EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed

EXODUS: A MYSTERY REVEALED JULY 1, 2024 ALFONSO J. TREVIÑO EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño ABSTRACT The books of Genesis and Exodus of the Bible deal with the achievements and avatars of a pastoral family (or clan) descended from the patriarch Abraham, their stay in Egypt, initially as guests and later oppressed and enslaved, and their epic departure from Egypt led by Moses. Their God Yahweh (Yahweh) provides them with prophecies, their return to Canaan, the Promised Land, blessings and curses, punishments for disobedience and forgiveness. The main objective of this article is to propose perhaps the only theory to reconcile the 400-year hiatus of oppression and slavery in Egypt of the descendants of Abraham (Genesis 15:13-14), considering that in this story, there are two escapes or exoduses from Egypt, recalled and merged as one. Furthermore, the interpretation of Yahweh´s prophecy (remembered, created or modified by the scribes long after it had occurred) of 400 years of stay in Egypt of Abraham's descendants (oppressed and enslaved), must be considered from Abraham's arrival to Canaan (c.1877 BC), tributary of Egypt, until the liberating Exodus (c.1447 BC). Indeed, the Bible text based on the Septuagint establishes it: 430 years in a strange land, Canaan and Egypt (Exodus 12:40-41). The genealogy defined in the book of Exodus points to four generations from Levi (arrival in Egypt c.1720 BC) to Moses, so the Exodus led by Moses would occur around 1630 BC, with the total departure of the descendants of Israel. However, the book 1 Kings 6:1 says that the Exodus occurred 480 years before the construction of Solomon's temple began (967 BC), that is, in 1447 BC, during the reign of Thutmose III and his co-regency with Amenophis II. On this occasion, exodus would be the escape of enslaved prisoners taken to Egypt from Canaan by the conquering pharaohs. In fact, Bible scholars have identified two versions of Exodus and the miracle at the Sea; in one, Moses (empowered by Yahweh) parts the waters of the Sea to let the Israelites pass (c.1630 BC), and in the other, Moses is not mentioned (because he was not present) and the fleeing slaves watch as a gigantic wave drowns Pharaoh's army. The memory of this exodus or escape merges with a previous one and is remembered as if it had only happened once, 480 years before the construction of Solomon's temple began, that is, 1447 BC. Keywords; Exodus:6 Moses Abraham Jacob - Israel Joseph Exodus Route Baal-Zephon Pihairot Ipuwer Papyrus El-Arish Inscription Tuthmosis III Amenophis II Tera Volcano Goshen Avaris Pi-Rameses Tell Maskhuta Succot Pitom Sea of Reeds Genesis;15 1 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño INTRODUCTION Moses the Levite has been hailed for centuries as the great hero who freed his Israelite people from the slavery they had been subjected to in Egypt, led them through the desert for several generations, provided them with a code of laws and finally, He led them to the land promised by their god Yahweh. The only source of information about this story is the Old Testament of the Bible, written many centuries after what happened, and which does not mention the date this episode occurred, nor the name of the pharaoh of Egypt of that time. Bible scholars have estimated, based on the characteristics and customs of life of the Semitic peoples and the places mentioned, a probable date for the ancestors of Moses. Thus, it is estimated that Abraham, the Amorite patriarch, migrated from Harran (northern Mesopotamia) to Canaan (tributary to Egypt) around 1877 BC. His grandson, Jacob-Israel, his children and families migrated to Egypt around 1720 BC. Moses is a descendant of the fourth generation of the family of Levi, son of Jacob-Israel. This genealogy is clearly expressed in Exodus 6:16,18 and 20, as well as in Numbers 26:59 (page 27). These quotes allow us to estimate the date of the Exodus conducted by Moses between 1630 and 1620 BC. But in this way, the Israelite stay in Egypt would not be longer than about 100 years, while Yahweh's prophecy in Genesis 15:13 indicates that Abraham's descendants would be oppressed and enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years. From the above, with the exception of the 400-year prophecy, it would seem that the mystery of the date of the Exodus has an answer, but another quote in the Bible confuses and complicates its confirmation. In fact, Kings 1:6 refers to the beginning of construction of Jerusalem´s Temple in the fourth year of Solomon's reign (967 BC), 480 years after the Exodus, which means that this event occurred in the year 1447 BC, around 170 years. after the time of Moses, but coincides with the 400 years of affliction (oppression and slavery) in a strange land of Yahweh's prophecy. If we consider these quotes from Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Kings I as true and reliable, the only way out of the conflict is to consider the existence of two episodes of Israelite exodus (liberation, escape, flight) from Egypt and return to Canaan. The purpose of this writing is to provide evidence from the biblical story that supports and sustains this theory and version of the two exoduses from Egypt of the people of Israel. The theory of two exoduses of the Israelites from their sojourn in Egypt, merged and remembered as one, is supported by Barbara J. Sivertsen’s book “The parting of the sea: how volcanoes, earthquakes, and plagues shaped the story of exodus” . 2 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño EXODUS: A MYSTERY RESOLVED By Alfonso J. Treviño Of the books that make up the Old Testament of the Bible, none are as important for their meaning for the Israelite people, or as exciting and interesting for the miracles and portents they contain, as the book of Exodus. In this exciting story, Moses the Levite, under the orders of his god and clothed with his great power, frees the people of Israel from the slavery imposed by the Pharaoh of Egypt, after causing numerous plagues that relentlessly fell on the country of the Nile; He leads them through the Red Sea, which opens in their path, and then closes on the pursuing Egyptian army, drowning many of them, including Pharaoh; and finally he leads them to the Promised Land after a fortyyear desert pilgrimage. During his journey through Sinai, Moses makes manna fall from heaven to quench hunger, and water flows from the rocks to quench the thirst of his people. At the climax of the story, Moses gives the people of Israel the tablets engraved by the finger of their god Yahweh, (Jehovah) with the Ten Commandments, the laws on servants, property, murder, various civil laws, moral laws, and the three solemn festivals in which the people of Israel must celebrate Yahweh. After three generations the Israelites begin the conquest of Canaan with the attack and destruction of Jericho, led by a new warrior leader, Joshua. What is the true meaning of the Exodus story? Is this perhaps a mythological passage of the Israelite people, in the style of Greek and Mesopotamian myths (Sumerians and Akkadians), where the hero's exploits are promoted and exalted? Does the story have a historical background turned into legend by inexplicable events taken by the people of Israel as a manifestation of their god Yahweh? In the latter case, how could the plagues and the passage through the Red Sea be explained? Most specialists in biblical studies consider that the Exodus is a story with historical background that was transmitted orally for many centuries before reaching its written form in the books of the Pentateuch (the Hebrew Torah). The oral history of the events related to the Exodus must have begun with eyewitnesses, each of whom related their experience in their own style and peculiarity to their listeners, who in turn transmitted it to other people, thus generating various versions of history with a common core. After a while, these different versions tend to become one, mixing the details of each other, until they become an oral folk tradition. The traditions of a people undergo changes caused by attempts to embellish the story, exaggerate the exploits, or reinforce some details without modifying the main message. As the oral transmission of the story continues from generation to generation, it becomes a legend with extraordinary mythical elements, and the initial event becomes more and more remote; other transformations of structure emerge, such as fusion and transposition. 3 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño Similar events that occurred at different times can be merged into a single story, and characters and places from a very distant event can be transposed to a more recent, better-remembered time. And so finally, these oral traditions of a historical event, profoundly modified, merge into a single written story, which in turn can be altered due to translation difficulties into another language or due to different interpretations. The fundamental premise of the Exodus is the flight, escape or expulsion of the Israelites from Egypt, and for this, the migration, entry and presence of this people in the country of the Nile is required. In the history of Egypt that we know, there is no mention of the people of Israel occupying the land of the Nile; The succession of events as notable as The Ten Plagues that fell on the Egyptians is not described; nor the epic flight of the Israelites and their passage through the Red Sea; even less the death of a pharaoh drowned with his army in an attempt to reach them. To explain the lack of mention of the Israelites in Egyptian history, reference is made to the little importance that the Egyptians gave to the shepherd people settled on the eastern margin of the Delta; It is also possible that they referred to the people of Israel as Asians (Shemau, north Canaanites or Amu, south Canaanites) and not as Israelites. In fact, both terms, Israelite and Hebrew came into use late, after the conquest of Canaan by the tribes of Israel. Regarding the flight of the Israelites and the death of Pharaoh and his army, one could also allude to the fact that the Egyptians only wrote about their triumphs, and not their defeats. But in this way we only manage to explain the possible reason why the Israelites do not appear in the history of Egypt, without providing authentic evidence for the