Chapter 12,Out of Egypt,Page 1

Chapter 12
Out of Egypt

In 1458 BCE there were two Pharaohs in Egypt. Thutmose III was in the Nile delta, east of Goshen, making campaigns into Canaan against the Asiatics. At the same time there was a woman ruling from Thebes, who had actually attempted to take the throne completely away from Thutmose. She was the wife and sister of Thutmose Viand since Thutmose III was too young to rule at his father’s death, Hatshepsut ruled in His place. She did not step down when he became of age. She began to dress as a man, and even had herself portrayed as a man on some of her monuments. She continued to rule from Thebes, while Tuthmose took military training, probably in the garrison at Sile. From the Delta, Tuthmoses launched campaigns into Canaan. In 1500 B.C. Thutmosis III documents a rebellion of Canaanite kings who attempt to overthrow Egyptian rule. The confederation of rebels is led by the city state of Megiddo, which was confederate with the Amorites. Pharaoh Thutmosis besieged Megiddo for seven months, and then won the decisive battle of Qinnah Brook. Although the Prince of Kadesh remained to be vanquished, Assyria sent lapis lazuli as tribute; Asiatic princes surrendered their weapons, including a large number of horses and chariots.
According to the report of Thutmosis III, the Canaanites were forced to yield 924 chariots and 207,300 kur of wheat to the Egyptians. His campaign to subdue Canaan began while he was co-regent with Hatshepsut and continued almost to the end of His reign. He also crushed a revolt in the northeastern section of his empire at Kadesh, a city-state in Syria, led by the King Saustatar of Mitanni. He appointed Asiatic princes to govern the towns and took their brothers and sons to Egypt, where they were educated at the court. Most eventually returned home to serve as loyal vassals, though some remained in Egypt at court. In order to ensure the loyalty of Asiatic city-states, Egypt maintained garrisons that could quell insurrection and supervise the delivery of tribute. He set up garrisons along the Way of Horus and at the wall of the ruler. According to the stele of Thutmose III, over 350 cities fell to the Egyptians under his rule. Thutmose III put down a rebellion of the Philistines at Gaza and Yehem. Thutmose III’s ultimate aim was the defeat of Mitanni. He used the navy to transport troops to Asiatic coastal towns. He crossed the Euphrates; set the Mitannian prince to flight. He never succeeded in defeating Mitanni, but he ensured Egyptian domination to the north in Syria along a line linking Byblos and Damascus. He stopped the Mitanni and Assyrian from advancing into Syria and thus Canaan. Thutmoses III had subdued the Amorites that were making Canaan unsafe. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full.

Hathsepshut on the other hand was busy setting up trade with the Nubians to the south, and building monuments and temples. She claimed to have rebuilt the city of Avaris following the ousting of the Hyksos:
“Hear ye,all people and folk as many as they may be,I have done these things through the counsel of my heart.I have not slept forgetfully,(but)I have restored that which had been ruined.I have raised up that which had gone to pieces formerly,since the Asiatics were in the midst of Avaris of the Northland, and vagabonds were in the midst of them, overthrowing that which had been made”.
She claimed that the Hyksos had either destroyed temples,or let them fall into ruin.In truth it was Ahmose that destroyed the city.One interpretation of her inscription is easier to understand:

“Since the Asiatics were in Avaris of the north land, and the barbarians were among them, destroying buildings, While they governed, not knowing Ra….I have restored what was cast down, I have built up what was uncompleted”.”

There had been several Queens that had ruled Egypt in the past, but Hathshepsut did one thing that no other female had ever done; she declared Herself Pharaoh. The Israelites wouldn’t have known the king at the Red Sea was a woman, if she was dressed as a man, some distance away. That would still be in harmony with Scripture. The mummy of Hathsepsut has never been found and her death has been something of a mystery. Some claim that she may have been assassinated, but they consider that doubtful. Others claim she may have run away, but there is no explanation for why. She could have verified her claim to divine rule by destroying the “evil” that almost destroyed Egypt. She would also have been blamed for allowing them to escape, since she was the god king on the throne. It is doubtful that Thutmose, who has been blamed for her disappearance, would have held a grudge for over 20 years before attempting to erase her memory. His army had proven itself fully capable of capturing the throne at any time. It had been common practice to destroy monuments and erase Pharaoh’s names in the past, but not because they were women acting as male rulers. It was not normally done to usurpers, as official records have shown. Pharaohs were seen as gods and their actions were from divine sources. By erasing the memory of a pharaoh, the priests were assuring the gods did not receive immortality in the afterlife. Prior to her death, Hathsepshut had been accepted as rightful co-regent along with Thutmose. She even had inscriptions made proclaiming her divine birth, from the mouth of the god Amun who had the approval of all the other gods:
“I will make you to be the first of all living creatures,
you will rise as king of Upper and of Lower Egypt,
as your father Amon, who loves you, did ordain.”
Utterance of all the gods, [to] Amon-Re: “This thy daughter
[Hatshepsut], who liveth, we are satisfied with her in life and peace.
She is now thy daughter of thy form, whom thou hast begotten, prepared.
Thou hast given to her thy soul, thy […], thy [bounty], the magic
powers of the diadem……
Amon took the form of the noble King Tuthmose and found the queen sleeping in her room.
When the pleasant odours that proceeded from him announced his presence she woke.
He gave her his heart and showed himself in his godlike splendour.
When he approached the queen she wept for joy at his strength and beauty and he gave her his love…

Hathshepsut also left inscriptions that told how her father Thuthmose I had made her legal heir to the throne.

“Then his majesty said to them:
“This daughter of mine, Khnumetamun Hatshepsut –
may she live! – I have appointed as my successor upon my throne…
she shall direct the people in every sphere of the palace;
it is she indeed who shall lead you.
Obey her words, unite yourselves at her command.”
The royal nobles, the dignitaries, and the leaders of the people
heard this proclamation of the promotion of his daughter,
the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ma’at-ka-Ra – may she live eternally!”

Hathshepsut proclaimed herself not just queen, but female pharaoh, which was among the many titles she carried:
“Ma’at-ka-Ra Hatshepsut, Female Pharaoh of Egypt Ma’at-ka-Ra – ‘Truth/Order/Balance (“Ma’at”) (“ka”) of Ra’
Hatshepsut – ‘Foremost of Noble Women'”
Thutmose III was sent on several campaigns to Nubia, which he possibly would have refused to do, had he been carrying a grudge. He was a king in his own right and in the eyes of the faithful, including Amenemhab, a comrade in arms and military leader:
“As for me, I was the very faithful [instrument] of the sovereign, the half of the heart of the king of the south, the light of the heart of the king of the north, while I followed my master in his expeditions to the regions of the north or of the south, [those which] he desired, for I was as the companion of his feet, and that in the midst of his valour and his power, in order to give testimony.”

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