Were Joseph and Imhotep of Egypt The Same Man?[AMAIC comment: We fully agree that Imhotep was Joseph, but do not necessarily endorse every other aspect of this interesting article].
THE GENESIS OF ISRAEL AND EGYPT Taken from: http://www.s8int.com/joseph.html
INTRODUCTION One of the perennial ambitions of Christian Europeans, throughout the centuries, has been the verification of the Bible. Beginning with Eusebius, in the 4th century, Christian writers sought to enlist the histories of Mesopotamia and Egypt to answer the attacks of those who viewed the Old Testament as fable or, even worse, as propaganda. In this spirit Eusebius, employing the Egyptian history of the Ptolemaic scholar Manetho, constructed a chronology for Egypt based on biblical timescales. Thus for example he followed earlier Jewish commentators in tying in the start of Egyptian history with the start of Hebrew history.
With the translation of the hieroglyphs in the years following 1821, it was confidently expected that biblical history would shortly receive dramatic confirmation. It was hoped that archaeology might soon disclose Egyptian references to the great characters and events mentioned in the Bible. But such hopes were soon dashed, as it became apparent that the native literature of Egypt was remarkably silent with regard to their closest neighbours. Various attempts, it is true, were made over the next century to link specific pharaohs to the great events of Old Testament history; but virtually all such endeavours came to grief, and eventually the whole idea was abandoned.
Velikovsky held that the last of these events, the Exodus, which touched directly on Egypt, was in fact a major landmark in Egyptian history. He demonstrated quite convincingly that this event was recorded by the Egyptians, and showed that modern scholars had missed the identification because they had fundamentally misunderstood that the nature of the events described in the Book of Exodus. The catastrophist position adopted by Velikovsky brought to light an enormous distortion in ancient chronology. These momentous events were effectively effaced from the history books because an erroneous and virtually arbitrary chronology, based on Eusebius’ working of Manetho, had been accepted by modern scholarship. (The great irony here, of course, is that this distorted chronology had originally been designed to prove the Book of Genesis right!) The histories of the other ancient lands, Velikovsky showed, had then been reconstructed in line with the distorted Egyptian chronology. This “modern” history of the ancient world had virtually no point of contact with the biblical and classical histories, and clashed repeatedly with them. The present writer holds with Velikovsky’s catastrophist analysis; and the book which follows is largely an attempt to show that when we accept the catastrophist framework all the elements of the puzzle fit into place. The earliest part of Hebrew history, we will find, can indeed be reconciled – and in a most spectacular way – with early Egyptian history. The central theme of my work is thus the parallel origins of two neighbouring and closely related lands. The histories of Israel and Egypt were intertwined at the very beginning, and the association established then continued unbroken for many centuries. Thus I begin by seeking to establish a link between the histories of the two peoples. Chapter 1 is concerned with an examination of the first and greatest of all biblical events, the Deluge of Noah. We find that archaeologists working in different parts of the world discovered abundant evidence of cataclysmic destruction in ancient times, consistent with the action of flood waters.
In this way the true nature and scale of the Flood of Ur was disguised, and a totally distorted view of ancient history, which denied the Deluges reported by all ancient peoples, was pieced together. .......Having thus linked Abraham and Menes, we are presented with an entirely new and unexpected view of ancient times. We now find the histories of archaic Israel and Egypt fitting together like matching pieces of a jigsaw. The next “match” comes with Joseph and Imhotep. Egyptian tradition tells us that two centuries or so after Menes there lived a great pharaoh named Djoser (“the Wise”), whose vizier, Imhotep, was regarded as the greatest of all Egyptian sages. Djoser and Imhotep, the legend says, lived during a famine lasting seven years, and it was a dream of the king’s that provided Imhotep with the clue to solving the crisis. Similarly, Hebrew history tells us that two centuries or so after Abraham there lived Joseph, the great seer and visionary, who became pharaoh’s vizier, and helped solve the crisis of a seven-year famine by interpreting the king’s dreams. Historians, of course, have long been aware of the striking resemblances between Imhotep and Joseph, and a great deal has been written on the subject. They would undoubtedly have realised the identity of the two men a long time ago, but the erroneous chronology, which separated them by over a thousand years, confused the issue. ......it is to Immanuel Velikovsky that the present work owes most. Velikovsky’s brilliant exposition of the contradictions inherent in ancient chronology is the key that has unlocked the secrets of antiquity. In Ages in Chaos (1952), he proposed a complete reconstruction of later Egyptian history, beginning with the Exodus, which he believed to date from the fall of the “Middle Kingdom”. It is largely under the inspiration of Ages in Chaos that the present work seeks to reconstruct the earlier part of Egyptian history. Velikovsky began with the Exodus; we end with the same event......
