by
If any revisionist
historian had placed himself in a good position, chronologically, to identify
in the Egyptian records the patriarch Joseph, then it was Dr. Donovan
Courville, who had, in The Exodus Problem
and its Ramifications, I and II (1971), proposed that Egypt’s Old and
Middle Kingdoms were contemporaneous.
That radical
move on his part might have enabled Courville to bring the likeliest candidate
for Joseph, the Vizier Imhotep of the Third Dynasty, into close proximity with the
Twelfth Dynasty – the dynasty that revisionists most favour for the era of
Moses.
Courville,
however, who did not consider Imhotep for Joseph, selected instead for his
identification of this great biblical Patriarch another significant official, Mentuhotep, vizier to pharaoh Sesostris
I, the second king of Egypt’s Twelfth Dynasty.
And very good
revisionists have followed Courville in his choice of Mentuhotep for Joseph.
With my own system,
though, favouring (i) Imhotep for Joseph; (ii) Amenemes [Amenemhet] I for the
“new king” of Exodus 1:8; and (iii) Amenemes I’s successor, Sesostris I, for
the pharaoh from whom Moses fled (as recalled in the semi-legendary “The Story
of Sinuhe”), then Mentuhotep of this era must now loom large as a candidate for
the Egyptianised Moses.
Introduction
In 1981 I began
a search for Moses in the Egyptian records.
The first lesson
that I had to learn (and Courville’s two-volume set served as my guide in this)
was that the
history books and the Bible just did not align.
Now, after
decades of effort on this work of revision, I have been blessed to have
encountered - and sometimes to have made - exciting discoveries, including the
appropriate era for Moses and the Exodus, and the true archaeology for the
Israelite (Joshuan) Conquest of Palestine. But Moses himself, the person, has
proved to be most elusive.
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I now think that -
and it has taken me only about 34 years to realise it -
this Mentuhotep may
be Moses staring revisionists right in the face.
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In recent times I
have returned to the view - in line with the thinking of professor Immanuel
Anati, in his classic, The Mountain of God
- that the famous Egyptian “Sinuhe” tale carried a reminiscence of the
historical Moses: “I accept that this famous Egyptian tale is based upon a real
biblical event. The semi-legendary Sinuhe may at
least provide us with the time of the flight of Moses from Egypt to Midian, during the early
reign of Sesostris I”.
And I as well,
in line with my revised Old to Middle Kingdom parallelism, tentatively making
contemporaneous:
4th Dynasty
6th Dynasty
12th Dynasty
13th Dynasty
have also
suggested a possible connection of Sinuhe with the
Sixth Dynasty’s Weni.
Thus:
There
is a famous Sixth dynasty official, Weni (or Uni), who may be
the parallel of the Twelfth Dynasty’s Sinuhe as a
candidate for the elusive Moses.
I
have previously written on this:
Now, given our alignment of the so-called Egyptian Middle
Kingdom’s Twelfth Dynasty with the Egyptian Old Kingdom’s Sixth Dynasty
(following Dr. Donovan Courville), then the semi-legendary Sinuhe may find his
more solidly historical identification in the important Sixth Dynasty official,
Weni, or Uni. Like Weni, Sinuhe was highly honoured by pharaoh
with the gift of a sarcophagus. We read about it, for instance, in C. Dotson’s
extremely useful article (“…. The Cycle of Order and Chaos in The Tale of Sinuhe”)
(https://journals.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/StudiaAntiqua):
“…. The king gives Sinuhe a sarcophagus of gold and lapis lazuli
as a housewarming gift. The gift of a coffin by the king was considered a great
honor and a sign of respect.
In the Autobiography of Weni from the Old Kingdom, Weni
records that the king had given him a white sarcophagus and “never before had
the like been done in this Upper Egypt.” ….
Naturally, Dr.
Courville’s radical proposal that the Egyptian Sixth and Twelfth dynasties were
contemporaneous - whereas, according to conventional history some four
centuries separate the end of the Sixth (c. 2200 BC) from that of the Twelfth
(c. 1800 BC) - has not been well received by non-revisionist historians, such
as e.g. professor W. Stiebing who has written (https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Yf2NWgNhEecC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=co):
“There is simply no textual support for making the Sixth and Twelfth Dynasties
contemporaneous, as Courville does”.
