Pharaoh of the Exodus

In 1898, local felaheen - Egyptian peasants - drew the attention of Loret, the French archaeologist, to a remarkable find in the Valley of the Kings.  It was an ancient tomb, carved long ago into the sandstone cliffs of the Theban hills opposite Luxor by the Nile.  As an excited Loret entered the tomb, he found a corridor, rough and undecorated, leading downward, deep into the hills. Following the sloping corridor, Loret eventually arrived at what proved to be a false burial chamber, created by ancient architects to confuse tomb robbers. In the floor of this chamber, the archaeologist found a stairway descending into the actual tomb chamber, a large room supported by six pillars.  The false burial chamber had obviously failed in its purpose, for the stairway had been uncovered in ancient times by tomb robbers.
As he entered the funerary chamber, Loret found a magnificent quarzite-sandstone sarcophagus (stone coffin). The sarcophagus was all that ancient grave robbers had left when they plundered the chamber long ago. Inside the sarcophagus lay a mummy, festooned and garlanded.  Loret quickly read the, hieroglyphs to discover the identity of the mummy.

This was the tomb of Amenhotep II, a pharaoh of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty!

The find was significant. It was the first tomb ever opened in which a pharaoh was found where he had been laid, undisturbed by tomb robbers. And the burial chamber proved to be one of the most beautiful and impressive in the entire Valley of the Kings.  Few scholars suspected the full significance of this monumental discovery. For, unknown to Loret and his colleagues, the French archaeologist had entered the tomb of the Pharaoh of the Exodus - the very king who confronted Moses more than 33 centuries earlier!

Needless confusion
Much needless confusion exists regarding the historical setting of the biblical Exodus. Most Bible scholars, ignoring or rejecting the explicit chronological information of I Kings 6:1, have not properly understood the time scheme of the Exodus. They have placed that great event around 1290 B.C. or somewhat later, during the reign of Ramses the Great of Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty - a full century and a half later than it actually occurred!  This late date must be rejected.
A careful consideration of all biblical and extra-biblical evidence reveals that the Exodus occurred in the middle of the 15th century B.C. - specifically, in the year 1443, during the reign of Amenhotep II, whose tomb Loret  excavated. He was the pharaoh who ruled from Thebes in Upper Egypt when the Egyptians would not let Israel go.

This date - 1443 - was 430 years after the covenant with Abraham, made in the spring of 1873 B.C. (Genesis 17:1, Exodus 12:40-41, Galatians 3:17). And it was in the 480th year before the laying of the foundation of the Temple in Solomon's fourth year (964 B.C.), as required by I Kings 6:1.  An Exodus date of 1443 also harmonizes nicely with the Amarna Letters of ancient Egypt, which tell of "Habiru" (Hebrew) incursions into Canaan around 1400 B.C. - after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.   Now notice what Egyptian records say about this remarkable king and his dynasty.

Eighteenth Dynasty
The dynasty that enslaved Israel is known in Egyptian history as Dynasty XVIII, inaugurated by Pharaoh Ahmose about 1570 B.C. Amenhotep II - a descendant of Ahmose - was the sixth pharaoh of this dynasty.  Moses (born in 1523) was brought up as a prince of this ruling family.  The "daughter of Pharaoh" (Exodus 2:5) who raised him would therefore be known in Egyptian history as Hatshepsut.  She was the daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I, a son-in-law of Ahmose.

Notice that the word mose - meaning "child" or "son of" - often appears as a part of royal names of this dynasty. Ahmose, for example, means "son of Ah" (the god of light). Thutmose means "son of Thoth" (the moon god).

The Hebrew child drawn from the Nile by Hatshepsut was called simply Mose or Moses - for his parentage was unknown. Amenhotep (the Greek form is Amenophis ) was the son and successor of the great empire-builder Thutmose III, "the Napoleon of ancient Egypt." Thutmose - perhaps the greatest of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt - would therefore be the biblical "pharaoh of the oppression."    In 1483 B.C., Moses was exiled from Egypt by this Thutmose upon the death of Hatshepsut, Moses' foster mother and protector.  Hatshepsut (Thutmose III's aunt) had governed as regent for Thutmose III while he was a minor. But Thutmose and his aunt had been bitter rivals. Upon the death of Hatshepsut, Thutmose III - in a fury of revenge - purged her name and image from everything she had built throughout Egypt.   It was during Thutmose' long reign that Moses lived in exile in distant Midian, tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro.

"The lord of glories"
In the latter part of 1453 B.C., as the long-lived Thutmose III felt his strength failing, he named his son, Amenhotep II, as his coregent. Their reigns thus overlapped somewhat.   Upon the death of Thutmose in 1450, Amenhotep assumed the sole leadership of the country. By his side was his beautiful queen Taa.  Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) estimated that Amenhotep was about 18 years of age at the time of his accession.

Now see what the ancient records reveal about this pharaoh. Amenhotep was a worthy son of the great Thutmose III. Physically, Amenhotep was a powerful man. Inscriptions reveal that no one in Egypt was his equal.  To illustrate: Amenhotep had a great bow, a bow so powerful that none of his soldiers was strong enough to use it. Only Amenhotep himself could draw it. This symbol of the pharaoh's unparalleled strength remained at his side throughout his reign, and was buried with him upon his death in 1425 B.C.