biblical account of the Exodus. For this reason, it is extraordinarily difficult to give credence to the story, except perhaps for believers, who accept it without the slightest analysis of it and without evidence, since it represents the word of God. On the other hand, if it were possible to find some written evidence of non-Israelite origin about the biblical plagues, many would be willing to accept the probability of this story. It would also require, from a logical and completely neutral point of view, a physical explanation for such notable events, including what happened in the Red Sea, and even more, evidence that such physical phenomena occurred precisely in the era that preceded the Exodus. This task seems impossible to accomplish, since there is no agreement about the date of the Exodus, and the Bible itself does not indicate it. The name of the Egyptian king referred to as Pharaoh is not even mentioned, to relate it to a dynastic period and a probable date. In fact, the term Pharaoh is used—as if it were the name of the king—from the time of the patriarch Abraham and his great-grandson Joseph, until the time of Moses (great-grandson of Levi, brother of Joseph, children of Israel); and even this title is anachronistic (the title of pharaoh began to be used during the 18th Dynasty [1550 – 1320 BC] of the New Kingdom), indicating that the writings of Genesis and Exodus are much later than the date on which these stories are situated. The postulates on which any theory must be based to explain the biblical Exodus and interpret the phenomena of the plagues and the portentous Miracle of the Sea (the sea 4 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño that parted to allow the Israelites to pass and closed on the Egyptian army and its chariots), where the Egyptians and Pharaoh drown, are at least the following: 1. Documented evidence of the Israelite presence in Egypt from Egyptian and/or archaeological sources. According to biblical Genesis, the family of Israel (Jacob - James) obtained permission to move from Canaan (during a time of drought and famine) to the eastern margin of the Delta, where they settled as residents in the so-called Land of Goshen or Rameses (identified archaeologically as the Wadi Tumilat and/or Avaris, according to David Rohl). This migration could only have been allowed during the Second Intermediate Period (ca 1800 – 1550 BC) when the Delta was ruled by Canaanite kings, including Dynasties XIV, XV (Hyksos kings) and XVI. 2. Evidence from archaeological or Egyptian sources of a period during which the Israelites were held in slavery in Egypt, performing forced labor in the construction of palaces and temples. There are two periods in Egyptian history in which slavery clearly occurred. The first of them is referred to by Manetho, Egyptian historian priest ─3rd century BC─ (through the writings of Flavius Josephus ─1st century AD─), about a tragic episode in Egyptian history: “...unexpectedly, from the eastern regions, invaders of a dark race (Amalekites and Anakim), marched confident in their victory against our land. By means of force they easily dominated without striking a single blow and overcoming the rulers of the land, they brutally burned our cities, razed the temples of the gods to the ground and treated all the natives with cruel hostility, massacring many and sending to slavery the wives and children of others.” This episode may refer to the arrival of the Hyksos to the Eastern Delta and the founding of the 15th dynasty with a government center in Avaris (Goshen/Ramesses of the Bible) c 1650 BC, and may coincide with “the Pharaoh who did not know about Joseph” of Exodus 1:8. Many authors identify this founding Hyksos pharaoh with Salitis or Sheshi, who reigned for 40 years according to D. Rohl and initiated the slavery of the Israelites. A second period of slavery in Egypt involving the Canaanite population (in other words Israelites) occurred during the New Kingdom (1550 – 1070 BC) which includes the 18th, 19th and 20th Egyptian dynasties. Egyptian records of campaigns in Canaan, with the capture of prisoners of war and servants (Shasu ─Bedouins─ and Hapiru shepherds, most likely Israelites according to Douglas. Petrovich) taken to Egypt to be used as slaves in construction works, abound in texts and recordings of many pharaohs, particularly the pharaohs Amenophis I, Tuthmosis I, Tuthmosis III and Amenophis II, of the 18th Dynasty, and Seti I, Ramses II and Merenptah of the 19th Dynasty. 3. Evidence from archaeological or Egyptian sources of the flight of Canaanites established in Egypt, or of an escape of Canaanite slaves during a rebellion, taking advantage of some circumstance (perhaps meteorological) that could confuse or terrify 5 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño the Egyptians. In addition to the expulsion of the Hyksos in 1550 BC, there are several Egyptian texts that refer to an escape of rebellious slaves serving in Egypt who crossed a body of water in their flight to Canaan. They will be analyzed later. 4. A physical explanation of the plagues of Egypt, mostly a consequence of some meteorological phenomenon or volcanism, affecting the Egyptian Delta. Documentation of a major volcanic eruption in the area with the production of tephra, ash clouds and other atmospheric disturbances that could impact Egypt causing plagues (storms, acid rain, skin lesions, hail, darkness, water pollution and others). Two large volcanic eruptions have been documented in the Eastern Mediterranean, the first from the Tera volcano on the Aegean Island of Santorini in c1628 BC, and the second from a caldera between the islands of Nysros and Yali near the island of Rhodes in the Eastern Mediterranean, which occurred in c1450 BC. 5. A physical explanation of the Miracle of the Sea, which in Exodus 14 and 15 apparently presents the combination of two traditions. In one of them, the Sea of Reeds (erroneously translated as Red Sea) opens to form a corridor through which the Israelites cross, and then closes on the Egyptians. In the other tradition, the Israelites apparently cross a body of water through a ford dried by an east wind, and watch as the Egyptians (troops, chariots, and Pharaoh) are dragged (or thrown) by (or against) a wall of water that suddenly appears and drowns them. 6. Chronological congruence between the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, their stay for three generations in Sinai (the figure of 40 years seems to be a misinterpretation of a Hebrew term used to designate a long but indeterminate period of time) and the beginning of the so-called “conquest of Canaan”, marked by the taking and destruction of Jericho in the Middle Bronze Age, around 1550 BC, as archeology revealed. Kathleen Kenyon dated the destruction of the walled city of Jericho to the middle of the 16th century BC, too early to fit with the vast majority of the proposed dates for the Exodus. Jericho remained abandoned and uninhabited until the 11th century BC. 7. The arrival of the Israelites to Canaan as a forced consequence of the Exodus, either in the form of a “conquest” (most authors doubt that the conquest occurred in the manner described in the Bible), or of progressive infiltration of the Canaanite cities by shepherds, merchants and tribal bandits. For centuries the Israelites remained in the hills and countryside outside the great cities of Canaan, as attested by the Stele of Merenptah, erected by this pharaoh after his victorious campaign in Canaan in 1210 BC. The stele is an engraved granite stone in which the people of Israel are referred to for the first time in history. The reference is the following: The princes are prostrate, saying: mercy! No one raises his head along the Nine Arches. Libya is desolate, Hatti is pacified, Canaan is stripped of everything that was bad, Ashkelon is deported, Gezer is taken, Yanoam seems as if it had never existed, Ysyriar 6 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño (Israel) is demolished and barren, it has no seed. Syria has become a widow to Egypt. All lands are united, they are pacified! The mention of Israel, unlike the other cities, was written in its demonym form, as it would refer to the people (tribes?) of Israel, and not to a city or nation. Most likely it corresponded to the tribal, semi-nomadic era of the Judges of Israel. Not all of the evidence mentioned above fits into a single story or account of the Exodus, since in the scriptures themselves there are some clues that seem to indicate the existence of at least two different traditions. Some details of the events come from document “J” (Yahweh) and others from source “P” (priestly), generating the suspicion that these could be two different episodes of the Israelite exodus from Egypt at different times. The idea that the biblical Exodus story could originate from the combination or fusion of two similar instances of exodus, separated in time, is not implausible and is not new, since some scholars have proposed two or more episodes of escape or exit. of the Israelites from Egypt. But little or no evidence has been provided in this regard. This is not the case of Barbara J. Sivertsen, American geologist, editor of the Journal of Geology and author of the excellent book The Parting of the Sea. In her book, Sivertsen reveals that the Exodus was in fact two different and separate exoduses, both coinciding with volcanic eruptions, and provides scientific explanations for the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. Over time, Israelite oral traditions combined these events into the Exodus narrative we know today. With great skill, Sivertsen unifies archaeological texts and records with details of ancient geological events, and shows us how the first exodus followed the Minoan eruption of c1628 BC of the Tera volcano on the island of Santorini, which caused most of the plagues in Egypt. The second exodus followed the eruption of a volcano on the Aegean island of Yali nearly two centuries later, creating the plague of darkness and a series of tsunamis that “opened the sea” and drowned the Egyptian army in pursuit of the Israelites. expelled from Egypt. Sivertsen's brilliant account explains the inconsistencies in the Bible, fits chronologically with the conquest of Jericho, and confirms that the Israelites were in Canaan before the end of the 16th century BC. EXODUS OF MOSES IN 1628 B.C. According to