KING DJOSER AND HIS TIME Having placed the founding of Egyptian civilisation in the same epoch as the biblical Abraham, and therefore having fixed the start of Egypt’s and Israel’s legendary history at the same point in time – the 11th century BC. – we must now attempt a reconstruction of the two histories along the new chronological lines. If we are on the right track, we might expect the histories of the two neighbouring peoples, which have hitherto shown few signs of agreement, to match closely. Hebrew tradition tells us how two centuries or so after Abraham, the patriarch’s tribe was settled in Canaan, where his grandson Jacob was blessed with twelve sons. One of these, Joseph, the youngest and favourite, aroused his brothers’ jealously, was sold as a slave and taken into Egypt. In Egypt his fortunes improved dramatically when his ability to interpret dreams came to the notice of the pharaoh. He soon became the king’s most trusted advisor and brought the entire Israelite tribe into Egypt during a momentous famine. Joseph was thus an exceptional person whose life-story became a symbol of how God could raise the lowly from the dungheap. No less than a quarter of the Book of Genesis is devoted to him.
It so happens that two centuries or so after the establishment of the united kingdom under Menes there lived the greatest sage of Egypt’s history: this was Imhotep, the godlike vizier of King Djoser. Before looking at the truly remarkable parallels between Joseph and Imhotep, we need first to say something about Djoser; for he was accorded a place in Egyptian tradition almost as important as that of Imhotep himself. Djoser, or Zoser, the second king of Manetho’s Third Dynasty, occurs in the monuments under the title Netjerkhet. The name Djoser, which means ‘The Wise’, was only conferred upon him long after his death. Much scholarly debate has centred round Djoser. He is, for example, commonly believed to have been the first Early Dynastic pharaoh to erect a pyramid. As we have shown in Chapter 1 this notion is mistaken. Nevertheless, he was certainly the first pharaoh to erect a pyramid or large monument of stone. The design of the Sakkara Step Pyramid’s adjacent temple complex, in particular, provides ample proof of this. Columns are shaped in imitation of reed bundles and ceilings in imitation of palm logs. Doors are provided with imitation hinges. Yet, as with almost all other areas of Egyptian history, the Step Pyramid and temples of Sakkara present numerous difficulties for conventional chronology. It has long been observed, for example, that the temple complex seems to display a number of very modern-looking features, and to this day visitors are immediately struck by the ‘proto-Doric’ columns of the temple hall. Furthermore, the mineralogist John Dayton has now demonstrated that the glazing work found in these monuments is unlikely to have predated by any great stretch of time the eighth or seventh century BC.; he accordingly dated the entire complex to the eighth century. As it transpires, this date concurs reasonably well with the evidence of the well-known Khnumibre genealogy. In the inscription, Khnumibre, an architect under one of the earlier Persian kings, listed his ancestors, father to son, stretching back twenty-five generations. The second earliest name on the list is given as Imhotep, with Djoser as the reigning king. It is clear then that the genealogy separates Khnumibre, who must be dated around 450 BC., from Imhotep by twenty-four generations. Allowing twenty to twenty-five years per generation, which, given the habitually early marriages and deaths of ancient peoples, is rather generous, we would be obliged to locate Djoser and Imhotep sometime between 1075 and 930 BC. – a date not too far removed from that suggested by Dayton on the evidence of Third Dynasty technology, and precisely in agreement with the chronology proposed by us, which would place the founding of the First Dynasty around 1100 BC.; but of course vastly different from the date of c.2600 BC. normally accorded to Djoser by conventional Egyptology. Early scholarship was greatly nonplussed by the evidence of Khnumibre’s genealogy, but because it clashed so decisively with the “established” chronology, it was soon dismissed as “symbolic” and “lacking historical substance”. Egyptians of later years came to regard Djoser’s reign as something of a golden age, and the pharaoh himself was accredited with almost godlike powers. Above all, he was regarded as a paragon of wisdom (as evinced by the name Djoser). His cult grew and grew, and by the Saite period (26th Dynasty) he was already deified. He was, in the words of one commentator, viewed “both as a patron of literature and a physician of such eminence that he came to be identified with Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine. … In after years he was remembered with reverence as one of the greatest of the early Pharaohs … on one of the votive tablets of the Apis worshippers of the Twenty-Second Dynasty, reverence is done to his name; we read of a priest of his spirit named Sonbf, and another, Ahmose, in the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty.” Djoser then had a priesthood dedicated to him and was invoked as a god centuries after his death. What could have prompted such adulation? The explanation normally given is that as the first pharaoh to leave great monuments of stone, later generations would naturally have been impressed by him. His monuments guaranteed his immortality.
