Sunday, June 30, 2024

World Economic Forum puts lid on Göbekli Tepe

"He who controls the past controls the future". George Orwell What a complete scandal this is along the lines of Ebla: Bible-affirming Ebla hampered and censored by Syrian authorities https://www.academia.edu/43547894/Bible_affirming_Ebla_hampered_and_censored_by_Syrian_authorities?sm=b Thus we read at: https://www.summarize.tech/www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPNgGnUrCKM You Won’t Believe This Disturbing Gobekli Tepe Update …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPNgGnUrCKM 00:00:00 - 00:20:00 In the YouTube video titled "You Won’t Believe This Disturbing Gobekli Tepe Update," the speaker expresses shock over the slow progress of excavations at the ancient site of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, which is the world's oldest and largest megalithic site, dating back approximately 11,600 years. The site covers an area of approximately 22 acres and consists of over 200 T-shaped pillars, some reaching heights of nearly 20 ft and weighing up to 22,000 lbs each. Despite its size and age, little is known about who built it or when. The speaker also shares concerns over recent developments, such as a partnership between the site and the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2018, which has led to the preservation of the site and the construction of tourism infrastructure, but has hindered full excavation efforts. The speaker also notes intriguing similarities between certain aspects of Gobekli Tepe and other ancient sites around the world, fueling speculation about a lost ancient global connection. The speaker encourages further investigation and excavation at the site and invites viewers to join the conversation. …. • 00:00:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "You Won’t Believe This Disturbing Gobekli Tepe Update," the speaker expresses his shock over new information regarding the world's oldest and largest megalithic site, Gobekli Tepe, located in Turkey. Dated at approximately 11,600 years old, this site is older than Stonehenge and covers an area of approximately 22 acres, making it the largest megalithic site on Earth. Despite its size and age, little is known about who built it or even when. The site is comprised of an estimated 200 T-shaped pillars, some of which are still buried underground, and many of these pillars reach heights of nearly 20 ft and weigh up to 22,000 lbs each. The carvings on these pillars suggest a high level of planning, logistics, and ingenuity. However, the mystery deepens as historians previously believed that something this old and sophisticated couldn't exist, and it's unclear how such a civilization could have achieved this and what motivated them to do so. Additionally, only a small percentage of the site has been excavated, with only six of the 20 known circular sections or enclosures having been fully excavated, and many more areas remain unexplored. The speaker emphasizes that only 5% of the site has been excavated, a figure first reported in 2008, and gives credit to Graham Hancock for bringing international attention to the site through his books and podcast appearances. • 00:05:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "You Won’t Believe This Disturbing Gobekli Tepe Update," the speaker expresses his surprise that the excavation progress at the ancient site of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey has not improved since 2017, despite excavations beginning nearly three decades ago. He was initially investigating if the 5% excavation figure had changed, but learned that it had not. The speaker then shares that recent visitors to the site, including author Hugh Newman, have suggested that future generations may focus on excavations at neighboring sites instead. The speaker's investigation led him to discover that the Dogus Group, a large Turkish conglomerate, has a partnership deal to oversee excavations and tourism management at Gobekli Tepe since 2016, with a generous donation of $15 million for ongoing excavations. The speaker finds it disturbing that the focus seems to be on preserving the site and establishing tourism infrastructure rather than increasing excavation efforts. The speaker also takes a moment to promote a sponsor and encourage viewers to purchase emergency medical kits. • 00:10:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "You Won’t Believe This Disturbing Gobekli Tepe Update," the speaker reveals that a 20-year partnership between the ancient site of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey and the World Economic Forum (WEF) was announced at the WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in 2018. The CEO of the Dogus Group, Fet Sahen, who is a Turkish billionaire and a longtime WEF member, was involved in the deal. The speaker expresses surprise that such a partnership existed, as it involves the oldest and most mysterious structure in human history. The infrastructure developed for tourism and preservation, including protective roofs and walkways, has obstructed parts of the site and impeded its full excavation. The speaker also questions when the orchards located in the midst of ruins were planted and whether any ancient ruins lie underneath them. Additionally, 900 miles of walkways and roads were constructed after the partnership began, some of which destroyed ruins at the site. The speaker implies that the WEF's involvement in the management and excavations of Gobekli Tepe raises questions about their motives and goals. • 00:15:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "You Won’t Believe This Disturbing Gobekli Tepe Update," the widow of archaeologist CLA Schmidt, who was the first to excavate at Gobekli Tepe until her husband's passing in 2014, expressed deep concern upon visiting the site in 2018. She was dismayed to find that heavy equipment, asphalt roads, and concrete sidewalks had destroyed parts of the ancient site. Mrs. Schmidt's photos of the destruction sparked worldwide outrage, leading to a statement from the ministry of culture and tourism denying the use of concrete or asphalt. However, evidence of extensive concrete walkways and the removal of wooden walkways for permanent concrete replacements contradicts their claims. The limited excavations currently taking place make it unlikely that the remaining 14 circular enclosures will be fully excavated, leaving potentially valuable information hidden in the ground. The decision-making power and resources of the World Economic Forum, which infiltrated excavation management in 2016, are believed to be hindering a full excavation of the site. • 00:20:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "You Won’t Believe This Disturbing Gobekli Tepe Update," the speaker discusses intriguing similarities between certain aspects of the Gobekli Tepe site in Turkey and other ancient sites around the world. These similarities include the "handbags" or T-shaped limestone pillars, which have been compared to ones found in ancient Iraq, Mexico, Bolivia, South America, Easter Island, and Indonesia. The speaker also notes the unique placement of hands in front of the pillars at Gobekli Tepe, which is similar to statues in various other locations. While these similarities could be a coincidence, many consider them as potential evidence of a lost ancient global connection. The speaker expresses frustration with the current state of archaeology and calls for further excavation at the site. He encourages archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, skeptics, and enthusiasts to speak out and champion for further excavation. The speaker plans to host a live stream to discuss the topic further and invites viewers to follow him on various social media platforms and support him personally. Copyright © 2024 Summarize, LLC. All rights reserved. · Terms of Service · Privacy Policy · As an . We have an unknown Medo-Persian monarch, in an unknown period of history, raising to the highest honour in his kingdom a presumed Amalekite notable of unknown parentage. Bright Institute: "You won't believe this disturbing Gobekli Tepe update".