the Bible, the children of Jacob-Israel migrated to Egypt and settled in Goshen (east of the Nile Delta), invited by Joseph, the younger brother of the family that held the position of vizier of the kingdom of Egypt. There was a total of 70 members of the migrant family. We estimate the arrival around 1720 BC. Levi came with his sons Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Kohath begat Amram, who married his aunt Jocoabed (daughter of Levi, born in Egypt)) and from this union Miriam, Aaron and Moses (c1670 BC) were born. Exodus 1 and 2 of the Bible offers us a moving story about the birth of Moses, how his mother Jocoabed hid him for 3 months due to the threat that Pharaoh 7 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño ordered: the midwives were to kill all male children of Israelite origin; she then put the child in a caulked reed basket and placed it over the waters of the Nile, so that the current would carry it to a place where the pharaoh's daughter and her servants bathed. Moses was taken from the waters, adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, and in this way Moses was raised and educated as a prince in the royal court. A beautiful and charming story, surely inspired by the Sumerian legend about Sargon I of Akkad, nicknamed the Great (C 2360 BC), whom his mother, a priestess, who gave birth to him in secret, put him in a basket of reeds and throwed it into the waters of the Tigris, from where he would be picked up by Akki, a water bearer who educated him as a gardener of the royal palace of Kish, and who despite his humble origin, Sargon would become a great king, conqueror of all Mesopotamia and founder of the first empire of history: the Akkadian Empire. The Jewish historian Artapanes of Alexandria (3rd century BC) considered the biblical story about Moses fanciful and not very credible. According to fragments of his history Concerning the Jews, reported by Flavius Josephus (1st century AD) and Julius Africanus (2nd century AD), Moses' arrival at the royal court took another path: Moses was adopted by the daughter of a king (Nehesy, the Nubian? or Paentjenu?) of the Delta, a princess who was given in marriage to a powerful pharaoh who ruled in Memphis, to confirm and seal an alliance. The princess was named Merris (Turmutis by Philo) and the king has been identified by Egyptologists (David Rohl) and ancient historians (Artapanes, Josephus, Julius Africanus) as Sebekhotep IV (1685 – 1675 BC). According to Artapanus, Moses was educated and trained as a court prince and army commander. After returning victorious from a military mission in Kush (Ethiopia), he left Memphis due to disagreements with the king and his sons, migrated to the Delta and killed a foreman who was punishing a Semitic worker, for which he had to exile from Egypt and escaped to Sinai. In the Bible, Moses found the Midianite tribe of Jethro, their leader and priest who welcomed him; He married one of his daughters, Zephora, and remained for years near Mount Horeb as a shepherd. One day, Yahweh appeared to him, identifying himself as the God of his ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and demanded that he return to Egypt to free his enslaved family and promised facilitate the conquest of Canaan, the “promised land.” At this time, the government of Egypt was divided (Second Intermediate Period, 1795 – 1550 BC). Upon Moses' return, a foreign king of the 15th dynasty (Hyksos) ruled in the Delta from Avaris: Semqen (1631-1625 BC), while Pharaoh Dedumes (or Dudimose c.1630 – ?) of the 13th dynasty reigned in Memphis. Moses returns to Egypt while the Tera volcano explodes on the island of Santorini (c.1628 BC). The direct consequences of the eruption: ashes, tsunamis, tephra, darkness for several days, and secondary: meteorological, solar occultation, storms, hail, proliferation of algae and flagellates in the Nile), the infamous 10 Biblical Plagues that fell on Egypt, are considered a sign to abandon the land of Goshen and the city of Avaris in 8 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño the Delta, and the people of Israel escape, led by Moses, with their initial destination towards Mount Horeb to worship their new god Yahweh. After wandering in the desert for “40 years,” Moses died on Mount Nebo (Jordan) contemplating the land of Canaan, which Jehovah did not allow him to enter because he had expressed a doubt by hitting a rock twice, so that it would sprout. water in Meriba. The Israelites remained in Sinai (Kadesh Barnea) for three generations (75 years), (Exodus 15:13-14,16 reveals prophecy of return from Egypt to Canaan in the 4th generation) and the fourth began the conquest of Canaan led by Joshua, taking the walled city of Jericho (c.1550 BC), which was later abandoned. The Semitic tribes that entered Canaan by infiltration and conquest would later constitute the kingdom of Israel, north of Canaan, on the border with the Amurru of Syria. After the expulsion of the Hyksos in 1556 BC by Amosis, this pharaoh founded the 18th Egyptian Dynasty and began its territorial and tributary expansion towards Libya, Nubia and Canaan. The conquering pharaohs, aware of the great need for servants and workers for the construction of temples, palaces and warehouses, captured prisoners in Canaan and Syria, transported them in boats to Egypt to satisfy this demand; The vast majority were nomadic and semi-nomadic shepherds known to Egyptians as Shasu and Hapiru, or residents of small villages whose names were cited in Egyptian texts celebrating these campaigns. Again, the Egypt of the New Kingdom expands and strengthens with the pharaohs of the 18th dynasty. Large constructions of temples, palaces, warehouses, fortified cities for border control and customs arise with the work of the prisoners captured in Canaan, who are none other than the descendants of Jacob-Israel returning to Egypt. Those who work in the Avaris constructions in the Delta wait for an opportunity to escape… Fragments taken from Barbara Stevenson: “The Parting of the Sea” 2010 THUTMOSIS III, PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS Thutmose III (1504 – 1450 BC, according to the high chronology) was the greatest warrior pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty and the first to lead war campaigns throughout Canaan. His father Thutmose II carried out some raids in the Sinai and the Negev, returning with a good number of Shasu prisoners, while Thutmose I marched through Canaan on his way to Syria; but it was Thutmose III who led his army of infantry and chariots through Canaan to quell a revolt by a Syrian prince allied with the ruler of Kadesh, an important city-state north of the Orontes River. These princes took their armies south, invading Canaan (a tributary of Egypt) to Mount Carmel, camping on the north side of the mountain, very close to the city of Megiddo. Just one month after Hatshepsut's death, when Thutmose finally began to reign alone, (since the death of her father Thutmose II, Hatshepsut reigned as regent for Thutmose III who was still a child, and shortly after became pharaoh- queen in her own right) marched along the coast road (Way of Horus) 9 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño through Sinai and Canaan to the south side of Mount Carmel, determined to subdue the rebellious Syrians. There were three routes for the Egyptians to attack the Syrians: a detour north of Mount Carmel, another to the south and a third direct through a narrow passage, the Aruna Pass, cutting through the mountain. Against the advice of his generals, Tuthmosis chose direct access through the mountain passage, and although there were difficulties with the chariots that in stretches had to be uploaded manually, his strategy surprised the Syrians on their flank, since they were waiting for them. by the shortest southern route. The Egyptians attacked from their descent down the hill, causing the Syrian army to flee, and although the princes and a fraction of survivors took refuge in Megiddo, it was of no use to them, since Thutmose laid siege to the city, which finally surrendered after 7 months of siege. Once the city was captured, Thutmose obtained oaths of loyalty from the enemy princes and allowed them to return to their respective cities. Upon his return to Egypt, he recorded his victory in the temple of Karnak, providing full details of that and subsequent military campaigns. Later in his reign, he had a large black granite monolith engraved with the words of the god Amun-Ra, who spoke through Thutmose about his victories, as if they had been from the god himself. Thutmose returned to Syria and Canaan numerous times to keep tribute flowing, obtain oaths of loyalty, and subdue Shasu rebels and bandits. Much of the tribute was in the form of slaves and servants. In the 30th year of his reign there were 36 prisoners and 181 servants (men, women and their children); in the year 31, 492 prisoners of war; in the year 33, 579 servants; in the year 34, 602 servants, in the year 38, 50 prisoners and 522 servants. Prisoners and slaves were assigned to the construction work of large temples. In the tomb of Rekhmire, vizier of Thutmose III, paintings were found of prisoners of war from Syria and Canaan making adobe bricks from straw for a ramp used in the construction of a temple, watched by Egyptian supervisors. His last recorded campaign in Syria – Canaan was in year 50 (when he was between 55 and 60 years of age), however, he continued to campaign in Nubia. During the last two years of his life, his 18year-old son, Amenophis II, became co-regent of Thutmose III, and a year before the latter's death, the young Amenophis conducted his own campaign. in Syria – Canaan. When he finally returned to Egypt, (or very shortly after) his father, Thutmose III had died, on the 30th day of the seventh month in the 54th year of his reign. This date corresponds to March 17, 1450 BC (high chronology). THUTMOSIS´ III NAVAL BASE Soon Thutmose III would change his tactics to reach Syria, taking most of his army on boats: the infantry certainly, while chariots and horses would do so by land. Around the 30th year of his reign he established a large naval base and shipyard to build a fleet that 10 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño would allow him to transport his army to the northern coasts of the Levant, where he would disembark to march east and confront the