However, as I have
also noted previously:
…. [Dr.] J. Osgood proposes a possible close relationship between the 6th
and 12th dynasty mortuary temples ....:
Edwards certainly opens the possibility unconsciously when referring to the
pyramid of Sesostris the First ....: “... and the extent to which its Mortuary
Temple was copied from the Mortuary Temples of the VIth dynasty, as illustrated
by that of Pepi II ... is clearly evident.”
The return of a culture to what it was before ... after some three hundred
years must be an uncommon event. The theoretical possibility that the two
cultures, the Twelfth and the Sixth Dynasties were in fact contemporary and
followed a common pattern of Mortuary Temple must be borne in mind as
real.
That there is in
fact some impressive evidence to suggest that, as I wrote:
Egypt’s Old and Middle Kingdoms
[Were] Far Closer in Time
than Conventionally Thought
is apparent from
a set of examples that I listed there taken from N. Grimal’s A History of Ancient
Egypt (Blackwell 1994). After recalling some striking similarities between
the Sixth Dynasty founder, Teti, and the Twelfth Dynasty founder, Amenemes I,
as follows: “…. {Teti, I have tentatively proposed as
being the same pharaoh as Amenemes/Ammenemes I, based on (a) being a
founder of a dynasty; (b) having same Horus name; (c) being assassinated. ….}”,
I continued:
Grimal
notes the likenesses:
Pp. 80-81
“[Teti‟s] adoption of the
Horus name Sehetep-tawy (“He who pacifies the Two Lands”) was an indication of
the political programme upon which he embarked. … this Horus name was to
reappear in titulatures throughout subsequent Egyptian history, always in
connection with such kings as Ammenemes I … [etc.]”.
“Manetho says that Teti was
assassinated, and it is this claim that has led to the idea of growing
civil disorder, a second similarity with the reign of Ammenemes I”.
P. 84: “[Pepy I] … an
unmistakable return to ancient values: Pepy I changed his coronation name from
Neferdjahor to Merire (“The devotee of Ra”)”. ….
P. 159:
[Ammenemes I]. Like his
predecessors in the Fifth Dynasty, the new ruler used literature to publicize
the proofs of his legitimacy. He turned to the genre of prophecy: a premonitory
recital placed in the mouth of Neferti, a Heliopolitan sage who bears certain
similarities to the magician Djedi in Papyrus Westcar. Like Djedi, Neferti is
summoned to the court of King Snofru, in whose reign the story is supposed to
have taken place”.
P. 164: “[Sesostris I].
Having revived the Heliopolitan tradition of taking Neferkare as his coronation
name …”.
P. 165: “There is
even evidence of a Twelfth Dynasty cult of Snofru in the region of modern
Ankara”.
P. 171: “Ammenemes IV
reigned for a little less than ten years and by the time he died the country
was once more moving into a decline. The reasons were similar to those that
conspired to end the Old Kingdom”.
P. 173: “… Mentuhotpe
II ordered the construction of a funerary complex modelled on the Old Kingdom
royal tombs, with its valley temple, causeway and mortuary temple”.
P. 177:
“… Mentuhotpe II’[s] …
successors … returned to the Memphite system for their funerary complexes. They
chose sites to the south of Saqqara and the plans of their funerary
installations drew on the architectural forms of the end of the Sixth Dynasty.
…. The mortuary temple was
built during the Ammenemes I’s “co-regency” with Sesostris I. The ramp and the
surrounding complex were an enlarged version of Pepy II’s”.
P. 178: “The rest of
[Sesostris I’s el-Lisht] complex was again modelled on that of Pepy II”.
Pp. 178-179:
“[Ammenemes III’s “black
pyramid” and mortuary structure at Dahshur]. The complex
infrastructure contained a
granite sarcophagus which was decorated with a replica of the enclosure wall of
the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara (Edwards 1985: 211-12)”.
