Volume 4 - The Genealogy of Ashakhet Part 2: From Imhotep to
Apophis
Strictly speaking, our revised history might have ended with the publication of the sixth and final chapter of the Genealogy of Ashakhet (Part 1). When we began our Displaced Dynasties series it was our intention only to demonstrate that the 26th dynasty belonged to the 5th century B.C., and that the mid 6th century invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar as described in the Hebrew Bible was factual, not to rewrite the entirety of ancient Egyptian history. That goal was accomplished with our first book. The second and third books merely served to answer anticipated objections by critics regarding the necessary changes to the chronology of earlier dynasties. One obvious consequence of the argument of our first three books is that Egyptian history must be grossly in error through the entirety of the 2nd millenium B.C. as well. We have moved most of the 18th Egyptian dynasty into the 10th century, a dynasty positioned by traditional historians in the 15th century B.C. This leaves a gap of 500 years between 1500 and 1000 B.C. that needs to be filled. Dynasties 11-17 must move forward from their traditional location to fill this void, assuming that Egyptologists are correct when they state that dynasties 11-17 lasted for a combined 500 years. This implies further that dynasty 11 must fall near the beginning of the 15th century B.C., approximately where biblical sources place the exodus of the Jews from Egypt under Moses. It was decided, therefore, to dedicate one final book in this series to an investigation of the Egyptian background of the Exodus and the earlier Patriarchal era, to test the viability of this conclusion.
The Genealogy of Ashakhet, which served to guide our deliberations in the third book of our series, served also in volume 4 to establish parameters for our 2nd millenium B.C. chronology. Hence our decision to retain the name for our fourth and final book. In particular the Berlin chronology confirmed our suspicion that the traditional history is confused regarding the Jewish exodus from Egypt and its immediate aftermath. In the traditional history the Egyptian 18th dynasty, beginning with its famed founder Ahmose I, was preceded by a series of foreign dynasties (dynasties 13-17) collectively referred to as the Hyksos period. This Hyksos interlude is referred to in Egyptian chronology as the 2nd Intermediate Period. These foreign intruders were in turn preceded by the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, consisting of dynasties 11 and 12, which followed one another in uninterrupted succession. Instead, the Genealogy of Ashakhet confirmed beyond doubt that the 11th dynasty was followed immediately by roughly a century of catastrophic physical destruction, civil upheaval and the rule of native "rebels", ending only with the arrival of Amenemhet I and the 12th dynasty established by him. Then followed the Hyksos interlude and ultimately the arrival of the New Kingdom under Ahmose I. The lengthy interlude between the 11th and 12th dynasties ought to have been predicted by Egyptologists, since it is confirmed by at least two lengthy and important Egyptian documents, the Admonitions of Ipuwer papyrus, which describes its onset, and the Prophecies of Neferti which describes both its duration and conclusion.
The Genealogy of Ashakhet not only argued for an intrusive chaotic interlude between dynasties 11 and 12, it argued convincingly that the 11th dynasty ended and this interlude began around the year 1446 B.C.. Not coincidentally, this was the identical year that the Jewish exodus began according to numbers preserved in the Hebrew Bible. Thus we were able to conclude that the pharaoh of the Exodus must have been the terminal 11th dynasty king Seankhkare Mentuhotep III. In turn it followed that the pharoah of the oppression must have been his father, the famed warrior king Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II, whose victory over the Heracleopolitan 10th dynasty in the north of Egypt had earlier brought about the reunification of Egypt, a country divided since the end of the 6th dynasty. Working backward we were able to established that Moses, the Israeli/Egyptian prince who led the Exodus, was born and raised during the Heracleopolitan era. In particular, we were able to identify the Heracleopolitan pharaoh who ordered the execution of all Israelite male babies at the time of Moses' birth, and soon thereafter orchestrated the slaughter of all Egyptian male offspring. Memory of this king, named Achthoes, was fortunately preserved in the history of Manetho, who describes him as "terrible beyond all before him, (who) wrought evil things in all Egypt".
Finally, we were able to focus our attention on dynasties preceding the Heracleopolitan era, for which the genealogy of Ashakhet provided no assistance. Carefully, and with due regard for the numbers preserved in various extant Egyptian manuscripts and monuments, the Sakkara and Abydos king lists, the Turin Canon, and Manetho, we revised the lists of dynastic succession for dynasties 3-6, thereby providing a chronology for the first half of the second millenium B.C.. This revised Egyptian chronology was then compared with the chronology of the Jewish patriarchs previously outlined, and in particular with known dates for the arrival of the patriarch Jacob and his family in Egypt during a prolonged 7 year famine, described in the concluding chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. By chance, the arrival of Jacob coincided with the reign of the Egyptian 3rd dynasty king Djoser, in whose reign a 7 year long famine is known to have occurred. This in turn led us to conclude that Jacob's son Joseph, whose genius had led to his elevation to vizier, second in command of all Egypt, must be identified as Imhotep, vizier to Djoser, second in command of all Egypt, whose fame had led to his deification by later generations in Egypt. Both lived at the same time. Both held the same office. Both are associated in the centuries following with a 7 year famine from which Egypt was delivered. And the similarities do not end there. Many conservative scholars have long argued for the identity of Joseph and Imhotep, based on multiple strands of evidence, notwithstanding the hundreds of years which separate the two individuals in the traditional history of Egypt. The fact that the revised history of ancient Egypt now synchronizes their lives during the reign of Djoser establishes their identity beyond question.
