Overview:
Rameses is a significant location mentioned in the Bible, primarily in the context of the Israelites' sojourn in Egypt and their subsequent Exodus. It is associated with both a city and a region in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites settled during their time in Egypt. The name Rameses is often linked to the Egyptian Pharaohs of the New Kingdom period, particularly those of the 19th and 20th Dynasties, such as Ramesses II. However, the biblical references to Rameses are more focused on its role in the narrative of the Israelites.

Biblical References:

1. Genesis 47:11 : "So Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded." This verse highlights Rameses as a fertile and prosperous region within Egypt, where Joseph, serving as a high-ranking official under Pharaoh, settled his family. The land of Rameses is identified as part of the larger region of Goshen, which was suitable for the Israelites' pastoral lifestyle.

2. Exodus 1:11 : "So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh." This passage indicates that Rameses was one of the cities constructed by the Israelites under harsh conditions of slavery. The city served as a storage center for Pharaoh, reflecting its strategic and economic importance in ancient Egypt.

3. Exodus 12:37 : "The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children." This verse marks the beginning of the Exodus, the pivotal event where the Israelites departed from Egypt. Rameses is noted as the starting point of their journey, symbolizing the transition from bondage to freedom.

4. Numbers 33:3 : "On the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover, the Israelites set out from Rameses. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians." This account reiterates Rameses as the departure point for the Israelites, emphasizing the dramatic nature of their exodus from Egypt.

Historical and Archaeological Context:
The identification of Rameses with the historical city of Pi-Ramesses, the capital of Pharaoh Ramesses II, is a subject of scholarly debate. Pi-Ramesses was located in the Nile Delta and served as a major administrative and military center. Archaeological evidence suggests that it was a grand city with impressive structures, aligning with the biblical description of a significant settlement.

The association of Rameses with the Exodus narrative has led to various theories regarding the timeline and historicity of these events. Conservative scholars often place the Exodus during the 15th century BC, aligning with a traditional interpretation of biblical chronology. This view considers the biblical account as a reliable historical record, despite the challenges in correlating it with Egyptian history.

Theological Significance:
Rameses holds theological importance as a symbol of God's deliverance and faithfulness to His covenant people. The narrative of the Israelites' oppression and subsequent liberation from Rameses underscores themes of divine intervention, redemption, and the fulfillment of God's promises. The Exodus from Rameses is a foundational event in the history of Israel, shaping their identity as a nation chosen and led by God.

In summary, Rameses serves as a key geographical and historical reference in the biblical account of the Israelites' time in Egypt and their journey to the Promised Land. Its mention in Scripture highlights the intersection of divine providence and human history, illustrating the unfolding of God's redemptive plan.Rameses

See RAAMSES.

"the land of" (Genesis 47:11), was probably "the land of Goshen" (q.v.) 45:10. After the Hebrews had built Rameses, one of the "treasure cities," it came to be known as the "land" in which that city was built.

The city bearing this name (Exodus 12:37) was probably identical with Zoan, which Rameses II. ("son of the sun") rebuilt. It became his special residence, and ranked next in importance and magnificance to Thebes. Huge masses of bricks, made of Nile mud, sun-dried, some of them mixed with stubble, possibly moulded by Jewish hands, still Mark the site of Rameses. This was the general rendezvous of the Israelites before they began their march out of Egypt. Called also Raamses (Exodus 1:11).

RAAMSES; RAMESES

ra-am'-sez, ram'-e-sez (Exodus 1:11), (Genesis 47:11 Exodus 12:37 Numbers 33:3, 5) (ra`mecec, ra`amcec; Rhamesse; Egyptian Ra-messu, "Ra created him" (or "it")):

1. The Meaning of "Store-Cities":

One of the two "settlements" (mickenoth) built, or "built up," by the Hebrews for the Pharaoh, the other being Pithom, to which the Septuagint adds a third, namely, "On which is Heliopolis," a town near Cairo (Exodus 1:11). The Hebrew term mickenoth comes from a root meaning "to settle down" (Arabic sakan, "settlement," Assyrian sakanu or shakanu, "to set"), but it is rendered "strong cities" in Septuagint, "treasure cities" in the King James Version, and (incorrectly) "store-cities" in the Revised Version: The "land of Rameses," where Jacob and his sons settled, was apparently the "field of Zoan" (see ZOAN), thus lying in the Delta East of the Bubastic branch of the Nile.

2. The Meaning of the Name:

It is often assumed that no city called Rameses would have existed before the time of Rameses II, or the 14th century B.C., though even before Rameses I the name occurs as that of a brother of Horemhib under the XVIIIth Dynasty. The usual translation "Child of Ra" is grammatically incorrect in Egyptian and as Ra was an ancient name for the "sun" it seems possible that a town may have borne the title "Ra created it" very early. The mention of Rameses in Genesis (47:11) is often regarded as an anachronism, since no scholar has supposed that Jacob lived as late as the time of Rameses II. This would equally apply to the other notices, and at most would serve to mark the age of the passages in the Pentateuch where Rameses is mentioned, but even this cannot be thought to be proved (see EXODUS). According to De Rouge (see Pierret, Vocab. Hieroglyph., 1875, 143) there were at least three towns in Lower Egypt that bore the name Pa Rames-ses ("city of Rameses"); but Brugsch supposes that the place mentioned in the Old Testament was Zoan, to which Rameses II gave this name when making it his capital in the Delta. Dr. Budge takes the same view, while Dr. Naville and others suppose that the site of Raamses has still to be found.