“[Ammenemes III’s pyramid and mortuary temple at Harawa]. This was clearly a
sed festival installation, comparable to the jubilee complex of Djoser at
Saqqara, with which Ammenemes’ structure has several similarities”.
“The tradition of the Old
Kingdom continued to influence Middle Kingdom royal statuary …”.
P. 180:
“The diversity of styles
was accompanied by a general return to the royal tradition, which was expressed
in the form of a variety of statues representing kings from past times, such as
those of Sahure, Neuserre, Inyotef and Djoser created during the reign of Sesostris
II”.
P. 181:
“A comparable set of
statures represents Ammenemes III (Cairo, Egyptian Museum CG 385 from Hawara) …
showing the king kneeling to present wine vessels, a type previously
encountered at the end of the Old Kingdom (Cairo, Egyptian Museum CG 42013 …)
…”.
Further on, I
shall be drawing multiple comparisons also between the Sixth Dynasty official, Weni, and the
Twelfth Dynasty official, Mentuhotep, thus suggesting time approximation.
On the strength
of this possible allowance for tucking Egypt’s Old Kingdom, in part, into the
Middle Kingdom - especially with Teti being so
reminiscent of Amenemes I, and with the building complexes of Pepi II so
resembling those of Sesostris I - then a merger of the official Weni, with the
apparently important
Sinuhe, may now loom as being actually plausible.
As for the
vizier Mentuhotep, however, despite his having officiated at the very same time
that Sinuhe is
said to have, during the reign of Sesostris I, I had not really followed
through. And that despite the rapturous manner about which revisionists
(thinking that Mentuhotep was the patriarch Joseph) have written of this
powerful official, largely following Courville. Thus Drs. D. Down and J. Ashton
(“Unwrapping the Pharaohs”), introduce him as follows (https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/ancient-egypt/the-glorious-middle-kingdom/):
Sesostris [I] is known to have
had a vizier, or prime minister, by the name of Mentuhotep who wielded
extraordinary power, and some scholars have identified this vizier with the
biblical Joseph. Sir Alan Gardiner assigns a date of 1971–1928 B.C. to Sesostris
I, but by a revised chronology he would have been ruling when Joseph was sold
as a slave into Egypt in about 1681 B.C.
….
Genesis
41:43 adds, “He
[Pharaoh] had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out
before him, ‘Bow the knee.’” That was the sort of status that was not usually
ascribed to viziers, but it was in the case of Mentuhotep. Another great
Egyptologist, Emille Brugsch, wrote in his book Egypt Under the Pharaohs,
“In a word, our Mentuhotep . . . appears as the alter ego of the king. When he
arrived, the great personages bowed down before him at the outer door of the
royal palace.”3
Courville
identified Joseph as Vizier Mentuhotep, the most powerful Vizier of the 12th
Dynasty. Under Senurset [Sesostris] I, his many impressive titles were: Vizier,
Chief Judge, Overseer of the Double Granary, Chief Treasurer, Governor of the
Royal Castle, Wearer of the Royal Seal, Chief of all the Works of the King,
Hereditary Prince, Pilot of the People, Giver of Good -Sustaining Alive the
People, Count, Sole Companion, Favourite of the King [Courville, 1977, Vol. 1,
p.142]. Such titles were unprecedented.
Nevertheless,
Mentuhotep - the favoured candidate for Joseph amongst revisionists of a
conservative Christian persuasion (e.g., Courville; Down; Ashton; Mitchell) -
must have begun finally to impress himself upon my mind as being a possible
candidate for Moses, instead, for I also wrote briefly:
Along
with Weni, and
the semi-historical Sinuhe,
there is another powerful Twelfth dynasty character under pharaoh Sesostris
I, who may be a candidate for Moses. I refer to the Vizier, Mentuhotep, on to whom
Courville and others have fastened, instead, as Joseph (thereby missing out on
the Joseph = Imhotep synchronism).