Djoser and the Seven Years’ Famine Egyptian tradition recorded a great famine lasting seven years. This disaster was said to have occurred during the reign of Djoser, and from the story of this event we may come to understand exactly why pharaoh Netjerkhet was called ‘The Wise’. The only account of the seven years’ famine to survive is on a rock-cut inscription near Aswan, which dates from a very late period – possibly from the reign of Ptolemy V (Epiphanes), who lived in the first century BC. The inscription records the famine as an historical fact, placing it in the eighteenth year of Djoser. Indeed the inscription purports to date from Djoser’s time, though this is generally dismissed. Nevertheless, it may well be a copy (with of course updated spellings) of an extremely ancient record. We are told that during Djoser’s reign Egypt found itself in a great crisis. The pharaoh bewails his lot: “I was in distress on the Great Throne, and those who are in the palace were in heart’s affliction from a very great evil, since the Nile had not come in my time for a space of seven years. Grain was scant, fruits were dried up, and everything which they eat was short.” .....Djoser’s famine, of course, closely resembles the other from ancient tradition, that of Joseph the Hebrew. Virtually all the elements in the Egyptian account are there, though in a different order. In Joseph’s tale, the pharaoh’s dream comes first, although both legends agree that the dream’s interpretation provided the key to alleviating the famine. Again the Egyptian story has the wise seer Imhotep assist the king in dealing with the famine, and it is obvious that Imhotep’s role closely resembles that of Joseph in the Genesis story. In addition, the nature of the god Khnum is here significant. In early times, the ram-headed divinity had been one of the foremost in Egypt. He was regarded as the creator god, and was portrayed, in biblical style, fashioning mankind upon the potter’s wheel. Khnum was indeed viewed very much as the Old Testament Spirit of God, a fact that induced some scholars to regard the whole cult of Khnum as influential in the development of Hebrew religious ideas. Scholars were not slow to associate Djoser’s famine of seven years with that of Joseph, and they would undoubtedly have made the connection between Imhotep and Joseph, Djoser and Joseph’s pharaoh, had it not been for the chronological discrepancy. Djoser was supposed to have reigned around 2600 BC., whereas according to biblical chronology, Joseph would have lived around 1700 BC. – yet again, that gap of 1000 years. Scholars had therefore to content themselves with vague “connections” between the two legends. Some argued that the story of Joseph had influenced the Egyptian tale, whilst others argued that the Genesis account was influenced by the Egyptian story. The best-known proponent of the latter argument was Brugsch. Such ideas held good only if the conventional chronology was correct. However, we now see that such is not the case, and that Djoser, as well as Joseph, must both belong in the early part, probably the tenth century, of the first millennium. Could it be then that Djoser is indeed Joseph’s pharaoh, and that Imhotep, the great seer who advised Djoser on the seven years’ famine, is none other than Joseph? Before making a final pronouncement, let us briefly take a closer look at the life and character of Joseph, as they are revealed in the Genesis account.