The remarkable confirmation that Joseph and Imhotep are one and the same person also led to one further incredible conclusion. The vizier Imhotep has long been credited with initiating the Egyptian practice of construction with stone, and with being the architect who designed and supervised the construction of the first of the stone pyramids, that of king Djoser himself. He is also given credit for the construction of a pyramid belonging to one of Djoser's successors. On the assumption that Imhotep and Joseph are the same person, and that Joseph lived to the age of 110, as argued by the Hebrew Bible, it follows from the revised chronology that Joseph/Imhotep lived well into the 4th dynasty. It follows also that he was probably responsible for the design and construction of all the 3rd dynasty pyramids, including the Bent and Red Pyramids, and almost certainly the first of the three great pyramids of Giza, the one belonging to Cheops. And since his life overlapped the early years of Chephren and Mycerinus, the successors to Cheops, he may also have been involved in the planning for their pyramids. Since Imhotep is also famed as the likely founder of modern medical procedure, and is renowned otherwise as a literary genius, we are not exaggerating when we refer to the young Jewish "interpreter of dreams" as the da Vinci of the ancient world.
We should qualify one aspect of the description provided above. Our discussion of 2nd millenium Egyptian chronology has worked backward from the beginning of the 18th dynasty to the time of the 3rd dynasty pharaoh Djoser. In fact the book, as presently written, proceeds in the opposite direction. It begins by revising the chronology of dynasties 3-6, providing the context in which to discuss the Joseph/Imhotep synchronism. It then proceeds to outline the Heracleopolitan dynasties and the rise of the Middle Kingdom, placing Moses in context and arguing that the year 1446 not only marked the end of dynasty 11 and the beginning of the Exodus, but also the beginning of the century long chaotic period of foreign domination which followed. This discussion consumes the first four published chapters of the book and the introductory portion of chapter five. In the balance of our concluding chapter we provide a chronological outline of the 12th dynasty, the Hyksos dynasties, and the introductory kings of the New Kingdom 18th dynasty.
The Genealogy of Ashakhet, which served to guide our deliberations in the third book of our series, served also in volume 4 to establish parameters for our 2nd millenium B.C. chronology. Hence our decision to retain the name for our fourth and final book. In particular the Berlin chronology confirmed our suspicion that the traditional history is confused regarding the Jewish exodus from Egypt and its immediate aftermath. In the traditional history the Egyptian 18th dynasty, beginning with its famed founder Ahmose I, was preceded by a series of foreign dynasties (dynasties 13-17) collectively referred to as the Hyksos period. This Hyksos interlude is referred to in Egyptian chronology as the 2nd Intermediate Period. These foreign intruders were in turn preceded by the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, consisting of dynasties 11 and 12, which followed one another in uninterrupted succession. Instead, the Genealogy of Ashakhet confirmed beyond doubt that the 11th dynasty was followed immediately by roughly a century of catastrophic physical destruction, civil upheaval and the rule of native "rebels", ending only with the arrival of Amenemhet I and the 12th dynasty established by him. Then followed the Hyksos interlude and ultimately the arrival of the New Kingdom under Ahmose I. The lengthy interlude between the 11th and 12th dynasties ought to have been predicted by Egyptologists, since it is confirmed by at least two lengthy and important Egyptian documents, the Admonitions of Ipuwer papyrus, which describes its onset, and the Prophecies of Neferti which describes both its duration and conclusion.
The Genealogy of Ashakhet not only argued for an intrusive chaotic interlude between dynasties 11 and 12, it argued convincingly that the 11th dynasty ended and this interlude began around the year 1446 B.C.. Not coincidentally, this was the identical year that the Jewish exodus began according to numbers preserved in the Hebrew Bible. Thus we were able to conclude that the pharaoh of the Exodus must have been the terminal 11th dynasty king Seankhkare Mentuhotep III. In turn it followed that the pharoah of the oppression must have been his father, the famed warrior king Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II, whose victory over the Heracleopolitan 10th dynasty in the north of Egypt had earlier brought about the reunification of Egypt, a country divided since the end of the 6th dynasty. Working backward we were able to established that Moses, the Israeli/Egyptian prince who led the Exodus, was born and raised during the Heracleopolitan era. In particular, we were able to identify the Heracleopolitan pharaoh who ordered the execution of all Israelite male babies at the time of Moses' birth, and soon thereafter orchestrated the slaughter of all Egyptian male offspring. Memory of this king, named Achthoes, was fortunately preserved in the history of Manetho, who describes him as "terrible beyond all before him, (who) wrought evil things in all Egypt".