Syrian cities.. These ships would carry Pharaoh's tribute and slaves back to Egypt. It is possible that some of these slaves were the Israelites singled out in the final warning of Deuteronomy 28:68 “Yahweh will bring you back to Egypt by land and in ships by sea, even though he promised you that you would never come back again. There you will want to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves and servants, but there will be no buyer.” Manfred Bietak recently discovered an extensive Early 18th Dynasty occupation at Tell el-Dab'a (Avaris), specifically at Ezbet Helmi, which included a large palace and storage facilities for a temple, a military base, workshops and a shipyard. In this settlement he found sacred scarabs of the pharaohs from Amosis to Amenophis II. The revival of the ancient capital of the Hyksos at Avaris makes great strategic sense given the site's position at the end of the Peluciac branch of the Nile, with access to the Mediterranean and the terminus of the land route through the Sinai to Asia (the Road of Horus). The fortress found at Tell Hebua I (known as Tjaru or Zaru) on a peninsula between the open sea and a coastal lagoon (Shi-Hor) was also rebuilt as a warehouse, customs and garrison of soldiers to control the main route from Avaris to the Sinai. and Canaan. After becoming sole ruler of Egypt, Amenophis II stopped using Avaris (or whatever this city was called in his time). In its place, he built another shipyard and naval base called Peru-nefer (Happy Journey) just north of Memphis (M. Bietak insists in Avaris as its location. This base was further away from the Egyptian Empire of Syria - Canaan, and from the forests of wood necessary to build its ships. Why did Amenophis II relocate his naval base from Delta to Memphis? One factor was undoubtedly the control of his workforce. The construction of the temple and palace complex required large numbers of slaves, as well as unfree servants to assist in the many tasks of the palace and its court. Likewise, the construction of the shipyard and ships used many slave workers. If all these people came from Syria and Canaan (and Amenophis II took thousands of prisoners from these lands to Egypt) they would always be tempted to escape from the shallow reed lakes of the Delta towards the Sinai, where the forts along the way were small and they were cared for by native tribes. Did Amenophis II fear that his slaves would escape from the Delta facility to the Sinai, perhaps because this had already happened before? It would not be until the 13th century BC during the 19th Dynasty when complete control of these forts was achieved from the Wadi Tumilat (the land of Goshen of the Bible), in the crocodile-infested border canals and along the Sinai, with garrisons of Egyptian troops. It was then that construction returned to the Delta to build a large religious-urban center in the eastern Delta: Pi-Rameses, just north of Tell el-Dab'a, ancient Avaris. 11 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño THE PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS AND THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES In 1963 J. G. Bennet suggested that Thutmose III was the pharaoh of the Exodus and that the eruption of the Tera volcano on the island of Santorini was connected to both the destruction of Atlantis, the Exodus from Egypt and the Biblical plagues.. He based his calculations on the claim in Book I of Kings that the Exodus occurred 480 years before the construction of Solomon's temple, so Bennet placed the Exodus in the year 1447 BC, just in the year in which Tuthmosis III died (according to low chronology). In 1982, William Shea argued that the Exodus occurred during the co-regency of Thutmose III and his son Amenophis II (Amenhotep II), when Amenophis was on his first campaign in Asia. He concluded that the pharaoh drowned in the Exodus was Thutmose III, and that his son, Amenophis II undertook, in revenge, a brutal campaign in Canaan, harboring an intense lifelong hatred of the Semites, both (campaigns and hatred) documented in the Egyptian records. Although Bennet and Shea's theory holds with some solidity, (although the precise dating of the Tera eruption, based on radio-carbon studies, and calibrated by the analysis of California tree rings ─dendrochronology─ concluded at a much earlier date in the 17th century: c 1628 BC + 16) there are slightly different versions. Siversten and other scholars believe that Thutmose III was the pharaoh of the exodus who drowned, and his firstborn son Amenenhat (not Amenophis II) died as a result of the tenth plague, as recorded in Exodus 12:29 “And it came to pass at midnight “The Lord struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in prison, and every firstborn of the animals.” In another version proposed by Douglas N. Petrovich and other authors, Amenophis II is the pharaoh of the exodus, but the one who drowns in the Red Sea is a prince in charge of escorting the chariots and soldiers in pursuit of the Israelites. In a previous chapter, Siversten demonstrated the traces of two different exoduses in the scriptures: The earliest of them, the Exodus “flight” or escape occurred in 1628 BC during the eruption of the Tera volcano on the island of Santorini, which caused (due to ash, tephra and meteorological changes) extensive damage in the Delta and in the Wadi Tumilat, which motivated the legend of the biblical plagues and the flight of the AsiaticCanaanite population (the non-slave Israelites) towards the Sinai through the Timsah lake or the area of the Bitter Lakes (Sea of Reeds, erroneously translated from the Bible as the Red Sea) away from the mostly affected coast. This group of migrants would be led by Moses, who took them to Mount Horeb (which he already knew when he fled Egypt and was sheltered by the Midianites). Yahweh, the Israelite god, ordered the annual celebration of the date of escape from Egypt through the sacrifice of a lamb and its consumption accompanied by unleavened bread. While staying at Mount Horeb or Mountain of God, the Israelites received from Yahweh, through Moses, the commandments of the Torah Law. They remained in lands of Cades Barnea until the third 12 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño generation, around 75 years, to then cross the Jordan River and begin their “conquest” of Canaan with the capture and destruction of Jericho in 1550 BC. In the most recent Exodus, the “expulsion” Exodus, the Israelites are slaves assigned to the construction of an urban complex, and they request permission from Pharaoh for a three-day journey to the desert (or mountain) to offer a sacrifice to their god. Permission is denied by Pharaoh, who makes them work harder and denies them straw to make bricks, and orders the Egyptian supervisors to flog them if they do not meet the daily quota of bricks. After all negotiations fail, the Israelites slaughter the lambs at home and eat them with unleavened bread, while the firstborn die in Egypt. Pharaoh connects these deaths to the Israelite slaves and expels them from Egypt. Exodus 12:31 points out what Pharaoh said: “Get up and leave this town, you and the children of Israel. Go to serve Yahweh as you say.” Exodus 12:33 describes how the Israelites stripped the Egyptians of gold, silver, and clothing before their departure from Egypt. THE EXODUS IN THE EGYPTIAN TEXTS There are several Egyptian sources that relate calamities, disasters, chaos, darkness and storms in Egypt that resemble the plagues described in the book of Exodus, among them, the important ones that have been the subject of study are the Ipuwer Papyrus and the stele of Amosis. The Ipuwer Papyrus is an Ancient Egyptian poem preserved in 17 papyrus fragments; Classified as Leiden Papyrus I 344, it is kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Leiden, in the Netherlands. The manuscript was discovered in Memphis, although it probably came from Saqqara; It is 378 cm long and 18 cm high, and although the time of the poem's composition is unknown, some scholars have suggested that it was written between 1850 and 1600 BC. The story shows the fall of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, or a lament inspired by the supposed chaos of the Second Intermediate Period, several centuries later, or, possibly, a combination of both events. The papyrus describes an Egypt afflicted by natural disasters and in a state of chaos, a world in turmoil where the poor becomes rich, and the rich poor, and war, famine, and death are everywhere. A symptom of this collapse of the old order is the lament where servants abandon their servitude and behave rebelliously. Because of this, and statements such as "the river is blood," the document has been anachronistically interpreted by some as an Egyptian account of the plagues of Egypt described in the Old Testament book of Exodus, and is often cited as evidence of the biblical text by some religious organizations. In reality it seems to constitute a long-established pessimistic and complaining literary genre, and it is difficult to interpret whether it is a prophecy or a historical memory. Despite its similarity to the biblical plagues, there is little probability that it refers to a mass expulsion or escape of Asians from the Nile country. 13 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño The same can be said of the Amosis Stele, also called the Storm Stele discovered at Karnak by Henri Chevalier in 1947. This stele mentions a majestic storm in the reign of Amosis I, the pharaoh who expelled the Hyksos in 1556 BC. Mentions that an unknown god caused plagues similar to those described in the Bible (darkness, also described as a great storm). The relationship between the text of the stele and the expulsion of the Hyksos, —a people of Asian Canaanite origin who infiltrated Egypt, seized power from their capital at Avaris in the eastern region of the Delta and extended their dominion to threated Thebes— seems a very attractive theory of the Exodus from an Egyptian source, but differs in fundamental aspects: 1) There is no recognized physical explanation for the plagues at that time (1560 - 1550 BC) 2) The expelled Hyksos were not servants or slaves as referred to the Israelites in the Bible, on the other hand, the Hyksos were the rulers and Amosis I was the rebellious prince of the 17th Dynasty in Thebes. 