The Story of Joseph The story of Joseph, one of the best-known and best-loved of the Old Testament, occupies almost a quarter of the Book of Genesis. That fact alone illustrates the importance of Joseph to Israel’s early history. He it was who brought the Twelve Tribes to Egypt, where in time they would grow to nationhood. Yet the story outlined in Genesis reveals the importance of Joseph not only to the history of Israel, but also to the history of Egypt, and furthermore illustrates the thoroughly Egyptian background to the entire episode. ...In harmony with all this, though puzzling in its own way, is the astonishing amount of Egyptian influence now recognised as present in the Joseph narrative. The terms and idioms used are Egyptian through and through. Indeed such is the resemblance to Egyptian phraseology and custom that that some scholars now regard these chapters of Genesis as based on an Egyptian record. One such commentator is the Israeli Egyptologist A.S. Yahuda, a man whose work we shall examine in greater detail at a later stage. Yahuda wondered at the superabundance of Egyptian terms, phrases, metaphors and loan-words present throughout Genesis, remarking on their comparative absence from later books of the Old Testament. Some examples provided by Yahuda are as follows: • Jospeh’s appointment as vizier was the ‘kernel’ of the story, according to Yahuda. For this office, a Hebrew word with a root which has the meaning “to do twice, to repeat, to double” is used. Yahuda explained that in the same way the Egyptian word sn.nw (“deputy”) was formed from sn, the word for “two”. In the same verse, pharaoh commands all to “bow the knee” before Joseph. The Hebrew word for “bow” is agreed by most authorities to have been taken from the Egyptian. • Joseph was titled “father to pharaoh”, and, as Yahuda says, the Hebrew expression corresponds with the Egyptian itf, “father”, a common priestly title, and one borne by viziers. At the start of his conversation with Joseph, pharaoh says: “I have had a dream … I have heard that you understand a dream to interpret it” (Gen.41:15). For “understand” the Hebrew uses the verb “to hear”. This term has proved very difficult for commentators, but, according to Yahuda, it corresponds entirely with the Egyptian use of sdm meaning “to hear” or “to understand”. Another problem for commentators has been the sentence of Gen. 41:40, where pharaoh says literally to Joseph: “According to your mouth shall my people kiss”. The verb “to kiss” here has always seemed completely out of place. However, when we compare it with the Egyptian, “kiss” proves to be “a correct and thoroughly exact reproduction if what the narrator really meant to convey. Here an expression is rendered in Hebrew from a metaphorical one used in polished speech among the Egyptians.”6 In polished speech the Egyptians spoke of sn, “kissing” the food, rather than the ordinary colloquial wnrn which meant “eating”. • In the Joseph story pharaoh is addressed in the third person, eg. Gen. 41:34 “Let Pharaoh do this”. According to Yahuda this corresponds precisely to the court etiquette of Egypt. A characteristic term recurring in several passages of Genesis is “in the face of Pharaoh”, or “from the face of Pharaoh”, meaning “before pharaoh”. This, says Yahuda, corresponds completely with Egyptian court custom, where one might not speak to his majesty “to his face”, but only “in the face of his majesty” (m hr hm-f).7 Again, in the Joseph narrative, the word “lord”, in reference either to pharaoh or Joseph, is given in the plural. This corresponds exactly with Egyptian usage where pharaoh, as well as being referred to as nb (“lord”), is also spoken of as nb.wy in the plural. These instances are only a small sample of the evidence mustered by Yahuda, but they illustrate very clearly the profoundly Egyptian background to the whole story. Indeed, as we have said, so strong is the evidence that some commentators have suggested an Egyptian original of the narrative which Hebrew scribes more or less copied. In short, when the Israelites came to write down the story of Joseph, they borrowed heavily on what the Egyptians themselves had written about him. None of this should surprise us. Genesis tells us quite clearly that Joseph was a major personality. He became the king’s vizier. He brought Asiatics into Egypt. He presided over a social/political revolution. According to Genesis (47:22), the land of Egypt changed hands during his lifetime: Pharaoh became absolute master of the kingdom. But on top of all that Joseph was – most extraordinarily – a seer, a prophet, a visionary. Such a man, we would imagine, could not have been forgotten by the Egyptians. Having stated all this, we now find that Joseph, coming just a few generations after the time of the Abraham migration, would have lived in roughly the same era as “The Wise” King Djoser and the wise seer Imhotep. It thus begins to look more and more clear that Joseph and Imhotep, the two great sages, were identical persons, and that Joseph’s wise king was “The Wise” Djoser....
