The Exodus

Historians and Bible scholars are unsure exactly when this great and famous event took place, some doubt it ever happened. Even so there are some very different ideas. Bible scholars prefer theory that the Exodus took place when Amenhotep II was pharaoh. Egyptian records say Amenhotep II and his dynasty ruled Palestine. However, when the Israelites entered Palestine under Joshua, they found no Egyptian force, nor any sign of foreign occupation, so the Exodus couldn't have happened at this time. The oldest theory, and the most popular among historians, is that the Exodus occurred under the reign of Ahmose. According to Egyptian history, he freed the Egyptians from the foreign rule of the Hyksos. This second theory, is from the writings of Manetho, an Egyptian historian of the Greek era. It postulates that the Israelites were the Hyksos, and were thus expelled at the time of Ahmose. However, if the Israelites were the Hyksos, then the Israelites should have been ruling Egypt, not in bondage there.

With these theories disproven, I will try to explain the events surrounding the Exodus,and its timing, from my view point . One question that arises is, if the plagues, prior to the Exodus really did occur, why aren't they recorded in the Egyptian's annals? These plagues are no every day occurance but rather tumultuous; darkness lasting several days, water turning into blood, wounds covering man and beast,and hail mingled with fire (meteorites).

Egyptian Scribe Testifies to the Occurance of the Plagues

Not suprisingly, there is a historical account of these plagues from Egyptian writings. It is called the Papyrus of Ipuwer, though badly damaged it lies today in the Museum of Leiden, the papyrus is dedicated solely to describing the events surrounding the Exodus, as the Egyptians saw them. Here are the corresponding quotations from the Papyrus to the Bible. ( References are from the Gardiner,1909 translation )

The First Plague: ( The River is turned to Blood )

Papyrus 2:5-6 Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.
Exodus 7:21 ...there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
Papyrus 2:10 The river is blood.
Exodus 7:20 ....all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
Papyrus 2:10 Men shrink from tasting ----- human beings, and thirst after water.
Exodus 7:24 And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink; for they couldn't drink of the water of the river.

The Second Plague: ( Frogs )

Exodus 8:2 And if thou ( Pharaoh ) refuse to let them ( the Isrealites ) go, behold I will smite thy borders with frogs.
Exodus 8:6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

The Third Plague: ( Lice )

Exodus 8:16-17 And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod,and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; ........

The Fourth Plague: ( Flies )

Exodus 8:21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I ( God ) will send swarms of flies upon thee........
Exodus 8:24 And the Lord did so; and there came a grievious swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt ..........

The Fifth Plague: ( Murrain )

Exodus 9:3 Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievious murrain.( infectous disease )

The Sixth Plague: ( Boils, Blains )

Exodus 9:10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.
Papyrus 5:5 All animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan........

The Seventh Plague: ( Hail / Fire )

Exodus 9:24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievious, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt.
Papyrus 2:10 Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire.
Papyrus 4:14 Trees are destroyed.
Exodus 9:25 ...and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
Exodus 9:32 But the wheat and the rye were not smitten: for they were not grown up.
Exodus 9:19 ....gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field.....
Papyrus 9:2-3 Behold, cattle are left to stray, and there is none to gather them together.

The Eighth Plague: ( Locusts )

Exodus 10:4-5 Else,if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow will I bring locusts into thy coasts: And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one will not be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail.......
Papyrus 6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found.....
Papyrus 6:3 Forsooth, grain has perished on every side.
Papyrus 5:12 Forsooth, that has perished which yesterday was seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax.
Papyrus 6:1 No fruit or herbs are found...... hunger.

The Ninth Plague: ( Darkness )

Exodus 10:22 .....and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt.
Papyrus 9:11 The land is not light.....

The Tenth Plague: ( Death )

Exodus 12:30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
Papyrus 4:3 Forsooth, the children of princes are dashed against the walls.
Papyrus 2:13 He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere.
Papyrus 3:14 It is groaning that is throughout the land, mingled with lamentations.

Revolt and Flight

After these ten plagues Egypt was decimated. As the Pharaoh tried to regain his authority, the Isrealites fled. Chaos broke out, there was looting and riots.

Papyrus 6:6 ......men venture to rebel against Uraeus.( the emblem of royal authority )
Papyrus 5:1 .....Men sit in the bushes until the benighted traveler comes, in order to plunder his burden. The land is a weed that destroys men
Papyrus 2:1 Every town says: Let us suppress the powerful amoung us.
Papyrus 10:2 Men flee ....... Tents are what they make, like the dwellers of the hills.
Exodus 12:33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
Exodus 12:35 ....and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment.
Papyrus 3:2-3 ....that gold and jewels are fastened on the necks of female slaves.

The Red Sea Crossing

In the Museum of Ismailia, there is a black granite shrine inscribed with hieroglyphics. Since its partial translation in 1890 its text has been thought to refer to something mythological, though it does mention real places, kings, and residences. The inscripions are dated to the era of Greek rule over Egypt, ( after Alexander the Great ) yet it is a memorial to something that happened long ago. Previous to its 'excavation', this ancient shrine was used as a watering trough by the locals.

Shrine - The land was in great affliction. Evil fell on this earth ...... It was a great upheaval in the residence ....... Nobody left the palace during nine days, and during these nine days of upheaval there was such a tempest that neither the men nor the gods could see the faces of their next. ( Velikovsky, 1952, pg 40 )
Shrine - Now when the majesty of Ra-Hamarchis fought with the evil doers in this pool, the Place of the Wirlpool, the evil doers ( Isrealites ) prevailed not over his majesty. His majesty lept into the so called Place of the Wirlpool.( Velikovsky, 1952, pg 42 )
Exodus 14:28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

The Shrine also says where this took place.