3) The Hyksos expelled from Egypt fled to Canaan and took refuge in the town of Sharuhen in the Negev Desert, to be defeated again and dispersed by Amosis I; while the story of the biblical Exodus recounts a long stay in Sinai (for three generations) of the Israelite slaves expelled or escaped from Egypt, before their “conquest” of Canaan. There are also three Egyptian sources that refer to the expulsion from Egypt of a people or human group of Asian origin. The first two are related to the work of the Egyptian historian Manetho in the 3rd century BC. Citing Manetho, the Jewish historian Josephus uses the name “Tethmosis” (deformation of Thutmose) to refer to the pharaoh who expelled the Hyksos (called shepherd kings). Josephus considered that this expulsion was the same as that indicated in the biblical Exodus, and that the shepherd kings were the Israelites led out of Egypt. Why was the Pharaoh of the Exodus referred to as Thutmose? This is possibly a confusion with another event in which Israelite slaves were expelled from Egypt to Canaan during the reign of a pharaoh named Thutmose. A similar confusion is that of Sincellius, who relates another ancient version of Manetho, in which Moses appears as a leader who leads the Israelites expelled during the reign of Amosis, apparently merging two different stories: the expulsion of the Hyksos by Amosis I and that of Asian slaves expelled to Canaan by a Pharaoh Thutmose. The third Egyptian source is the inscription on a naos (sanctuary or niche housing the statuette of a god, located within a temple) originally found in El-Arish. The hieroglyphic inscription was engraved on a black granite stone, which when discovered in the 19th century was used as a trough to give water to livestock. On one side of the stone, the inscription is completely destroyed, and on the other side there is a large area of damage. Egyptologist Hans Goedicke believes that the naos was created just before the Persian invasion of Egypt in 525 BC. The inscription provides a historical version of Egypt with an allusion to the companions or sons of Apophis (referring to the Hyksos), also called "evildoers of the desert." Instead of referring to the current king or pharaoh, the inscription follows typical ancient Egyptian practice and uses the names of gods as protagonists, in 14 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño this case the god Shu (personifying the air), his twin sister and wife Tefnut (humidity and the dew) his son Geb (god of the earth), and Ra-Harakhte (god of the Eastern horizon). The translation of the text also refers to a god Thum or Tum. The inscription recounts the construction of a palace-temple complex on the northeastern border of Egypt north of Memphis, with two temples linked by an avenue, which is a common form in the New Kingdom. One of the bodies of water to the east of the complex is called the Whirlpool Place. King Shu (named after him in a royal cartouche) fortifies the hills that guard the roads leading to Egypt from the East to protect the Delta from the Asians, called the “sons of Apophis.” It is said that the king conquered the entire land and that he was always at the head of his troops. But [“sickness came upon him”] and confusion came upon his eyes [?] and evil fell upon the land and there was a great riot in the palace. The rebels brought disorder [disease?] to the house of the king himself. His majesty, King Shu “departed to heaven” [died] with his servants. Elsewhere in the text it says that King Shu had died and there was no one in the palace for nine days, during which there was such a storm and darkness that neither men nor gods could see the faces of those next to him. The text then says that the king's son, Prince Geb went looking for his mother, and that after the death of King Shu, his son, Prince Geb (now King) finds his mother in Pi-Kharoti, where she had gone to look for King Shu to see what had happened to him. Geb forces his mother to leave the place. The text also says that His Majesty Ra-Harakhte fought against the rebel evildoers in the Place of the Whirlpool. The inscription on the naos presents a very confusing account written many centuries after the events had passed from witnesses to oral traditions, but it appears to be a historical incident. A conquering ruler built or rebuilt a large palace-temple complex on the eastern border of his domain north of Memphis (the complex appears to have already been begun by a previous king). There was an uprising or rebellion of Asians in the palace complex, and a calamity or plague, possibly a disease The king died with his bodyguards, possibly fighting the rebels at the Place of the Whirlpool, east of the palacetemple complex, near a place called Pi-Kharoti. There was a period of storm and darkness (the figure of 9 days can probably be discounted because 9 is an Egyptian ritual number). His son becomes king and discovers that “certain Asiatic rebels have taken the king's scepter (now his) called Degai, those who live where the gods abhor.” Asians who live where the gods abhor (abomination is the worst sacrilege inflicted on an Egyptian god). The idea that Asiatics are connected to abominations, found in the El-Arish inscription, comes at least from the kingdom of Hatshepsut, who claimed to have expelled the Asiatics, called the abomination of the great god Ra. During the New Kingdom the Egyptians revered rams as the residence and representation of the soul or ba of the god Amun-Ra (Amun, a Theban deity, was combined with the sun god Ra or Re in this period). During the reign of Amenophis III of the 18th Dynasty there was a wide proliferation of images of Amun as a ram in Thebes. The idea mentioned in Exodus 8:26 about the plagues, where 15 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño the Israelites sacrificed rams would be so offensive or abominable to the Egyptians, and corresponds primarily to this period. There is a story from Manetho's work, cited by Josephus, in which King Amenophis sent lepers and other crowded people to a stone quarry east of the Delta, and later let them live in a section of the deserted city of Avaris, but later they rebelled led by a priest from Heliopolis called Osarseph, and sacrificed animals sacred to the Egyptians. Amenophis himself returned from a campaign in Ethiopia to fight the rebels, now allied with the shepherds (Hyksos) who previously lived in Avaris, defeated them and expelled lepers and Hyksos to Syria. Amosis, first pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, used Asian laborers to rebuild Avaris and reoccupy the city—as revealed by Manfred Bietak's archaeological excavations at Tell elDab'a—after expelling the Hyksos, who were apparently carriers of a plague, probably bubonic plague. His successor, Amenophis I, or Thutmose III himself may have been the pharaoh cited by Josephus who expelled the irreverent lamb-sacrificing Asiatics. In this regard, Exodus 10:28 refers to Moses and Aaron asking Pharaoh for permission for a three-day trip to the countryside to celebrate a festival to his god. Pharaoh —from his Egyptian point of view— claims not to know this god of Israel and eventually expels Moses from his presence. All of these fragmentary stories point to the early 18th Dynasty connected with the reoccupation of Avaris by the pharaohs from Amosis to Amenophis II, son of Thutmose III; the presence of Asian slave workers on Avaris, some carrying disease; the revolts caused by the slaves and the sacrifice of animals sacred to the Egyptians, all of which are mentioned in the text of El Arish. COMPARING THE EL-ARISH INSCRIPTION WITH THE BIBLICAL TEXT The story found in the El-Arish naos contains marked similarities with the story of the exodus-expulsion from Egypt [Siversten points out the clues and evidence of a previous great exodus, the exodus-flight in 1628 BC. C. during the eruption of the Tera volcano on the island of Santorini, with severe impact (the biblical plagues) of the northeastern region of the Delta by tephra and ash carried by the wind]. In the Egyptian text, King Shu goes to his palace (the palace-temple-warehouse complex) in the eastern Delta, while his son, Prince Geb, is traveling. A disorder caused by rebellious servants reaches the king's palace-house, who apparently also carry an illness. In the biblical text, the Israelites ask Pharaoh for permission to make a sacrifice to his god in the field (Exodus 3:18, 5: 1b). This sacrifice could only have been the annual renewal of his covenant with Yahweh (indicating that a previous exodus had already occurred and the sacrifice was the festival imposed by Yahweh for its celebration). When permission is denied, the Israelites slaughter lambs in their homes, most likely stealing the animals from palace storehouses and temple flocks. This is an abominable act of rebellion as noted in El-Arish's text. The 16 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño Israelites eat the sacrificed lamb in their homes, saving themselves from dying, while the Egyptians die in the palace, probably due to a food infection spread from the kitchens of the complex. Siversten speculates that this may have been an outbreak of Salmonella or Escherichia coli, which is fatal especially for children (the first-born), but will not affect breast-fed babies and newborns. In Egypt, the death of the pharaoh's first-born son is a cause of national mourning, as if all the first-born sons of the kingdom had died. In the biblical story (Exodus 11:2, 12:35 – 36) the Israelites leave Egypt expelled by order of Pharaoh, but not before taking pieces of gold, silver and clothing; They make offerings to obtain divine intervention to save their sick children, as implied in Exodus 12:9-10. Then Pharaoh repents (Exodus 14:5b) and decides that he does not want to lose his slaves, calls his chariots and escorts and begins a chase. Something different is implied in El-Arish's text: the Asians have taken the royal scepter. This is the reason why the king persecutes the slaves. THE PATH OF THE ISRAELITES AND PHARAOH'S ARMY From Avaris the Israelites and the Egyptians in pursuit would have followed the Path of Horus to the East, until they reached Tell Defenneh. The main route of the Path of Horus proceeds through a narrow peninsula between the Mediterranean Sea and the sea lagoon of Shi-Hor. This peninsula was formed by a mound of hardened sand, through which the Egyptian chariots could proceed without difficulty to the fortress of Tjaru or Zaru (Tell Hebua I), where Pharaoh could supply himself with more chariots and soldiers. A kind of sand ford-bridge had to be crossed over the lagoon to continue to another observation fort at Tell-Borg, from where the route continued to Sinai and Canaan along the coast. The Israelites also follow the Path of Horus, but by a secondary route through another peninsula between the coastal lagoon Shi-Hor and the freshwater Ballah Lakes, also known as the Sea of Reeds or the Sea of Papyrus (Yam Suf in Hebrew, erroneously translated in the Bible as the Red Sea), without having to pass through the fortress of Tjaru. This secondary route joins the main one at Tell Borg, so the Israelites, pursued by the Egyptians, stopped before the junction of the two routes. In Exodus 14:2 the Israelites camp at Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-Zephon. Pi-hahiroth is markedly similar to the name of Pi-Kharoti from the El-Arish text. Both terms refer to the “mouth of a canal.” A recent interpretation of BaalZephon (Canaanite storm god) by James K Hoffmeier associates this name with “the waters of Baal,” at the level of the northern edge of the Ballah Lakes, the biblical Sea of Reeds. Hoffmeier proposes that the biblical Migdol (which means tower in Hebrew) was located near the southeastern tip of the coastal lagoon and the Ballah Lakes, at the site of Tell-Borg, which in Arabic also means tower. 