In short, so powerful was the evidence that irrespective of what the chronology apparently said, the two men simply had to be one and the same. Source: Excerpts from:THE GENESIS OF ISRAEL AND EGYPT Emmet Sweeney Copyright 2001 (2nd ed.)
And, taken from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Biblical-Joseph-the-Imhotep-of-Egypt-(Famine-Savior)?-(Extra-Biblical-Proof!)&id=1899844 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Joseph- and the Hebrews to Egypt
Morality lessons can be found in every episode of biblical Joseph's life: sold into slavery by brothers, angry and jealous of his braggadocio and their father's favoritism; overcomes false charges and prison by his ability to interpret dreams; rises to great personal power and authority by his administrative ability; saves Egypt, all neighboring peoples and his own family from starvation during a prolonged famine. In the process he makes Egypt extremely wealthy (during the seven lean years, when only Egypt had store-house-cities full of grain from seven prior bountiful years). The biblical story of Joseph is easily justifiable as fiction, however, there is a statue on an island in the Nile of a white-faced, non-Egyptian vizier, who saved Egypt from a devastating famine, and wall-murals depict caravans of starving desert tribesmen (from named Hebrew cities) being sold grain, both fitting perfectly with the Bible. After Joseph becomes Egypt's Vizier, with many years of famine remaining, per the Bible, he brings his father, his brothers and their entire families to Egypt. That sets the stage, centuries later, for the well-known Passover stories, with extra-biblical corroboration: Hebrew slavery; Moses (at birth) being saved from the drowning fate of male Hebrew babies; his flight from Egypt; and finally, the Exodus story, including mass deaths of Egyptians from the plagues. (Note: Other related Ezine articles: "Miracles 3500 Years Ago, Biblical Exodus - The Only Logical Explanation For 21st Century Artifacts!"; "Mystery Solved - Boy-King Tut's Magnificent Tomb - Exodus Miracles Affirmed!"; "Hebrews in Egypt - Slaves and Plagues - Extra-Biblical Proof!")
Beginning with Joseph being brought to Egypt and sold as a slave, Egyptian records correlate exactly with the Biblical episodes of Joseph's story:
- Attempted seduction of a young man by a high official's wife, his rejection of her, her false charges and his subsequent imprisonment, then release - told in an Egyptian papyrus, dated 1225 BC. (Identical to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife).
- Joseph, Vizier/Savior of Egypt. Archaeological digs along the Nile, provide an obvious and remarkable corroboration of the biblical story of Joseph. An unusual life-sized statue was found at Avaris, honoring the famed Vizier who - by Egyptian records - saved the Egyptian people from a terrible famine. The statue is of a white-faced, clean-shaven Asiatic man with unusually-shaped and red hair, (and since legend is frequently based on fact) adjacent Egyptian wall murals depict Asian caravans of the time with similarly-featured non-Egyptian men wearing "coats of many colors"!
- Described in Papyrus #1116A in the Leningrad Museum is a mural of starving desert tribesmen seeking food from Egypt during a period of drought, "Pharaoh giving wheat to a tribe from Ashkelon, Hazor and Megiddo" (undoubtedly Hebrews from well-known cities in Israel);
- Roman historian, Josephus, in his book, "Josephus Against Apion", quotes two Egyptian priest-scholars, Manetho and Cheremon, who, in their own histories of Egypt, specifically name Joseph and Moses as leaders of the Hebrews, that they "rejected Egypt's customs and gods .. practiced animal sacrifices (witnessed on the first Passover)" .. These historians confirm that the Jews migrated to "southern Syria" (the Egyptian name for Palestine) and that the exodus occurred during the reign of Amenophis .. during the close of the 18th dynasty, 1500 to 1400 BC.
Reading between the lines and extrapolating the text in both the Old Testament and Egyptian artifacts, there is much that can be derived.
- Pharaoh, whether or not normally religious, truly feared the interpretations of his dreams - seven fat sheaves and cows, followed by seven shriveled sheaves and lean cows. Probably the dreams were of a nightmarish quality - Pharaoh being unable to get relief from them, for he then instituted a remarkable fourteen year national program for survival of his country and people. The gigantic storage facility at Sakkara, with similar granary storehouse all over Egypt, indicates the scale and scope of the undertaking, storing excesses from the bountiful harvest during the first seven years.