The fact of his unrivalled strength goes far in illuminating the character of this pharaoh who refused to "knuckle under" to Moses' God.  Never in his life had Amenhotep been required to submit to anyone!  He was accustomed to getting his own way. He was second to none. A man of great pride and given to boasting, he is referred to in ancient inscriptions as "the lord of glories."

Amenhotep's upbringing was carefully planned by his warrior father. Great emphasis was placed on athletic development and skills of warfare. Amenhotep was an apt pupil.  Supremely confident in his strength and skills as a warrior, the newly crowned Amenhotep quickly set out to establish his renown. He personally led his forces in battle. Two campaigns to quell uprisings in Palestine occurred early in his reign. During the first campaign, the proud Amenhotep displayed his archery skills before the people of Kadesh on the Orontes, a key north Syrian city. These and other of Amenhotep's personal exploits are chronicled in the Temple of Amon at Karnak. We are informed that Amenhotep "was as a terrible lion" against his enemies. Scenes of him slaying his foes are found on numerous monuments. A scarab inscription calls him "the good god, lion over Egypt, lord of might, giving life like the sun."

Hard heart
God, of course, knew of this great pride and stubbornness of Amenhotep. In Midian,  God warned Moses, "I am sure the, the king of Egypt will not let you go" (Exodus 3:19). It would be necessary for God to reveal Himself and His power and authority to this unresilient pharaoh in a series of devastating plagues. Time and again, Amenhotep grudgingly conceded to Moses' demands - but only temporarily. His pride and stubbornness would quickly reassert themselves and he would change his mind - "harden his heart," as the Bible says.

The carnal mind is indeed "enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). And Pharaoh Amenhotep was carnal! From his earliest youth, his pride and glorying were in the flesh - in his physical prowess, in his skills of warfare.  Stubborn Amenhotep refused to humble himself. Only the death of his firstborn son got his full attention. With his once proud and powerful nation shattered, Pharaoh at last ordered the Israelites out. But even then, he afterward changed his mind and pursued them to the Red Sea.  As mentioned earlier, the Exodus occurred in 1443, 40 years after Moses' exile in 1483 (Acts 7:30). This was at the beginning of Amenhotep's 10th year (as counted from his appointment as coruler in 1453).
The destruction of Amenhotep's armies in the sea at that time is indirectly reflected in the Egyptian records. Not surprisingly, there are no further records of foreign wars following the time of the Exodus. There is little information of any kind about Amenhotep's later years.
"Of the remainder of his reign we know nothing," Petrie observes.  Egypt is silent  about its great defeat by a "foreign god." The Egyptians obviously did not wish to record their misfortunes.

More corroboration
The events of that momentous war are well-known from the biblical record, and need not be recounted in detail here. But a few additional historical notes will prove of interest.
Egyptian history reveals that Amenhotep II was not himself a firstborn. Likewise, Amenhotep's son and successor - known to history as Thutmose IV - was not Amenhotep's firstborn. Thutmose IV was not at first designated to be his father's successor.   Historians do not know why Thutmose IV - a second-born son - succeeded to the throne instead of his elder brother.  The Bible reveals the answer.  Amenhotep's firstborn son died in the 10th and final plague on Egypt - the death of the Egyptian firstborn on the night of the Passover (Exodus 12:29-30).

Also of interest from a biblical standpoint is a wall-painting dating from early in Amenhotep's reign, found in the tomb of the high-ranking official Rekh-mi-Re in the Tombs of the Nobles at Thebes. The remarkable painting shows captive foreign laborers - including bearded Semites - making mud bricks (compare Exodus 5).

Pharaoh's future
Contrary to the common notion about the Pharaoh of the Exodus, Amenhotep II did not drown in the Red Sea with his army. Read carefully Exodus 14:23-31. Ancient records reveal that Amenhotep II's reign lasted no less than into his 26th year. (This has been corroborated by a wine jar docket dated in his 26th year that was discovered in Egypt near the beginning of this century.)  Sixteen of those 26 years followed the Exodus.  Upon Amenhotep's death in 1425, he was interred like his ancestors in the Valley of the Kings. There he lay undisturbed until Loret's discovery in 1898.

A controversy then arose as to whether Amenhotep's mummy should be left on site or whether it should be removed to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was finally allowed to remain in situ, but with an armed guard to protect it.  But three years later, in November, 1901, when the guards' backs were turned, the tomb was rifled and the mummy was damaged by looters seeking overlooked treasures in the folds of the cloth wrappings. Amenhotep's body - much the worse for wear - was then quickly removed to Cairo, where it rests to this day.

His limbs, now thin and withered, were in life robust and muscular. One day, just over a millennium from now, those limbs will regain their former vigour and Amenhotep will again walk the earth. The Word of God will be opened to his understanding (Revelation 20:12).  He will be shown the error of his ways and offered the gift of God's holy spirit - the power to overcome his self-will and obstinacy - by a merciful God who holds no grudge against him for his past rebellions!

Yes, one day Amenhotep and Moses will have the opportunity to again stand face to face - as friends and brothers in the Family of God.

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