Finally, we were able to focus our attention on dynasties preceding the Heracleopolitan era, for which the genealogy of Ashakhet provided no assistance. Carefully, and with due regard for the numbers preserved in various extant Egyptian manuscripts and monuments, the Sakkara and Abydos king lists, the Turin Canon, and Manetho, we revised the lists of dynastic succession for dynasties 3-6, thereby providing a chronology for the first half of the second millenium B.C.. This revised Egyptian chronology was then compared with the chronology of the Jewish patriarchs previously outlined, and in particular with known dates for the arrival of the patriarch Jacob and his family in Egypt during a prolonged 7 year famine, described in the concluding chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. By chance, the arrival of Jacob coincided with the reign of the Egyptian 3rd dynasty king Djoser, in whose reign a 7 year long famine is known to have occurred. This in turn led us to conclude that Jacob's son Joseph, whose genius had led to his elevation to vizier, second in command of all Egypt, must be identified as Imhotep, vizier to Djoser, second in command of all Egypt, whose fame had led to his deification by later generations in Egypt. Both lived at the same time. Both held the same office. Both are associated in the centuries following with a 7 year famine from which Egypt was delivered. And the similarities do not end there. Many conservative scholars have long argued for the identity of Joseph and Imhotep, based on multiple strands of evidence, notwithstanding the hundreds of years which separate the two individuals in the traditional history of Egypt. The fact that the revised history of ancient Egypt now synchronizes their lives during the reign of Djoser establishes their identity beyond question.
The remarkable confirmation that Joseph and Imhotep are one and the same person also led to one further incredible conclusion. The vizier Imhotep has long been credited with initiating the Egyptian practice of construction with stone, and with being the architect who designed and supervised the construction of the first of the stone pyramids, that of king Djoser himself. He is also given credit for the construction of a pyramid belonging to one of Djoser's successors. On the assumption that Imhotep and Joseph are the same person, and that Joseph lived to the age of 110, as argued by the Hebrew Bible, it follows from the revised chronology that Joseph/Imhotep lived well into the 4th dynasty. It follows also that he was probably responsible for the design and construction of all the 3rd dynasty pyramids, including the Bent and Red Pyramids, and almost certainly the first of the three great pyramids of Giza, the one belonging to Cheops. And since his life overlapped the early years of Chephren and Mycerinus, the successors to Cheops, he may also have been involved in the planning for their pyramids. Since Imhotep is also famed as the likely founder of modern medical procedure, and is renowned otherwise as a literary genius, we are not exaggerating when we refer to the young Jewish "interpreter of dreams" as the da Vinci of the ancient world.
We should qualify one aspect of the description provided above. Our discussion of 2nd millenium Egyptian chronology has worked backward from the beginning of the 18th dynasty to the time of the 3rd dynasty pharaoh Djoser. In fact the book, as presently written, proceeds in the opposite direction. It begins by revising the chronology of dynasties 3-6, providing the context in which to discuss the Joseph/Imhotep synchronism. It then proceeds to outline the Heracleopolitan dynasties and the rise of the Middle Kingdom, placing Moses in context and arguing that the year 1446 not only marked the end of dynasty 11 and the beginning of the Exodus, but also the beginning of the century long chaotic period of foreign domination which followed. This discussion consumes the first four published chapters of the book and the introductory portion of chapter five. In the balance of our concluding chapter we provide a chronological outline of the 12th dynasty, the Hyksos dynasties, and the introductory kings of the New Kingdom 18th dynasty.
Table of Contents & PrefaceChapter 1: The Berlin Chronology of the Second
Millennium B.C. Limitations of the Berlin Chronology Dates for Mentuhotep II and Amenemhet I Revised Chronology for Dynasties 9-12 Revised Chronology 1900-1446 Biblical Chronology 1900-1446 Revised & Biblical Chronologies Synchronized Chapter 2: The Patriarchal Age The Patriarchs in Context Fine Tuning the Old Kingdom Timeline Revised Old Kingdom/Patriarchal Timeline Chapter 3: Joseph and Moses The Patriarch Joseph Moses |
Chapter 4: Occupation of Egypt - Intermediate Periods 2A & 2B The Traditional 2nd Intermediate Period The Revised 2nd Intermediate Period Chapter 5: Closing the Gap - Revised Dynasty 11-18 Chronology Intermediate Period 2A Dynasty 12 Chronology The Hyksos Intruders Early 18th Dynasty Chronology Some Final Thoughts |
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