- Because of the importance of the program, the person selected by Pharaoh as Vizier had to be truly second to Pharaoh in administrative authority (as both the Bible, re Joseph, and Egyptian artifacts, re Imhotep, attest) . An aspect of human nature - that during many years of bounty (seven - a long time), unless one is truly fearful of a deity and the prediction of seven years of famine, there is a natural tendency to "slack off". Joseph, son of Patriarch Jacob, would have complete faith in God's prediction, however, Egyptian power resided in Pharaoh, thus he primarily, had to believe completely and fearfully in the forthcoming years of famine - to put his country through such an ordeal of self-denial and discipline during years of plenty. Such a national program had to have been the most important in the country, and for fourteen years duration: during the years of plenty, hoarding all excess grain, building storage cities, then transporting and maintaining the surplus grain; then during the years of famine, selling off the grain and safeguarding Egypt's accumulating wealth. An enormous administrative task, clearly, the designation of Joseph/Imhotep as "Vizier, second in power to Pharaoh in all of Egypt", has to be recognized as extremely meaningful.
Digging Deeper - Joseph and Imhotep
The "deeper digging" is by Dr. Lennart Moeller in his book, "The Exodus Case". Dr. Moeller, a medical doctor at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, is also an archaeologist, explorer, marine biologist, scuba diver, and a scholar of both Egyptian history and the Bible. It was Dr. Mueller who directed the diving expedition which discovered coral-covered clumps of chariot wreckage from Egypt's 18th dynasty in the Gulf of Aqaba (see listed Ezine articles).
Moeller refers to an inscription on the island of Sihiel, near the first cataract of the Nile, which actually links Imhotep to the key biblical element of the Joseph story - telling of Pharaoh Djoser in the 18th year of his reign. The inscription states "seven meagre years and seven rich years". Commenting on the inscription, Moeller writes, "Pharaoh Djoser asks Imhotep to help him with the coming seven years of famine. All the biblical components of the story are there, and there is a similar inscription on the island of Philae in the Nile." (This is exactly as in the Bible with Joseph, except for listing the "meagre" years before the years of plenty. Note: The famine years were, of course, the event of significance, saving everyone from starvation and bringing in much wealth to Egypt - it is noted that the manuscript was written a thousand years after the occurrences.) A carving in Sakkara shows starving people (ribs prominently outlined), also shows sacks of grain being carried up steps (as in the "silo" vaults at Sakkara), also food being distributed. In summary, Moeller says, "It should be noted that there is no other period of famine of seven plus seven years in the history of Egypt - except for the one for which Imhotep was responsible." In Egyptian records, only one person is described as having the administrative authority to organize Egypt's survival during the long famine - Imhotep. The parallel to biblical Joseph is precise and compelling. Moeller cites the large number of similarities in the lives, the accomplishments, responsibilities and characteristics of Imhotep of Egypt and Joseph of the Bible. Noting the dove-tailing of their individual stories from separate Egyptian and biblical accounts, Moeller's conclusion is that the two - most probably - were the same person, the two stories told from different viewpoints. He includes 27 comparisons of Imhotep and Joseph, many are listed below.
(Imhotep - Egyptian records); {Joseph - Bible}:
- (Imhotep is appointed Administrator by Pharaoh Djoser during the periods of seven years famine and seven years of bountiful harvests); {Joseph is appointed Administrator to Pharaoh for the seven years of plenty then of famine};
- (Minister to the King of Lower Egypt); {Pharaoh .. made him ruler over all the land of Egypt};
- (Administrator of the GreatPalace); {Thou shalt be over my house};
- (Not of royal blood; attained position by ability); {From another nation and religion, not of royal blood, attained position by ability};
- (Not appointed by Pharaoh Djoser until he had reigned for some time); {Appointed well after Pharaoh ruled Egypt};
- (Given the status of "son" to Pharaoh); {Granted the status of "son" to Pharaoh};
- (High Priest in Heliopolis); {Married to Asenath, daughter of Poti-Pherah, High Priest in Heliopolis - by custom, would succeed father-in-law};
- (Builder and architect); {Builder of grain storehouses such as at Sakkara step-pyramid};
- (Exalted by Pharaoh Djoser as of godly character.); {"And Pharaoh said, 'a man in whom the spirit of God is!'"} ;
- ("I need advice from God."); {Noted as saying, "It is not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer."};
- (Had great medical skill - was compared to the Greek God of Healing);
- {Had doctors under his authority - worked by miracles, dreams and signs from God};
- (Decided the tax rate during the seven years of famine; also not to apply to priests); {Decided the tax rate during the seven years of famine; also not to apply to priests};
- (Realizes when he is dying - dies at age 110.); {Realizes when he is dying - dies at age 110.}.