But I now think that - and it
has taken me only about 34 years to realise it - this Mentuhotep may be Moses
staring revisionists right in the face. They have dimly perceived this, though,
mistaking him instead for the great Joseph. But, by having missed out on
identifying Imhotep as the rightful Joseph (as I see it), and substituting
Mentuhotep, they
may unwittingly have rendered impossible, within their revision, for an
historical identification of Moses.
A further
potential obstacle for identifying Moses in Egyptian history has been the
tendency, following midrashic
and other legends, to regard him as having been “a king”, that is, a pharaoh of
Egypt. Courville had toyed with the idea that Moses may have been the last of
the Twelfth Dynasty pharaohs, Amenemhet [Amenemes] IV (as referred to at: https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/ancient-egypt/pharaohs-of-the-oppression/).
And I have, for
a long time, pursued this line of thought that I now believe to be erroneous.
Certainly ancient legend attributes a lot to the talented Moses, who - if he
were a combination of Weni (Sinuhe) and
Mentuhotep - may not have fallen too far short of such startling claims. Thus
we read (http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/artapanus.html
… the long article concerning
Moses (Euseb. ix. 27) gives detailed information of his being the real founder
of all the culture and even of the worship of the gods in Egypt. For he it was
whom the Greeks call Musaeus, the instructor of Orpheus, the author of a
multitude of useful inventions and attainments, of navigation, architecture,
military science, and philosophy. He also divided the country into thirty-six
provinces, and commanded each province to worship God; he also instructed the
priests in [hieroglyphics]. He introduced order into State affairs. Hence he
was beloved by the Egyptians, who called him Hermas, δια την των ιερων
γραμματων ερμηνειαν. King Chenephres however sought, out of envy, to get rid of
him. …. When [Chenephres] was dead, Moses received commandment from God to
deliver His people from Egyptian bondage. …. Single traits from this history
are related, with express appeal to Artapanus, in Clemens Alex. Strom.
i. 23. 154, in Chron. pasch. ed. Dindorf, i. 117, and in the Chron. anonym.
in Cramer, Anecdota, Paris, ii. 176.
It should be
noted here this alleged creativity generally refers only to the “Egyptianised”
Moses (cf. Exodus 2:19 and Acts 7:22), and not to the post Burning Bush version
of the man.
Comparing Weni - (and Sinuhe) - with
Mentuhotep
About Sinuhe, we learn
(http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/sinuhe.htm): “I was a henchman
who followed his lord, a servant of the Royal harim attending on the hereditary
princess, the highly-praised Royal Consort of Sesostris in the pyramid-town of
Khnem-esut, the Royal Daughter of Amenemmes in the Pyramid-town of Ka-nofru,
even Nofru, the revered”.
We have already
learned something of the greatness of Mentuhotep.
Weni has, for his
part - like Imhotep (Joseph) - been described as a “genius” This little excerpt
on the “Autobiography of Weni” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Weni) already tells us a lot about the man:
Weni rose through the ranks of the military to become commander in chief of
the army. He was considered by both his contemporaries and
many Egyptologists to have been a brilliant tactician
and possibly even a genius. His victories earned him the privilege of being
shown leading the troops into battle, a right usually reserved for pharaohs. Weni is the first person, other than a pharaoh, known to have been
portrayed in this manner. Many of his battles were in the Levant and the Sinai. He is said to have pursued a group of Bedouins all the way to Mount Carmel. He battled a Bedouin people known as the
sand-dwellers at least five times.
Weni’s famous “Autobiography” has been described as, amongst other superlatives (https://books.google.com.au/books?id=sgoVryxihuMC&pg=PA352&lpg=PA352&dq=the): “… the best-known
biographical text of the Old Kingdom and has been widely discussed, as it is
important for literary and historical reasons; it is also the
longest such document”. This marvellous piece of ancient literature,
conventionally dated to c. 2330 BC - and even allowing for the revised
re-dating of it to a bit more than half a millennium later - completely gives
the lie to the old JEDP theory, that writing was not invented until about 1000
BC.