Shrine - His majesty --- [words missing]- finds on this place called Pi-Kharoti. ( Velikovsky, 1952, pg 43 )
Exodus 14:9 But the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh....... and overtook them ( Isrealites ) encamping by the sea, beside Pi-Kharoth, before ( across from ) Baal-zephon.

Is it possible that Pi-Kharoti is Pi-Kharoth.

The Invasion of the Hyksos (alias Children of Apopi)

With Pharaoh dead, their army destroyed, and their land decimated the Egyptians were an easy target for invaders, such as the Hyksos. Manetho describes these invaders as; "A people of ignoble origin from the East, whose coming was unforeseen, had the audacity to invade the country ( Egypt ), which they mastered by main force without difficulty or even battle. Their race bore the generic name of Hycsos ( Hyksos ), which means, 'King-shepherds'. There are three ancient sources of information related to this invasion of the Hyksos; the Ermitage Papyrus( Gardiner, 1914), the Papyrus of Ipuwer, and the black granite Shrine mentioned earlier. The Ermitage Papyrus was written by the seer Neferrohu, around the time of the Hyksos invasion.

Ermitage Papyrus The land is utterly perished and nought remains. Perished is this land ....... The sun is veiled and shines not in the sight of men. The river is dry (even the river) of Egypt. The south wind shall blow against the north wind. The earth is fallen into misery... Bedouins pervade the land. For foes are in the east and Asiatics [ Amu ] shall descend into Egypt.
Shrine The children of Apopi, the rebels that are at Ousherou, and in the desert, they approached by way of Yat Nebes, and fell upon Egypt at the fall of darkness. They conquered only to destroy. ...... These rebels, they came from the mountains of the Orient by all the ways of Yat Nebes. ..... He ( the defending prince ) was robbed of his heritage.( Velikovsky, 1952, pg 44 )
Ipuwer Papyrus 3:1 Forsooth, the Desert is throughout the land. The nomes are laid to waste. A foreign tribe from abroad has come to Egypt.
Ipuwer Papyrus 15:1 What has happened? ------through it is tocause the Asiatics to know the condition of the land.
Ipuwer Papyrus 14:11 Men --- They have come to an end for themselves. There are none found to stand and protect themselves.

The Hyksos invaded Egypt and laid it to waste. The Apopi mentioned above was probably Apop, one of the Hyksos kings to rule Egypt. The Hyksos are known to have entered Egypt via the Sinai Peninsula. From the text of the Ermitage Papyrus we see that these invaders entered while the sun was veiled, and during a time of great misery, similar to that prior to the Exodus. If these two events, that is the Exodus, and the invasion of the Hyksos, were concurrent, then it is rather easy to find a date for the Exodus. However, if the Children of Apopi and the Isrealites were both traveling the same general route, going opposite directions, why didn't they meet?

The Israelites Meet the Children of Apophis
Yes, perhaps they did meet, but under a different name, at a place called Rephidim.

Exodus 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Isreal in Rephidim.
Exodus 17:13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Exodus 17:14 ....I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

The Arabian Traditions

There is obviously no linguistic connection or similarities between the name Amalek, and Hyksos, or Apop. However, who else but the invading Hyksos, could the Israelites have met in the desert, with an army of 400,000 men? The Arabian records say, the Amalekites fled Arabia because of several plagues that hit the area, and traveled north, conquering Egypt and Syria. The following excerpts are from works written by Arabian scribes around 900-1400 A.D. but were from ancient traditions passed down orally.

Al-Samhudi- The Amalekites reached Syria and Egypt and took possession of these lands, and the tyrants of Syria and the Pharaohs of Egypt were of their origin. ( Velikovsky, 1952, pg 64 )
Masudi- An Amalekite king, el-Welid, son of Douma, arrived from Syria, invaded Egypt, conquered it, seized the throne and occupied it without opposition, his life long. ( Velikovsky, 1952, pg 64 )
Masudi- El-Welid, son of Douma, advanced at the head of a numerous army, with the intention to overrun diverse countries and to overthrow their sovereigns. When this conquerer came to Syria, he heard rumors about Egypt. He sent there one of his servants named Ouna, with a great host of warriors. El-welid oppressed the inhabitants, seized their possessions and drew forth all the treasures he could find. ( Velikovsky, 1952, pg 64 )
Tabari- Then the king of Egypt died and another king, his relative, ascended the throne. He was also of Amalekite race and was named Kabous, son of Mosab, son of Maouya, son of Nemir, son of Salwas, son of Amrou, son of Amalek.( Velikovsky, 1952, pg 65 )

Amalek in Palestine

Balaam, the sorcerer, was called upon by the King of Moab, to curse the Israelites approaching their kingdom. But instead of cursing the Israelites, he blessed them with these words: ...."his ( Israel's ) seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted."( Numbers 24:7 ) Then Balaam turned and looked on Amalek saying: ....."Amalek the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish forever."( Numbers 24:20 ) The Amalekites, it seems were the ruling power in the region, and the first of nations. Not a band of unimportant robbers, as historians believe. Now let's look at the kings names mentioned above. Agag or Agog; this name seems remarkably similar to Apop, the Hyksos king of Egypt. The only difference is the 'g' ( gimel ) and the 'p'
( pei ) they are both written like the number 7, the only difference being a change in the angle of the two lines. There was also another Agag in the Bible, he was the contemporary of King Saul.( And probably the Apop II of Egyptian records, the last Hyksos king. ) Saul then defeated Agag in battle, and put out the remebrance of Amalek, first of nations, from the earth, as prophesied.