The Roman-Jewish historian, Josephus, quotes the writings of Manetho, Egyptian historian: "During [the] reign of .. Pharaoh Djoser, 3rd Egyptian dynasty, lived Imhotep .. [with a] reputation among Egyptians like the Greek God of medicine - [Manetho even wondered] whether Imhotep could have been an actual person .. [because he had] "so many outstanding qualities and talents .. a very special person [who] appears in the history of Egypt." On the foundations of the Step Pyramid in Sakkara was carved the name of Pharaoh Djoser and ".. Imhotep, Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, Chief under the King, Administrator of the Great Palace, Hereditary Lord, High Priest of Heliopolis, Imhotep the Builder..".
The Bible tells of Pharaoh honoring Joseph with much the same offices as given to Imhotep "It is probable that Joseph was the only person to gain Pharaoh's confidence to this degree. Joseph received every authority apart from Pharaoh himself .. [though] not of royal blood and .. [of] another nationality." (As detailed above, the same also applies to Imhotep.) In both cases there is much reference to the pharaohic announcements - "second only to Pharaoh"; the Bible also tells of Joseph being given Pharaoh's signet ring (with the royal seal), an outstanding act and undoubtedly, a national event.
A startling point is Moeller's statement about what Joseph/Imhotep achieved for Egypt, "It was during the reign of Djoser that Egypt became a great power .. great riches were accumulated during the seven years of famine .. when grain was sold to all the countries around Egypt. The complex of buildings at Sakkara is remarkably unique, nothing like it has been seen anywhere .. built of white limestone from neighboring hills." Describing the immense storage vaults at Sakkara, Moeller writes, "40,000 cubic metres storage .. remnants of grain have been found at the bottom." Egypt built a vast nation-wide system of granary-storehouses as at Sakkara, evidence of a nationwide major program to store an enormous amount of grain for an anticipated famine.
While the Bible 's story of Joseph focuses on the greater story of the Hebrew people: his father Patriarch Jacob, the brothers, the beginning of the Hebrew sojourn in Egypt, leading to their slavery, then Moses and Aaron and the miracles of the plagues and the Exodus, it is the Egyptian artifacts that tell the details of how remarkable a man was Imhotep/Joseph. Not only an exceptional administrator who built the storage cities and maintained the discipline of storing rather than dissipating the excess grain during the seven years of bounty, Imhotep was also memorialized in Egyptian history for his medical abilities - his sarcophagus was decorated with the Ibis, Egyptian symbol of medicine, and in US medical schools today there is the Imhotep Medical Society.
Final "Clincher" - that Egyptian Imhotep was the Biblical Joseph.
Extremely noteworthy regarding Imhotep-Joseph is that the mummified bodies of neither have ever been found. The known facts regarding the burials of Imhotep and Joseph also strongly support the thesis that they were the same person:
- Both died at age 108.
- Imhotep's coffin in Sakkara - with innumeral Ibis birds mummified in the adjoining galleries (Imhotep was called "Ibis" because of his reputation for healing - a large number of Ibis birds were sacrificed to him at his funeral in Sakkara); many clay vessels bearing the seal of Pharaoh Djoser were near the coffin; and the coffin is oriented to the North, not East, and is empty.
- Joseph would have been buried at Sakkara, his coffin orientated to the North - indicating he did not believe in the gods of the Egyptians (who were buried facing East, the rising sun); the coffin would also be empty as Joseph's bones would have been taken by Moses with the Hebrews during the Exodus.
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