Djoser (or Zoser), but this, I believe, is incorrect. Djoser was another name of Sekhemkhet's, whom, too, I have identified with Khasekhem(wy), or Imhotep. In other words, Djoser was Imhotep. There is much proof for Horus Netjerikhet as the Famine Pharaoh, including the (admittedly late) Famine Stela, and the enormous dams, canals, and super granaries constructed at the time (e.g., Bahr Yusef, Shon Yusef, Gisr el-Mudir, etc.). This is undoubtedly one of the most incredible moments in all of history. Here was the ruler of a great nation bending to the advice of his foreign subordinate based on the latter's ability to interpret dreams, and thus ordering, or allowing for, the raising of a massive water-harvesting infrastructural program some seven years before the fore-warned crisis had even occurred. Conclusion One The Famine Pharaoh was Horus Netjerikhet. His Joseph was Imhotep (Khasekhemwy). ---------------------------- Before considering this king's other Old Kingdom guises - for he, like Moses's two early rulers must surely have had such - let us make a shift to consider his so-called 'Middle' Kingdom guise. Here we encounter another famous name. 'Middle' Kingdom Here we meet the mighty Mentuhotep II Netjerihedjet, also a famine Pharaoh. As Nicolas Grimal explains the situation (op. cit., p. 155. My emphasis): Mentuhotpe [Mentuhotep] II ... came to the Theban throne under the name S'ankhibtawy ... his domain stretched from the First Cataract to the tenth nome of Upper Egypt; in other words, it was still curtailed to the north by the territory of the princes of Asyut. A hostile peace was maintained between the two kingdoms, but this was disrupted when the Thinite nome, suffering grievously from famine, revolted against the Herakleopolitan clan. Mentuhotpe captured Asyut and passed through the fifteenth nome without encountering resistance - this was effectively the fall of the Herakleapolitan dynasty. A 'grievous famine' in Egypt was hardly likely to have been restricted to just the one nome, however. Nicolas Grimal will give more information for famine during the Eleventh Dynasty, though presumably after the passing of Mentuhotep II: P. 158: ... Mentuhotpe III .... Hekanakht also described the problems of his time, including the onset of famine in the Theban region. .... After the death of Mentuhotpe III ... the country was evidently left in a confused state. At this point the Turin Canon mentions 'seven empty years' which correspond to the reign of Mentuhotpe IV, whose coronation name, Nebtawyre ("Ra is the lord of the Two Lands") perhaps represents a return to the values of the Old Kingdom. Except that, this was the Old Kingdom! I suspect that Egyptologists have either turned the one great Mentuhotep (II) into an unnecessary succession (III, IV) - just as they have done to a greater or lesser degree with Pepi and Amenemhet and Sesostris and Thutmose and Amenhotep - or, that later kings Mentuhotep (or their officials) were reflecting back to Egypt's time of great Famine. The Famine - like Noah's Flood, like the life of Abram, and like the life of Moses - brings a much-needed cohesion to ancient geology (Geological Ages)/geography/ Stone Ages/archaeology/kingdoms-dynasties and rulers. Creationist Patrick Clarke, too (in his article, "Joseph's Zaphenath Paaneah - a chronological key", at Academia.edu), has pointed to the Eleventh Dynasty as being the most likely period for Joseph's Famine, with Mentuhotep II being the biblical Pharaoh. Unsatisfyingly, though, the author does not offer any suggestion as to who Joseph himself may have been in this Eleventh Dynasty context. Mentuhotep's Joseph was his Vizier, Bebi - {another name of Khasekhemwy-Imhotep} - who likewise lived during a protracted Famine in Egypt. Like Horus Netjerikhet, "[Mentuhotep] was a prolific builder [Heqaib and Satis at Elephantine; Deir el-Ballas; Dendera; Elkab; Gebelein; Abydos; Deir el-Bahri] ... he built himself a funerary monument modelled on the pyramid complexes of the Old Kingdom" (Grimal, N., op. cit., p. 156-157). But, as I must repeat from above: This was the Old Kingdom! Hence it is not