17 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño According to Exodus 14:9 – 10, the Israelites camped at the mouth of the canal (Pihahiroth), opposite Baal-Zephon, and saw the Egyptians in their chariots advancing in pursuit. They thought they were trapped between the sea (the coastal lagoon) and BaalZephon (the Sea of Reeds). But the biblical text implies that the end of the day was near, and Pharaoh also camped, probably in his fortress of Tjaru to organize his forces the next morning and cross the bridge that connected him to Tell-Borg. Exodus 14 does not provide a clear scene of what happened when the Egyptians tried to capture the Israelites (probably no more than about 300 people); one biblical scholar states “the account is now a composition of several traditions, which when fused, fail to present a clear and comprehensible picture of the event.” In one version, as the Egyptian chariots approach, Moses raises his arm over the sea and the waters part, allowing the Israelites to walk through the waters. When the Egyptians followed, Moses raises his hand again and the waters return, drowning the Egyptians. According to scholars, this version of the Miracle of the Sea, as well as the names Baal-zephon and Pi-hahiroth, belong to the “P” tradition, or priestly source. A second version of the encounter is preserved in Exodus 14, and scholars attribute it to the “J” tradition, or Yahwist source. In this version, a pillar of cloud (fire is a late addition) leads the Israelites until they spot the Egyptians pursuing them. The cloud moves between the Israelites and the Egyptians and both groups camp with darkness between them (which suggests an ash cloud). That night a strong east wind blows over the sea and makes it retreat, leaving the land dry, but at dawn the sea returns to its normal depth. Early in the morning the Egyptians panic when they see the cloud and fall into the sea. In this version the Israelites do not move anywhere (and do not follow the cloud), but they see from their camp what happens to the Egyptians. Although a movement of the waters is described, it does not fit into the story. In different ways, both versions are a combination of two separate exoduses; an early account of an exodus-flight (Moses leads the Israelites, the wind blows over the waters leaving a corridor of dry land where they cross the Sea of Reeds or the Bitter Lakes) and another late account of an exodus-expulsion experienced by the Israelite slaves (Shasu shepherds) in which the Egyptian soldiers drown with their chariots at a site “in front of” Baal-Zephon in the Sea of Reeds. Another version of the encounter is contained in two pieces of ancient poetry in Exodus 15. Both include the lines “Sing to the Lord, for he has gloriously triumphed; “He threw (or cast) horses and charioteers into the sea.” The shorter version of the song (in Exodus 15:21), usually known as the Song of Miriam, may be so called simply because its name rhymes with the last phrase of the verse. It is unlikely that it refers to Miriam, Moses' sister, since this character is not mentioned in the song (in later versions Miriam and Moses are added). As writer Jonathan Kirsch notes, the most intriguing and important feature of the Song of Miriam is its failure to mention the slightest detail of the Miracle of the Sea that 18 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño so captivated the late authors of the Bible. It says nothing about the waters of the sea parting or the Israelites crossing between two walls of water. It does not mention Moses or refer to his role in the Miracle of the Sea, which provokes the notion that he played no role because he was not there. (Interestingly, the Latin American Bible in Spanish refers to the Song of Miriam as the Song of Moses, although He is not mentioned in it and the Miracle of the Sea is not described). Another part of the ancient poem, Exodus 15:8, describes the behavior of the waters: “At the breath of your nostrils (referring to Yahweh) the waters recede, the waves stand like walls; “The whirlwinds gather in the middle of the sea.” This is precisely what happens when a tsunami approaches the coast: first the sea recedes, and as it returns later, the base of the wave drags more slowly, causing water to pile up at the peak of the wave as it rises. great height and moves at greater speed, like a collapsing wall of water. ERUPTIONS AND TSUNAMIS There is traditional, textual and physical evidence indicating that one or more tsunamis occurred on the coasts of the Eastern Mediterranean at that time. Manetho claimed that the flood of the Greek mythological hero Deucalion occurred in the reign of Misphegmutosis, a pharaoh who reigned 27 years. Another name for this king is Menkeperre, or Thutmose III, but 27 years was the reign of Amenophis II, not Thutmose III. Manetho must have said that the flood occurred during the co-regency of Thutmose III and Amenophis II, at the end of the reign of Thutmose III. The Greek archaeologist A. G. Galanópoulos associated the Deluge of Deucalion with the eruption of Santorini. In the early version of the myth the flood comes from the sea, suggesting a tsunami. Estimates about the date of the Deucalion Flood vary, but according to genealogies it is 1430 BC. The traditions of the Attica Greeks produce two dates for the flood:1800 and 1500 BC. Greek myths also refer to an older flood, that of Ogyges, the founder of Thebes in Greece. The Christian writer Julius Africanus stated that the Flood of Ogyges dates back to the time of Moses. At Tel Mishal, a site on the coast of Israel north of Tel Aviv, a cliff collapsed twice due to tsunamis, once in the Middle Bronze IIB and once in the Late Bronze I. Geologists suggest that the first tsunami occurred during the eruption of Tera, and corresponds according to the author to both the exodus-flight and the Ogyges Flood. The second tsunami during the Late Bronze Age (1550 – 1400 BC) may correspond to the traditional date of the Deucalion Flood, in the middle of the 15th century BC. Tsunamis can be caused by earthquakes, most often if a massive underwater landslide occurs that displaces large masses of water. There is a long record of tsunamis generated by earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in the Aegean Sea. Volcanic eruptions in the ocean can precipitate these landslides if sea water penetrates through 19 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño cracks or orifices in the volcano, if the caldera collapses, or if underwater parts of the volcano collapse. East of Santorini, in the Aegean Volcanic Arc, are the islands of Cos, Nisyros and Yali, the last two remnants of ancient volcanic eruptions. Between Nisyros and Yali there are other volcanoes on the ocean floor. Volcanic rocks of Yali Island from the second millennium BC. have been dated by thermoluminescence methods, giving an age around the year 1460 BC. (± 46 years). These rocks were probably produced during the eruption of a volcanic caldera now located on the underwater floor between Nisyros and Yali, during the middle part of the second millennium BC. Remains of Minoan pottery have been found in volcanic pumice deposits on the island of Yali. The dating of this ceramic corresponds to the transition from Late Minoan IB to Late Minoan II, a transition that took place around 1450 BC. C. Tephra and ceramics from the Middle Minoan have been found on other nearby islands, but unfortunately no precise dating studies have been carried out. Despite the lack of precise dating and detailed studies of these sites on the Aegean islands, several factors suggest a volcanic eruption from a caldera between Nisyros and Yali in the middle part of the 15th century BC. If the caldera was initially above sea level, tephra and airborne ash would be produced, which with the northwest wind would spread across the Eastern Mediterranean producing a large cloud over Israel and the Nile Delta. As the caldera collapsed and submerged in the sea, a tsunami would be produced affecting the coasts of Greece (Deucalion Flood) of northern Crete and the Egyptian Delta. MIRACLE AT THE SEA The El Arish inscription and Exodus 14 both describe intense darkness. In the biblical story the darkness was transformed into a column of cloud that guided the Israelites to the Mountain of God 178 years earlier. A clue that this was a very different cloud is found at the end of Exodus 14:20, an enigmatic passage that reports that the pillar of cloud (by day) and fire (by night) did not become fire on that particular night, but darkness remained. The El Arish text describes the type of darkness produced by a cloud of tephra and ash. Not as extensive and enduring as the Tera tephra cloud, but an unexpected and extraordinary cloud. For the Israelites camped in Pi-hahiroth awaiting the assault of the Egyptians, the tephra cloud is nothing other than a manifestation of the divine presence of Yahweh, the great cloud in which God resides, and which comes to help them. For