Chapter 8, Joseph in Egypt, Page 1

Chapter 8
Joseph in Egypt

Page 1

The Bible does not say that Joseph was taken to the land of Goshen, but it is probably safe to say he was. Goshen was the area in the eastern part of the Nile delta where Canaanite and Arabian nomads could escape drought and famine. It was the most fertile part of Egypt and a permanent settlement for immigrants. It was livestock heaven and one of the few places not affected by the annual flooding of the Nile, which is apparent in the following texts whose author claims the inundations do not cause evacuations like it does farther south:

“The learned among the herdsmen recite a water spell with this content: “
My kas are rejoicing, O herdsmen,
O men! I cannot be chased from this meadow in the year of the great
Hapi, who even gives orders to the backs of the land and the lake is not distinguished from river.”
From the Egyptian Tale of a Herdsmam.

There is little doubt, according to archeologists that the rulers of the Delta, at the time, were the Semitic Hyksos. They seized much of Egypt around 1700 bce and were pushed back into the delta. Bible chronology has the Israelites entering Egypt around 1670 bce. The Hyksos being Semitic may have had little to do with the Israelites being allowed to settle Egypt, but it does help to verify the likely hood of the Israelites being in Egypt as well as help to establish the dates. The book of Genesis points out that Potifer was an Egyptian as if it was unusual for a court official to be an Egyptian.
Genesis 39:1-2:
“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potifer, an officer of the guard, an Egyptian,
bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down hither.”
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and
He was in the house of his master the Egyptian.”

The Egyptians maintained control of central Egypt and the Hyksos turned the ancient city of Avaris into a northern capital. It has been difficult for archeologists to pinpoint the location of Goshen, but they all agree that it was somewhere near the eastern border of Egypt. At that time in history the boundary of Egypt on the east was Gihon, which the Bible calls the River of Egypt. The Sinai was not a part of Egypt, although the Egyptians carried on mining operations in the southern Sinai near the red Sea. Goshen did include the city of Avaris (Tanis) and Zoan. It is possible that Goshen covered a larger area than what is believed. The area was later known as the land of Ramesses, which does not necessarily refer to Ramesses the Great, who was once believed to be the Pharoah that enslaved the Israelites. Trying to find the origin of the Hyksos has been problematic for archeologists, and trying to fit them with any similar sounding name is fruitless. Hyksos is Greek for the Egyptian heqa khasewet, which has been translated simply as Rulers of foreign lands. The heqa was a scepter. The title may have actually been used by the Hyksos themselves as the name Khyan, the fourth Hyksos ruler of the Delta, has turned up in Anatolia, Crete and Mesopotamia along with the title, “Ruler over the foreign lands.” In a stela from Kamose, the last Egyptian king of the 17th Dynasty, Apophis, one of the Hyksos kings, is referred to as “Chieftain of Retjenu”. Retinue was the Egyptian name for the coastal area of Canaan and southern Syria.The Egyptian historian Manetho wrote about the Hyksos, which he seemed to equate with the Hebrews. He also wrote that the Hyksos were cruel rulers, which is not justified by archeologists:

Tutimaeus [0]. In his reign, for what cause I know not, a blast of God smote us; and unexpectedly, from the regions of the East, invaders of obscure race marched in confidence of victory against our land. By main force they easily overpowered the rulers of the land, they then burned our cities ruthlessly, razed to the ground the temples of the gods, and treated all the natives with a cruel hostility, massacring some and leading into slavery the wives and children of others. Finally, they appointed as king one of their number whose name was Salitis. He had his seat at Memphis, levying tribute from Upper and Lower Egypt, and leaving garrisons behind in the most advantageous positions. Above all, he fortified the district to the east, foreseeing that the Assyrians, as they grew stronger, would one day covet and attack his kingdom.
In the Saite [Sethroite] nome he found a city very favorably situated on the east of the Bubastite branch of the Nile, and called Auaris (= Avaris ) after an ancient religious tradition. This place he rebuilt and fortified with massive walls, planting there a garrison of as many as 240,000 heavy-armed men to guard his frontier. Here he would come in summertime, partly to serve out rations and pay his troops, partly to train them carefully in maneuvers and so strike terror into foreign tribes.

Joseph was mentioned as having ridden in chariots, which did not appear in Egyptian texts until around 1500 be. They were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos, who apparently kept them out of the hands of the Egyptians, who were continuously trying to drive the Hyksos out of Egypt. Joseph having access to chariots is evidence that he was most likely not in central Egypt, where the earliest evidence of chariots was dated during the reign of Thutmose I (ca.1527-1515).Among the booty the commander Ahmose brought back to Egypt on a Syrian campaign was a chariot and horse. In His Biography of Ahmose, He also told of fighting in Avaris under the king Ahmose, as well as in Asia and Nubia, apparently to establish Egyptian control and stop any further invasions from foreigners. The Hyksos were run out of Egypt around 1550 bce, which seems to be the year of the birth of Moses, according to Bible chronology. They were defeated by the Egyptian king Ahmose, who was also called Ahmoses and Messes. He was probably the source of the name Moses as well as the “new King who knew not Joseph.”

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