Now that we have several pointers to Amenhotep III dying in the Red Sea at
the time of the Exodus, including a new embalming process for him uniquely
during this time, it is interesting to examine the context of a letter
referring to this death written from a king to Akhenaten right after his
death.
It's letter EA29 from Mittani: "When my brother, [Amenhotep III], went to
his fate it was re****ted. When I heard what aw re****ted... I greived,
saying, "Let even me be dead, or let 10,000 be dead in my country, and in
my
brother's country 10,0000 as well, but let my brother, whome I love and
who
loves me, be alive as long sa heaven and earth."
We have a letter, therefore, that gives us some context about the death of
Amenhotep III which, if he indeed was the pharaoh of the Exodus should be
consistent with his death in the Red Sea, or at least not contradictory.
Key points are:
1. The king heard of this re****t about his death. Meaning his death was
publicly known and possibly involving unusual cir***stances.
2. He has to tell Akhenaten that he heard about the king's death. That
suggests it is a sensitive subject, and therefore, his death was an
embarrassment.
3. He then sentiments that 10,000 of his own subjects AND 10,000
Egyptians
should have died in place of the king rather than the king. That suggests
not only that he died with others, but that his death was inevitable and
puntative. This is a perfectly understandable sentiment if Amenhotep III
was seen as being punished along with others in a mass death. Of course,
you'd want to incresae the number of those who died in exchange for the
life
of the king! His offering or prefering 10,000 of his own people die
rather
than the king as well suggests he would be willing to make a switch, to
use
those 10,000 as a ransom. That doesn't seem to fit any other scenario
other
than a punitive one, which is precisely the situation with the pharaoh
being
killed in the Red Sea by the god of the Jews!
Of course, if something like that really happened, you'd expect it to be
talked about by word of mouth. That's big news! The king is re****ting
that this was a big story! So his death must have been public and well
known!
So, if not a confirmation, then certainly this would not contradict the
Red
Sea death of Amenhotep III!
As noted above, Syncellus specifically indicates that Amenhotep III was
the
pharaoh of the Exodus, dating the Exodus in his last year. Akhenaten's
conversion to monotheism nicely reflects a response to the Ten Plagues by
a
god who was a monotheist.
Lars Wilson
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