3. Situation:

There appears to have been no certain tradition preserving the site, for though Silvia (about 385 A.D.) was told that it lay 4 miles from the town of Arabia (see GOSHEN), she found no traces of such a place. Brugsch ("A New City of Rameses, 1876," Aegyptische Zeitschrift, 69) places one such city in the southern part of Memphis itself. Goodwin (Rec. of Past, Old Series, VI, 11) gives an Egyptian letter describing the "city of Rameses-Miamun," which appears to be Zoan, since it was on the seacoast. It was a very prosperous city when this letter was written, and a pa-khennu or "palace city." It had canals full of fish, lakes swarming with birds, fields of lentils, melons, wheat, onions and sesame, gardens of vines, almonds and figs. Ships entered its harbor; the lotus and papyrus grew in its waters. The inhabitants greeted Rameses II with garlands of flowers. Besides wine and mead, of the "conqueror's city," beer was brought to the harbor from the Kati (in Cilicia), and oil from the "Lake Sagabi." There is no reason to suppose that Zoan was less prosperous in the early Hyksos age, when the Hebrews dwelt in its plain, whatever be the conclusion as to the date when the city Rameses received that name. The description above given agrees with the Old Testament account of the possession given by Joseph to his family "in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses" (Genesis 47:11).

C. R. Conder

RAMESES

ram'-e-sez, ra-me'-sez.

See RAAMSES.

7486. Raamses -- a city in Egypt
Raamses or Rameses. 7485, 7486. Raamses or Rameses. 7487 . a city in
Egypt. Transliteration: Raamses or Rameses Phonetic Spelling ...
/hebrew/7486.htm - 6k

The Love of Rameses
... CHAPTER XXV THE LOVE OF RAMESES. By the twentieth of May, the court of Meneptah
was ready to proceed to Tanis. ... What, then, O Rameses?". ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xxv the love of.htm

List of Characters and Places
... Isis,"Eye'-sis, consort to Osiris and goddess of wisdom. Jambres,"Jam'-breez, a
priest in disgrace, sometime astrologer to Rameses II and to Meneptah. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/list of characters and places.htm

Further Diplomacy
... she had wept till the creamy linen over her small face was wet and her throat hurt
under the strain of angry sobs, and until she was sure that Rameses was gone ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xxvi further diplomacy.htm

The Heir Intervenes
... It proved conclusively that until this period an influence against Har-hat had been
at work upon Meneptah, and seeing that Rameses had subsided, having cause ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xxvii the heir intervenes.htm

The Tomb of the Pharaoh
... This was the keeper of the tomb of Rameses the Great. ... "He decorated the tomb
of Rameses," the young man continued. "Aye, I remember. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xxiii the tomb of.htm

The First-Born
... They had harkened to Rameses when he asked for her at their hands; they had harkened
to her father and yielded him power at her sacrifice; they had even pitied ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xl the first-born.htm

Antiquity of Moses.
... After him Rameses, 1 year 4 months. ... After him his sons Thoessus and Rameses, 10 years,
who, it is said, had a large cavalry force and naval equipment. ...
/.../theophilus/theophilus to autolycus/chapter xx antiquity of moses.htm

On the Way to Thebes
... he were suffering punishment for the statue, what punishment had been his for the
sacrilegious execution of the Judgment of the Dead in the tomb of Rameses II? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xxi on the way.htm

The Heir to the Throne
... suburb of Thebes. He had himself borne in a litter to the greater palace
of Rameses II, and asked an audience with Meneptah. The king ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter v the heir to.htm

Chapter xlvii
... And Joseph settled his father and his brethren, giving them a possession in the
land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter xlvii.htm

Rameses (5 Occurrences)
... After the Hebrews had built Rameses, one of the "treasure cities," it came to be
known as the "land" in which that city was built. ... RAAMSES; RAMESES. ...
/r/rameses.htm - 13k

Raamses (1 Occurrence)
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. RAAMSES; RAMESES. ra-am'-sez, ram'-e-sez
(Exodus 1:11), (Genesis 47:11 Exodus 12:37 Numbers 33:3 ...
/r/raamses.htm - 10k

Ramses
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia RAAMSES; RAMESES. ra-am'-sez, ram'-e-sez
(Exodus 1:11), (Genesis 47:11 Exodus 12:37 Numbers 33:3 ...
/r/ramses.htm - 10k

Pithom (1 Occurrence)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Egyptian, Pa-Tum, "house of Tum," the sun-god,
one of the "treasure" cities built for Pharaoh Rameses II. ...
/p/pithom.htm - 12k

Ram'eses (4 Occurrences)
Ram'eses. Rameses, Ram'eses. Ramiah . Multi-Version Concordance Ram'eses
(4 Occurrences). Genesis 47:11 And Joseph placed his father ...
/r/ram'eses.htm - 7k

Pharaoh's (72 Occurrences)
... She was in all probability the sister of Rameses, and the daughter of Seti
I. Josephus calls her Thermuthis. It is supposed by some ...
/p/pharaoh's.htm - 31k

Zoan (7 Occurrences)
... This city was also called "the Field of Zoan" (Psalm 78:12, 43) and "the Town of
Rameses" (qv), because the oppressor rebuilt and embellished it, probably by ...
/z/zoan.htm - 17k

Goshen (16 Occurrences)
... It is called "the land of Goshen" (47:27), and also simply "Goshen" (46:28), and
"the land of Rameses" (47:11; Exodus 12:37), for the towns Pithom and Rameses...
/g/goshen.htm - 19k

Kadesh (30 Occurrences)
... On the ruins of the temple of Karnak, in Egypt, has been found an inscription
recording the capture of this city by Rameses II. ...
/k/kadesh.htm - 21k

Succoth (18 Occurrences)
... W. Ewing. SUCCOTH (2). (cukkoth; Sokchoth (Exodus 12:37; Exodus 13:20 Numbers
33:5)): The first station of the Hebrews on leaving Rameses (see EXODUS). ...
/s/succoth.htm - 16k

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