We know that Israel was enslaved about 80 years, but where was Joseph and the evidence of his presence in Egypt, and his people. He was 17 when he was sold, and 30 when he began to rule. We will have seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, and Jacob arrives in year two of the famine. Jacob is 130 when he comes to Egypt (Gen 47.9). El-Lisht is where Joseph was and where Pharaoh rules. This would be in Goshen, and Egypt is called Rameses at this point, which means “Ra delivers.” There will be about 210 years between Jacob and the Exodus.
Who was the Pharaoh dealing with Joseph? Who will be the Pharaoh of the Exodus? We will give our opinion on both of those questions shortly. Tradition says Rameses was the Pharaoh of the Exodus and he reigned about 1200 BC, so Jacob had to come in in 1410 BC, but the land was already called Rameses. Exo 1.11 says the Israel built two cities called Pithom and Rameses. The name Rameses was used before the Pharaoh of that name so the Exodus did not have to occur in 1200 BC. The Philistines, Edom, Moab were not established until 1200 BC. The Stele of Meranaphtah says he conquered Israel, and this may have been Rameses II by historians. But the Pharaoh of the Exodus was probably Dudimose II according to the book, “Pharaohs and Kings” by David Rohl.
We learn from Gen 46.11 that Jacob comes into the land with Levi and Kohath. Later he has a son Amram, and he is the father of Moses. So we can see there is not a lot of time between Jacob and Moses. So this helps us date the Exodus. We believe it happened about 1441 BC during the reign of the seventh king of the 18th Dynasty in Egypt. 1 Kings 6.1 says they began to build the Temple 480 years from the Exodus, which was about 961 BC, and we know that. 961 BC plus 480 BC equals 1441 BC, and this is supported by Judges 11.26. But the scholars say that can’t be true because the Exodus occurred during the reign of Rameses, which was 1304 to 1237 BC. This is based on their assumption that they built a city called Rameses, but 210 years before this the whole land was called Rameses.
So, let’s review. We have the Exodus in 1441 BC, they have been in Egypt 210 years, so that means Jacob entered in 1651 BC. Then 9 years for the seven good years and two years into the famine, making Joseph 39 years old. Joseph begins to reign in 1660 by adding 13 years from the time Joseph was sold to his coronation, making the year Joseph was sold about 1673 BC. Scholars who say there is no evidence for Joseph, a Jewish presence in Egypt, or the Exodus are simply looking in the wrong century and the wrong places! So, we need to look at the area of Egypt between 1786 to 1552 BC for evidence of this, not in lower Egypt. We need to look in MIddle Egypt in an area called the Faiyum.
The Faiyum has a canal connecting the lake (Moeris) there with the Nile, and it is man-made. The name of this canal is “Bahr Yusef” or the river of Joseph. You can look up this canal on the Internet to see pictures. We said earlier that Joseph and Pharaoh lived in a city called El-Lisht, and it was the capital city then. The Faiyum had water for planting helped by the canal, and it made it a fertile area because it had two prongs. It is believed that this canal was made during the seven years of plenty to enhance the land by Joseph, and the Pharoah was Amenemhat III. The lake there occupied one-fifth more area than it does now because it “shrunk” (once the lake was drained leaving good soil to plant in). Joseph reaps the harvest for seven years, showing the wisdom of Yehovah. There was a huge warehouse system found, and a granary in Harawa which had 3000 rooms in it and it was called “The Maze.” It was built about 1760 to 1700 BC. It was one of the wonders of the ancient world. This granary would take the grain raised in the Faiyum and then the grain could be shipped up and down the Nile during the famine. This is evidence of Joseph and this shows that the scholars have been looking for evidence in the wrong place, because they have the wrong dates.
The river of Joseph (Bahr Yusef) had two prongs and the lake was drained, leaving only good soil and expanding the overall area to plant in for the seven good years before the famine. Then the grain was floated down the canal to the granaries. There is a city called Harawa on the river of Joseph and it had this large maze/granary south of a pyramid found there. It had 3000 rooms for grain and the historian Herodotus wrote about it and said, “It’s greatness surpasses even the temples.” In Greek, this area we are talking about was called “Succos.” You will recall at the Exodus, they had to go to Sukkot (Succos) to retrieve the bones of Joseph (Exo 13.19).
This evidence seems to point out that this area is where Joseph was and where Jacob came. We have the river of Joseph; we have the Faiyum called Succos which matches Exo 13.19; the lake (Moeris) was drained for planting; and granaries were found there which alludes to the grain collected during the years of plenty.
We will pick up here in Part III.
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