Here I take some
of the relevant inscriptions of the renowned Vizier, Mentuhotep (http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/Ancient_Records_of_Egypt_v1_1000075076/297),
and juxtapose them with comparable parts of the “Autobiography” of Weni (in
brown) (http://drelhosary.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/weni-elder-and-his-mor)
(all emphasis added):
INSCRIPTIONS OF
MENTUHOTEP ….
531. Hereditary prince, vizier and chief
judge
The
exterior face of the north wall incorporates a large niche, and during
excavations here a damaged false door inscribed for Weni the Elder was
discovered in situ. Not only does this false door provide a nickname for
Weni ("Nefer Nekhet Mery-Ra"--Egyptian nicknames were often longer
than birth names!), but it also documents his final career promotion, a fact
not recorded in his autobiography: Chief Judge and
Vizier.
attached to Nekhen,
judge
attached to Nekhen,
prophet of
prophet of
Mat (goddess of Truth), giver of laws,
advancer of offices, confirming … the boundary records, separating a land-owner
from his neighbor, pilot of the people, satisfying the whole land, a man of
truth before the Two Lands … accustomed … to justice like Thoth, his like in
satisfying the Two Lands, hereditary prince in judging the Two Lands …. supreme
head in judgment, putting matters in order, wearer of the royal seal, chief
treasurer, Mentuhotep.
Hereditary prince, count
the count
… chief of all works of the king, making
the offerings of the gods to flourish, setting this land … according to the
command of the god.
the whole was carried out
by my hand,
according to the mandate which … my lord had commanded me.
…. sending forth two brothers satisfied
pleasant
to his brothers
with the utterances of his mouth, upon
whose tongue is the writing of
Thoth,
I
alone was the one who put (it) in writing ….
more accurate than the weight, likeness
of the balances, fellow of the king in counselling … giving attention to hear
words, like a god in his hour, excellent in heart, skilled in his fingers,
exercising an office like him who holds it, favorite of the king
I was
excellent to the
heart of his majesty, for I was pleasant to the heart of his majesty
before the Two Lands, his beloved among
the companions,
for
his majesty loved
me.
his
majesty appointed me sole companion and
superior custodian of the domain of the Pharaoh.
powerful among the officials, having an
advanced seat to approach the throne of the king, a man of confidences to whom
the heart opens.
his majesty praised me for
the watchfulness and vigilance, which I showed in the place of audience, above his every
official, above [his every] noble, above his every servant.
532. Hereditary prince over the … the
(royal) castle (wsh't) … finding the speech of the palace, knowing that which
is in every body (heart), putting a man into his real place, finding matters in
which there is irregularity, giving the lie to him that speaks it, and the
truth to him that brings it, giving attention, without an equal, good at
listening, profitable in speaking, an official loosening the (difficult) knot,
whom the king (lit., god) exalts above millions, as an excellent man, whose
name he knew, true likeness of love, free from doing deceit, whose steps the court heeds,
when
preparing court, when
preparing the king’s journey (or) when making stations, I did throughout so
that his majesty praised me for it above everything.
overthrowing him that rebels against
the king, hearing the house of the council of thirty, who puts his terror …
among the barbarians (fp^s'tyw), when he has silenced the Sand-dwellers,
pacifying the
rebels because of their deeds, whose actions prevail in the two regions,
lord of the Black Land and the Red Land, giving commands to the South, counting
the number of the Northland,
His
majesty sent me to despatch [this army] five times, in order to traverse the
land of the
Sand-dwellers at each of their rebellions, with
these troops, I did so that [his] majesty praised me [on account of it].
When
it was said there were revolters,
because of a matter among these barbarians in the land of Gazelle-nose, I
crossed over in troop-ships with these troops, and I voyaged to the back of the
height of the ridge on the north of the Sand-dwellers.
When the army had been [brought] in the highway, I came and smote them all and every revolter among
them was slain.