the Egyptians it could only mean horror and terror. The Egyptians believed that every night the solar god Ra opposed the forces of chaos, represented by the serpent Apophis, who sought to stop the transit of Ra to prevent his arrival at the eastern horizon and start a new day. A day without sun, such as being obscured by unusual darkness or during a solar eclipse, meant that at least temporarily, Apophis had defeated Ra. Apophis was also the name of the king of the Fifteenth Dynasty of the Hyksos, who ruled longest during the Second Intermediate Period, and as the El Arish text suggests, the Asiatics were the 20 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño children of Apophis, the evil serpent of chaos. What would the Egyptians think about attacking the sons of Apophis, when as the night passed the solar god Ra did not appear, but in his place there was intense darkness? For them, the serpent of chaos, Apophis, had defeated their solar god Ra! The panic among the Egyptians must have been enormous (see Exodus 14:24b), and probably prompted them to flee. Exodus 14:25b says: “Let us flee from Israel because their Lord (Yahweh) fights with them against us” (the most logical translation from the point of view of the Egyptians would be: “Let us flee from the Shasu slaves because their god (Apophis) fights with them against us"). Despite the panic among his troops, Pharaoh was able to lead his men and chariots out of the Tjaru fort (Tell Hebua I) and across the bridge or dyke that connected it to the small peninsula on the other side of the coastal lagoon Shi- Hor. A military leader like Thutmose III could control and reorganize his troops and advance on the Israelites. The tsunami waves, traveling south from the Aegean, had gained height as they approached the surface waters of the Delta, and as they crashed into the dike and other elevations, they expanded across the Shi-Hor coastal lagoon in all directions. The wall of water that formed on the high dam quickly fell on the Egyptians and their chariots crossing the bridge from Tjaru, drowning them (Exodus 14:28, 15:4 – 5, 10). The Israelites, camped inland and out of the direct line of the waves, were saved. After the wave(s) retreated, the Israelites collected the Egyptians' weapons, (Josephus reported) and fought the surviving Egyptians. The El Arish text mentions a fight. Many years later, when the accounts of both exoduses were merged, the events at sea, very different in principle, were also combined into one, but left traces of their individuality. The passage of the Israelites led by Moses through a high stretch of dry land, to cross the Bitter Lakes (without any pursuit by Egyptian troops) in the exodus-flight of 1628 BC. C., and the drowning of Pharaoh's men and chariots by a wall of water (the two walls of water is a later addition) when crossing a dam of the Shi-Hor coastal lagoon, in the exodus-expulsion of 1447 BC. THE REMAINS OF THUTMOSE III After the events at Pi-Kharoti, the Egyptians had to focus on finding the body of their Pharaoh, Thutmose III, since his death meant the victory of the forces of chaos over the forces of order (Maat) in the universe. Only after burying the king's body with the appropriate rites could the cosmos return to order. This would explain why the queen and the prince came to Pi-Kharoti—like the goddess Isis searching for the body of her dead husband Osiris. But she would not find it. The biblical account (Exodus 14:27 – 28) implies that Pharaoh drowned with his army. In 1881, Egyptologists discovered a cache of royal mummies at Deir el-Bahari near Thebes, and in 1898 the tomb of Amenophis II in the Valley of the Kings revealed a second group of mummified royal remains. The mummies in both caches were individuals from the 17th to 19th Dynasty who had been stripped of their bandages and mutilated by ancient tomb raiders. During the 21st Dynasty, after 21 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño having moved the mummies several times, restorers finally bandaged them again and relabeled them. Among the mummies identified from the 18th Dynasty and labeled were those of Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, Amenophis II, and Amenophis III. Since 1967, these royal mummies, now in the Cairo Museum, have been x-rayed by a team from the University of Michigan and the University of Alexandria, led by orthodontist James E. Harris, Director of the Department of Orthodontics at the University of Michigan. Additionally, Edward F Wente of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago was called upon to provide historical ages and family trees. Based on X-ray studies of the skeletons, physical anthropologists were able to provide detailed estimates of the mummies' ages at the time of their death. Harris later analyzed the craniofacial bones of each mummy with computerized imaging and statistical analysis of 177 points of each skull. This type of analysis allows an approximation to the genetic relationship of each mummy, to affirm or contradict their identity labels. Multiple identification errors were found. For example, the body in the coffin identified as Thutmose I corresponded to a young man between 18 and 23 years of age, and not a middle-aged adult as he should have been. The mummy of Seti II from the 19th Dynasty “bears a lot of resemblance to the kings of the 18th Dynasty,” and is probably the mummy of Thutmose II, and the one identified as Thutmose II is that of Thutmose I. The mummy supposedly of Thutmose III was identified by a shroud folded over the mummy, which was in a coffin devoid of its outer sarcophagus. The estimated age was 35 to 40 years old, while Thutmose III was about 60 years old when he died. This mummy is probably that of Amenophis II, the son of Thutmose III, who died at the age of 44. The mummy of Thutmose IV was the only one of this group correctly identified by restorers of the 21th Dynasty. If Harris and Wente's estimates are correct (and so far they have not been refuted), there is a real possibility that Thutmose III's mummy has not been found. RETURN TO CANAAN While the Egyptians were busy collecting their dead, the escaped Israelites continued south, away from the coastal Horus Road (also called the Philistine Land Road—an anachronism). Instead, they crossed the Sinai along the Way of Shur (Exodus 15:22a: “and they went through the wilderness of Shur”) which eventually led them to Beersheba and Hebron. Gathered back with their own clans and tribes, they told the story of their fight against Pharaoh and their miraculous escape: the sacrificial pact – offering to Yahweh, the disease that plagued the Egyptians and from which they were saved, their expulsion by Pharaoh, and Yahweh's rescue with the death of the Egyptians in the Sea of Reeds. This story became a vital part of their tribal traditions, joining the stories of a previous exodus in the complex cultural doctrine of these people. These traditions would have a considerable effect on the history of the Israelite people. As the centuries passed, the stories of the two traditions would merge or emerge—as similar stories invariably do 22 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño in oral traditions—into an epic story of an Exodus from Egypt. In chapter eleven of The Parting of the Sea, Barbara J Sivertsen describes the formation of the Exodus tradition and concludes with an appendix on oral transmission, memory, remembrance, and oral history. BIBLICAL ARGUMENTS THAT SUPPORT THE TWO EXODUS VERSION According to this biblical research article, the Pentateuch provides various signs or clues that lead to considering the existence of two different episodes of departure (escape or flight) from Egypt of Jacob-Israel descendants. • Exodus 6:16,18 and 20, and Numbers 26:59 clearly express the genealogy of Moses, born of Amram (son of Kohath) and Jochabed; Kohath, son of Levi, who (the latter) arrived in Egypt c.1720 BC, with his son Kohath (Moses' grandfather) born before their arrival, which allows us to calculate the birth of Moses in c.1670 BC. and the exodus led by Moses around 1630 BC, during the II Intermediate Period of Egypt, when several Canaanite and Hyksos kings ruled from the Delta. • Kings 1:6 refers to the beginning of construction of the Temple of Jerusalem in the fourth year of Solomon's reign (967 BC), 480 years after the Exodus, which means that this event occurred in the year 1447 BC. during the co-regency of Thutmose III and that of his son Amenophis II of the 18th Egyptian dynasty. This exodus obviously could not have been led by Moses. The scholars and authors who place Moses in the exodus of 1447 BC ignore the text of Exodus 6:16,18 and 20 or change it to their “convenience” and invent 4 to 6 “lost” generations (D. Rohl, D. Petrovich). • Exodus 5-8 refers to multiple audiences with Pharaoh (this title began with the 18th dynasty, so it is anachronistic in the II Intermediate Period) of Moses and Aaron at times, and of the elders of the family at others, requesting permission to leave Egypt for three days into the desert and offer a sacrifice to the God of Israel who demands them it; Apparently it was a party to celebrate a pact (covenant) with their God. This indicates that the Israelites had already had a previous covenant with their God, that is, a previous exodus with Moses, and now it was the elders of the family who requested the renewal of the covenant and sacrifice. In Exodus 8:26 it is pointed out that the sacrifice (a lamb) would be detestable in the eyes of the Egyptians, so they would have to perform it in the desert. It was precisely from the 18th Egyptian dynasty onwards that the representation of Amun, the main god of the Egyptians, would be a ram. • Deuteronomy 28;15-68 expresses the curses that the Lord God will bring to the Israelites who disobey his orders, among them all the diseases and calamities of Egypt (Had they not already left Egypt?) and particularly the curse of Deuteronomy 28:68 " The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, on a journey that I said you would never take again. 