SYNCELLUS who wrode in the 800s AD knew who the pharoah of the Exodus was!
Here's the pertinent quote:
"In the Book of Sothis which Syncellus believed was the genuine Manetho it
gives the specific time when Joseph rose to power under Hyksos king,
Aphophis who ruled 61 years. It says: Some say that this king (Aphophis)
was
at first called Pharaoh, and that in the 4th year of his king****p Joseph
came as a slave into Egypt. He appointed Joseph lord of Egypt and all his
kingdom in the 17th year of his rule, having learned from him the
interpretation of the dreams and having thus proved his divine wisdom
(Manetho 1940, 239). "
FROM: http://www.bibleandscience.com/bible/books/genesis/joseph.htm
In case you didn't get how this links to the Exodus. Jacob came into
Egypt
exactly 215 years before the Exodus. Knowing that we can link Jacob
coming
into Egypt in the 25th year of Apophis, which would correspond to the 2nd
year of the 7-year famine, which followed the 7-year plenty period which
began when Joseph was appointed vizier in year 17 of Apophis.
When you calculate down 215 year from year 25 of Apophis you get the very
last year of Amenhotep III. Of interest for this placement are:
1. Kathleen Kenyon determined the Israelites conquered Jericho between
1350-1325 BCE where the last cartouches of pharaoh Amenhotep III were
found
in some of the tombs, thus suggesting Amenhotep III was the likely pharaoh
of the Exodus.
2. Amenhotep III's mummy was euniquely embalmed, a process never used
before during that time. It was a process to help preserve the flesh.
This
exceptional measure might have been due to his body not being immediately
available for embalming as would usually be. His body also showed a
crushed
rib and several broken bones. He was also guessed to be only about 50
years
old with no apparent clear-cut cause of death. Quite consistent with
drowning in the Red Sea and being retrieved a day or two later, requiring
the special preservation measures. Even so, he is the least
well-preserved
of all the mumies.
3. The Ten Plagues were supposed to shame the gods of Egypt and expose
them
as mere images. After that Egypt was supposed to convert to monotheism
and
build and altar to Israel's god in the middle of Egypt, near it's boundary
(Isa 19). Of course, you can't be at a bondary and in the middle at the
same time unless the region is divided into two, in which case the
boundary
halfway between the two major areas is also in the middle. That indeed
was
the case with Upper and Lower Egypt and where Akhenaten built his altar
for
Aten was right in the middle of Egypt at Tel el-Amarna.
http://www.geocities.com/siaxares/EgyptMap.gif
Of course, obviously, if the Ten Plagues were caused by a monotheistic
god,
conversion from polytheism to monotheism would be the direction required.
So now we know that Akhenaten's monotheism was due to the Ten Plagues and
that he was a Yawist.
But that has already been indirectly implied anyway since David Rohl
thinks
the similarities of the writings of Akhenaten and David are so similar he
has presumed they must come from the same time period and has tried to
move
the conventional Amarna Period down to the time of David, a 363-year
adjustment! Many others have been impressed with the similarities of how
Akhenaten, who was a prophet of his god, wrote very similarly as David, a
prophet and poet of his god. But, if it's the SAME god, there is no
issue.
It just shows he inspires his prophets similarly, to praise his creative
works and how grand nature is. It's just prophets of the same religion
writing at different times, that's all.
So Biblically speaking as well as archaeologically and historically
(Syncellus) everything points to Amenhotep III and Akhenaten for the time
of
the Exodus c. 1386 BCE. That is, the KTU 1.78 astrotext that David
Rohl
uses to try to date Akhenaten's 12th year to 1012 BCE, when applied to the
official date of 1375 BCE, dates the 1st of Akhenaten to 1386 BCE, just 8
years earlier than the conventional early dating of 1378 BCE, no biggee!!
Further, as noted above, that still falls within Kenyon's dating of
1390-1365 BCE based on the fall of Jericho (1350-1325 BCE).
So now, finally, we don't have to worry about who the pharoah of the
Exodus
was or who died in the Red Sea or why Akhenaten flipped out and became a
monotheist. What choice did he have after the Ten Plagues and seeing this
god destroy the Egyptian chariot army? Of course, later generations
completely wiped out all of Akhenaten's records and tried to eliminate his
existence as well. The pagan Egyptians were quite upset. This was a very
upsetting and disturbing time in the history of Egypt, but quite expected
and quite consistent with the Biblical account of when the Jews entered
Egypt.
4. Finally, new RC14 scientific research that can now pretty much
pinpoint
a specific year for an event if grains found at the destructive level are
retrieved would date the Exodus to 1386 BCE as well. This is because of
grains found at the destructive level of City IV at Rehov, a city
mentioned
in ****shak's inscription got dated to c.871 BCE. Dated to year 39 of
Solomon during a co-ruler****p with Rehoboam's year 5, the 4th of Solomon
would fall in 906 BCE and the Exodus in 1386 BCE. The date pointed to by
the KTU 1.78 text for the 1st of Akhenaten when dated to 1375 BCE, year 12
of Akhenaten. So there's lots of consistent sup****t from various
references
all pointing to Amenhotep III and Akhenaten.
The pharaoh of the Exodus is thus no longer a "mystery" like the informed
want us to continue to think for some reason. It is astronomically,
Biblically, radiometrically and archaeologically correct in 1386 BCE.
Lars Wilson
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