His
majesty sent me at the head of his army while the counts, while the wearers of
the royal seal, while the sole companions of the palace, while the nomarchs and
commanders of strongholds belonging to the South and
Northland ….
in whose brilliance all men move, pilot
of the people, giver of food, advancing offices, lord of designs, great in
love, associate of the king in the great castle (wsfi't), hereditary prince,
count, chief treasurer, Mentuhotep, he says:
533. …'I am a companion beloved of his
lord, doing that which pleases his god daily, prince, count, sem priest, master
of every wardrobe of Horus, prophet of Anubis of … the hry ydb, Mentuhotep,
prince in the seats of … Splendor … at whose voice they (are permitted to)
speak in the king's-house, in charge of the silencing of the courtiers, unique
one of the king, without his like, who sends up the truth ….
One to whom the great come in obeisance
at the double gate of the king's-house ; attached to Nekhen, prophet of Mat,
pillar … 'before the Red Land, overseer of the
western highlands,
First
of the Westerners ….
leader of the magnates of South and North
… advocate of the people … merinuter priest, prophet of Horus, master of secret things of
the house of sacred writings ….
Never
before had one like me heard the secret of the
royal harem.
[Sinuhe, too, was]
servant of the Royal
harim attending on the hereditary princess ….
governor of the (royal) castle,
governor of the South
prophet of Harkefti, great lord of the
royal wardrobe, who approaches the limbs of the king,
chamber-attendant
…. overseer of the double granary,
overseer of the double silver-house, overseer of the double gold-house, master
of the king's writings of the (royal) presence, wearer of the royal seal, sole
companion, master of secret things of the 'divine words’ (hieroglyphics) ….
534. Here follows a mortuary prayer,
after which the concluding lines (22, 23) refer specifically to his building
commissions at Abydos ….
I conducted the work in the temple, built
of stone of Ayan I conducted the work on the sacred barque {nlm * /), I
fashioned its colors, offering tables
His
majesty sent me to Hatnub to bring a huge offering-table
….
of lapis lazuli, of bronze, of electrum,
and silver; copper was plentiful without end, bronze without limit, collars of
real malachite, ornaments (mn-nfr't) of every kind of costly stone. of the
choicest of everything, which are given to a god at his processions, by virtue
of my office of master of secret things. [End of quotes]
I recall (but do
not currently have it with me) that professor A. S. Yahuda had, in his Language of the Pentateuch in Its Relation to Egyptian, Vol. 1 (1933), when discussing the Exodus 5:5
encounter between Pharaoh and Moses and Aaron: “Then Pharaoh
said, ‘Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them
from working’”, referred to the rank of Moses and Aaron (differentiating them
from the common people) as something akin to new men. Anyway, that is precisely
how Weni is
classified in this next piece (http://drelhosary.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/weni-elder-and-his-mortuary.html):
Everyone who has studied ancient Egyptian history is familiar
with the autobiography of Weni the Elder, an enterprising individual who lived
during the 6th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2407-2260 BCE). His inscription, excavated in 1860 from his tomb in the low desert
at Abydos in southern Egypt, enthusiastically describes his long service under
three kings, culminating in his appointment as "True Governor of Upper
Egypt." Scholars have hailed it as "the most important historical
document from the Old Kingdom" and have used it to illustrate the rise of
a class of "new men" in Egyptian politics and society--persons whose
upward mobility rested in their abilities, not in noble birth.
Early in the season, we excavated a number of inscribed relief
fragments from this area, including two pieces that, when joined together,
furnished the name "Weni the Elder" and a fragment providing the
title "True Governor of Upper Egypt," the highest title recorded in
Weni's autobiography. Further evidence emerged supporting this association. The
exterior face of the north wall incorporates a large niche, and during
excavations here a damaged false door inscribed for Weni the Elder was
discovered in situ. Not only does this false door provide a nickname for
Weni ("Nefer Nekhet Mery-Ra"--Egyptian nicknames were often longer
than birth names!), but it also documents his final career promotion, a fact
not recorded in his autobiography: Chief Judge and Vizier.
Weni was, just
like Mentuhotep, Chief Judge and Vizier.
Was this also
the historical Moses, whose Judgeship, whose Rulership, some of the Hebrews
chose to reject (Exodus 2:14): ‘Who made you
ruler and judge over us?’