surprising to read further (p. 157): "[Mentuhotep] also revived [sic] the foreign policy of the Old Kingdom by leading an expedition to the west against the Tjemehu and Tjehenu Libyans and into the Sinai peninsula against the Mentjiu nomads". Another potential anomaly. Raneb (Nebra), supposedly of the Second Dynasty, is generally consdered to have been the first ruler to have included the sun god Ra in his name. However, there is to be considered the possibility that this long-reigning Pharaoh (some 39 years?) was contemporaneous with - and I suspect the same as - Mentuhotep II, one of whose names, Nebhepetre (ibid., p. 155), contained both elements of the name Raneb (Neb and re). Conclusion Two The Famine Pharaoh was also Mentuhotep II Netjerihedjet. His Joseph was Bebi. ---------------------------- Old Kingdom (2) We are now going to look at Djer (Nynetjer?) and Djet. Djer Could this name, Djer - or Nynetjer? - have been a hypocoristicon (ne-)tjer element taken from Netjerikhet and/or Netjerihedjet (Mentuhotep)? The little known Horus It(i) Djer will do what we have just read that Mentuhotep did, that is, expand into Libya and the Sinai. Hence Nicolas Grimal (ibid., p. 51): "The reign of Djer was characterised by further developments in foreign policy, including expeditions into Nubia (as far as Wadi Halfa), Libya and the Sinai ...". Again, as with Horus Netjerikhet/Mentuhotep, Djer's reign was an opulent one: "Judging from the funerary furniture in the private tombs of his contemporaries, the reign of Djer was a time of great prosperity". Nynetjer Nynetjer, the supposed son of Raneb (above), is variously said to have reigned for 47 years (Manetho), or even the hardly credible 96 years. What we are finding in common with our potential Famine Pharaoh alter egos is a lengthy, prosperous reign of anything upwards of some 40 years. His reign experienced a phase of "poor harvests" (Ancient Egypt Online, "Nynetjer"): The end of his reign seems to have been marked by poor harvests, internal tension, and possibly even civil war. The Palermo Stone records fighting in several towns including one named "the House of the North". This reference may suggest that the king had to suppress a rebellion in Lower Egypt. A period of Famine is another common denominator, as is conquest of the North, and an active foreign policy. Djet And could this name, Djet, have been a hypocoristicon djet element taken from Netjerihedjet (Mentuhotep)? Unfortunately, we meet again that regular phrase, "little is known about". Thus Nicolas Grimal (op. cit., p. 52): Very little is known about Djer's successor, Djet or Wadjit (or 'Serpent' if his name is taken as a pure pictogram), except that he led an expedition to the Red Sea, perhaps with the aim of exploring the mines in the Eastern Desert. Djet's tomb at Abydos contained numerous stelae, including a magnificent limestone example inscribed with his name (Paris, Louvre). Not much to be derived from Grimal here on either Djer, Nynetjer or Djet. But another source tells us that Egypt suffered a major famine during the reign of Djet, and that, I would suggest, ties him to Netjerihedjet (Mentuhotep). Another of Djet's names was Uenephes of Famine consideration. Manetho said that a great famine occurred during this reign. Djer, Nynetjer or Djet's Joseph was his powerful sub-Pharaoh, Den (Udimu), whose names tell it all. Den means "He who brings water'. Consider the vast water harvesting projects undertaken at the time. His name 'Khasty' means 'foreigner', most apropriate for Joseph, a Hebrew living in Egypt. And Manetho's name for him, Usaphais, tells us clearly that he is Joseph (Yosef, Yusef), Usaiph- = Yusef. Conclusion Three The Famine Pharaoh was also Djer, Nynetjer or Djet. His Joseph was Den (Udimu) Usaphais. ---------------------------- A further commonality: The Sed festival was celebrated by Netjerikhet, by Mentuhotep Netjerihedjet, and one is also attributed to Den, but ought likely be attributed to his Pharaoh instead. In these cases, the ruler's second-in-charge official is notably conspicuous - no doubt organising the festival for the Pharaoh.