23 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” This verse implies a curse in which the Israelites who had already left Egypt (Moses' Exodus in c.1628 BC) and were in Canaan, were now returning to Egypt in ships to be slaves. It seems a reproduction of what Thutmose III and Amenophis II would do to obtain servants and construction workers. These servants and slaves would be the protagonists of the Exodus in 1447 BC led by the elders, during the coregency of Thutmose III and that of his son Amenophis II. • The story about the miracle when crossing the “Red Sea” (erroneous translation of Sea of Reeds or Papyrus) described in Exodus 14, merges two versions: in one of them, from the “J” (Yahwist) tradition, a strong wind from the east withdrew the waters and left a dry passage through which the Israelites crossed; In this version Moses leads his people across the Sea of Reeds around 1628 BC, after their departure from Goshen / Rameses, fleeing the plagues resulting from the eruption of volcan Tera on the island of Santorini. The other version, from the later “P” (Priestly) tradition, the Israelites escape from Egypt pursued by Pharaoh and his army; They are reached in their camp at Pihairot, between Migdol and Baal-Zephon, and when the Egyptians cross the narrow channel that separates them, the sea closes on them and sinks them, drowning the Egyptians with their chariots and cavalry; In this other version, the figure of Moses is a late introduction, since he did not seem to be present in the Canticle of Miriam of Exodus 15. The biblical citation of departure from the city of PI-Rameses seems a translocation of the city of Avaris (a royal residence of Thutmose III), since the first was built by Ramses II to the north of the abandoned Avaris, covering part of the latter, which is why the scribes of these verses remembered Avaris as Pi-Rameses. In this version, the Israelites watch as the Egyptians are thrown by a wave that sinks and drowns them, possibly a tsunami caused by the eruption of the volcanic caldera between the islands of Yali and Nisyros in the Eastern Mediterranean, which occurs in c .1447 BC • The Exodus of Moses in c1628 BC. and the dwelling of the Israelite people in Sinai for three generations before the conquest of Canaan led by Joshua (of the fourth generation), agrees with the archeology of the destruction of Jericho and the fall of the cities of Ay and Bethel around 1550 B.C. While the Exodus of 1447 B.C. is too late to explain these destructions, in both cases the entry of the Israelites into Canaan would follow a very long process of semi-nomadic location (Shasu and Hapiru) in tents and small villages in the valleys and hills (time of the Judges, when they would be felled during the Merenptah campaign in 1220 BC) and gradual, progressive infiltration into the large walled cities. • The two exodus episodes would be remembered by tribal folk tradition and transmitted orally for generations, to be written in fragments around the time of kings David and Solomon, and merged into one, probably by scribes during the Babylonian exile (597 – 538 BC), more than 1,000 years after these episodes had occurred. 24 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño COMMENTARY ON THE GENEALOGY OF MOSES The genealogy of Moses (page 27) clearly stated in Exodus 6:16,18 and 20 as well as in Numbers 26:59 establishes four generations between Levi and Moses. I have estimated the arrival of Levi with his family (including his son Kohath, ─supposedly 10 years old─ grandfather of Moses) c 1720 B.C. Kohath begets Amram (father of Moses) c 1710 B.C., who marries Jocoabed, a daughter of Levi born in Egypt. Jocoabed begets three offspring, Miriam, Aaron and Moses; the latter, fourth generation (born c 1670 B.C.) will lead the exodus from Egypt (Genesis 15:16). This chronology is supported by the genealogy described in the Bible and immediately rules out Moses leading the exodus in 1447 BC. To relocate Moses to the 15th century BC, some authors invented 5 or 6 “lost generations”, completely ignore this inconsistency, or absurdly support generations of 100 years each. Instead, they should analyze why in the Bible there is no data, names, anecdotes, or any information about 400 years in Egypt of the children of Israel. Indeed, Exodus 1:1-7 recounts the arrival of the children of Israel in Egypt and their multiplication. Exodus 1:8 refers to the new king of Egypt who did not know about Joseph, and in Exodus 1:11 the oppression begins ("for 400 years"). In Exodus 1:15 the king orders the midwives to kill the Israelite male children born, and in Exodus 2:2 Moses is born. Far too short a text to cover several centuries of the dwelling and oppression of the children of Israel in Egypt! Even more so when compared to the lengthy text from Abraham to Jacob-Israel. In conclusion, the genealogy of Moses must be considered and respected, not ignored or modified. Moses led the exodus from Egypt in 1628 BC during the Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos occupation of the Delta, and Joshua initiated the conquest of Canaan in c 1550 BC. The 430 years of sojourn in Canaan and Egypt (which includes oppression and slavery in Egypt) take place between Abraham's arrival in Canaan (tributary to Egypt) in 1877 BC and the exodus of 1447 BC, during the coregency of Thutmose III and his son Amenhotep II, led by the captive Israelite elders. Moses with the New Tablets Taken from Bibleview 25 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño AVARIS/TELL EL DAB´A STRATIGRAPHY (EARLY TO LATE) H LATE EGYPTIAN XII DYNASTY, MIDDLE BRONZE CERAMICS (BM) IIA G/1-4 EARLY 13TH [OR LATE 12TH] DYNASTY ENDED BY A PLAGUE F MIDDLE [OR EARLY] 13TH DYNASTY; CANANITE TEMP., BMIIA/IIB CERAMIC E/3 FIRST ASIAN KINGS; BEGINNING OF 14TH DYNASTY AND LAST EVIDENCE OF 13TH DYNASTY; 2 GREAT CANANITE TEMP., BM IIB OR IIB1 CERAMICS E/2 HORSES APPEAR ON THIS LEVEL; CERAMIC BM IIB OR IIB2 E/1 EARLY 15TH DYNASTY (HYKSOS KINGS); GREAT CANANITE POPULATION CERAMIC BM IIB/IIC OR IIB3 (EXODUS LED BY MOSES IN 1628 BC)* D/3 15TH DYNASTY OF HYKSOS KINGS; CONTINUES INCREASE POPULATION CERAMIC BM IIC OR IIB3 D/2 LATE 15TH DYNASTY OF HYKSOS KINGS; ENDS WITH DESTRUCTION OF BM IIC CERAMIC SITE/STRATUM NOTE: The stratigraphy corresponds to an area of the excavation (Tell A) that is the most frequently cited in the literature. The central area of the site has a different stratigraphic designation. The dynastic levels of strata G/1-4 and F by Manfred Bietak are cited first, and those by William Dever [in parentheses] later. W. Dever considers the transition between the 12th and 13th dynasties equivalent to the change from BM IIA/IIB pottery in Canaan. Taken from Sivertsen B. The Parting of the Sea: How Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Plagues, Shaped the Story of Exodus. (*) Added by the author 26 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño Taken from Bible Talk.tv and Coy D. Roper Exodus. Exodus 6 (June 24th 2024) Moses Family Tree 1. Levi (Moses' great-grandfather): Levi was one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the founder of the tribe of Levi. He had 4 sons: Gershom, Kohath, Merari and Jocoabed. 2. Kohath (Moses' grandfather): Kohath was the son of Levi and father of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 3. Amram (father of Moses): Amram was a descendant of Levi, son of Kohat. He was married to Jocoabed, with whom he had three children: Miriam, Aaron and Moses. Amram and Jocoabed hid Moses for three months before placing him in a basket in the Nile River to save him from Pharaoh's persecution. 4. Jocoabed (mother of Moses): Jocoabed was also a descendant of Levi (a daughter born in Egypt). Along with her husband Amram, she protected Moses during his first months of life before placing him in a basket in the Nile River. Taken from Family Tree Template 27 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño Línea de la costa hace 3,500 años PHATNÍTICA Tanis Xois MENDESIANA TANÍTICA Pi-Rameses Avaris Tell Hebua I Zaru/Sile TellDefenne PELUSIACA Tell el-Maskhuta Tell er-Retaba Pitom LAND OF GOSHEN Tell el-Maskhuta = Succot Tell el-Yehudiya Tell er-Retaba = Pitom Localidades FORDS Fortalezas militares Menfis Possible crossing sites (Sea of Reeds) of Israelites led by Moses (c 1628 BC) 28 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Egyptian route and camp Alfonso J. Treviño Israelite route and camp Pharaoh's army crossing Tsunami Exodus of 1447 BC Miracle at the Sea Taken (modified) from The parting of the sea: how volcanoes, earthquakes, and plagues shaped the story of Exodus. By Barbara J. Sivertsen. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2009. 29 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. GÉNESIS. ÉXODO. NÚMEROS. DEUTERONOMIO. IN THE BIBLE. Santa Biblia Cristiana. 2. THE BIBLE AS HISTORY. By Werner Keller. New edition revised by Hodder y Stoughton. Bantam Books, New York, 1980. 3. ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE. By James K. Hoffmeier Ed Lion Hudson PLC 2015 4. LOS ISRAELITAS. EN ORÍGENES DEL HOMBRE. By the TIME-LIFE Books Editorial Team. TIME-LIFE International de México, S.A. de C.V., México, 1983. 5. GRANDES CIVILIZACIONES DE LA ANTIGÜEDAD. EGIPTO. By Pedro Sánchez Torrente and Ángel Luis González Encinas. GR.U.P.O., S.A. Madrid, España, 1999. 6. EGIPTO. DIOSES, TEMPLOS Y FARAONES. ATLAS CULTURALES DEL MUNDO. Volumen I By John Baines y Jaromir Málek. Ed. Folio, 1993. 7. FROM EDEN TO EXILE By David Rohl. Greenleaf Press, Lebanon, Tennessee, 2009. 8. LA ERUPCIÓN VOLCÁNICA DEL TERA EN EL SIGLO XVII A.C. By Alfonso J. Treviño, Monterrey, N. L., 2009. 9. LEYENDAS DE LA TIERRA. By Dorothy Vitaliano. Salvat, Scientific Library. Salvat Edit. S. A. Barcelona, 1986 10. THE PARTING OF THE SEA: HOW VOLCANOES, EARTHQUAKES, AND PLAGUES SHAPED THE STORY OF EXODUS. Por Barbara J. Sivertsen. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2009. 11. THE 1552 EXODUS. By Kenneth F. Doig. Published in Catastrophism and Ancient History, Los Angeles, July 1990. 30 EXODUS: A Mystery Revealed Alfonso J. Treviño 12. AVARIS, THE CAPITAL OF THE HYKSOS By Manfred Bietak, London, British Museum, 1996. 13. THE DATE OF THE EXODUS ACCORDING TO ANCIENT WRITERS. By Stephen Meyers. Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies (IBSS), revised 2008. 14. DATING THE BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY By Gerard Gertoux. Academia, 2022. 15. IDENTYFING THE HISTORICITY OF EXODUS. By Alfonso J. Treviño. Unpublished, In press, 2023. 16. ORIGINS OF THE HEBREWS By Douglas N. Petrovich. Nashville, Tennessee 2021. 17. BIBLE BLENDER (Junio 24, 2024). 18. PLANTILLA ÁRBOL GENEALÓGICO (Junio 24, 2024). 19. BIBLE TALKS.TV (Junio 24, 2024). 20. WIKIPEDIA 2024. 31