King Den, harvesting water for a parched, thirsty Egypt

by Damien F. Mackey But, just as I have argued that Moses actually needs to be assigned to more than the one Old Kingdom dynasty - {I have set him in, all at once, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth dynasties} - so too, now, does it seem to me that Joseph-Imhotep of the Third Dynasty also requires in his portfolio the inclusion of the First Dynasty. Introduction Most recently, I have done for the biblical Joseph, what I had done previously for his compatriot, Moses, that is, I have found for Joseph a combined Old Kingdom and so-called 'Middle' Kingdom location in the history of ancient Egypt: Joseph like a sub-Pharaoh to Horus Netjerikhet Joseph, whom I have multi-identified, was basically Khasekhemwy-Imhotep, that is, Imhotep, the famed - and later deified - great Chancellor of Horus Netjerikhet of the Old Kingdom's Third Dynasty, who reigned during a seven-year Famine (Sehel Island Stela). In their 'Middle' Kingdom guises, the pair were the ruler, Mentuhotep Netjerkhedjet, and his Vizier, Bebi. But, just as I have argued that Moses actually needs to be assigned to more than the one Old Kingdom dynasty - {I have set him in, all at once, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth dynasties} - so too, now, does it seem to me that Joseph-Imhotep of the Third Dynasty also requires in his portfolio the inclusion of the First Dynasty. I think that Dr. Donovan Courville may have synchronised, in part - in relation to a severe Famine - Egypt's First and Third dynasties (in The Exodus Problem and its Ramifications, 1971). What has led me towards embracing this further step is that there is a ruler in Egypt's First Dynasty who well meets my criteria for Joseph's Pharaoh. I refer to Horus Den (c. 3050 - 2995 BC, conventional dating), supposed fourth ruler of that dynasty. The Criteria In the above-mentioned article on Joseph, I had suggested the following: So, these are the main points for which I would be looking in Joseph's Pharaoh: - Youth, perhaps a prominent mother at first; - Egypt united, sometimes through warfare; - A long reign, certainly exceeding 18 years; - A powerful (sub-Pharaonic) Chancellor; - Celebration of a Heb Sed festival; - Centralisation of power greatly strengthening the king's hold on the land. Now I find some of these marvellously included in the make-up of Horus Den. To test this, let us follow through Nicolas Grimal's brief account of Horus Den in his book, A History of Ancient Egypt (Blackwell, 1994, pp. 52-53): The reign of Den (Udimu), the fourth king of the dynasty, appears to have been a glorious and prosperous one. He limited the power of the high court officials, which had previously been allowed to grow dangerously during Merneith's regency at the beginning of his reign. Immediately we have here a collusion with some major points above: a young king, with a prominent mother (Merneith); apparent long reign (N. Grimal will give this as (p. 53): "Den's reign is estimated to have lasted for about fifty years") that was glorious; with centralisation of power under the king himself. King Den's proposed alter egos, Horus Netjerikhet and Mentuhotep Netjerkhedjet, are assigned long reigns - no less than 40 years, and, at the other end, 50 plus (p. 157: "Mentuhotpe II died around 2010 BC, after a reign of fifty-one years ...".). N. Grimal continues with Den (Udimu): He pursued a vigorous foreign policy, rapidly turning his attention to the Near East with an 'Asiatic' campaign on the first yerar of his reign. He even brought back a harem of fcemale prisoners, an act which was to be copied later by Amenophis III, This military activity, along with an expedition into the Sinai to deal with Bedouin must have influenced his choice of 'Khasty' (meaning 'foreigner' or 'man of the desert') as his nsw-bity (King of Upper and Lower Egypt) name, which was changed to Usaphais in Manetho's Greek version. He was the first Egyptian king to add to his titulature this third name; the nsw-bity title was evidently intended to reflect his active internal policy, including the building of a fortress, celebration of religious ceremonies to the gods Atum and Apis, and a national census (if the Palermos Stone is to be believed). Den also seems to have purused a policy of conciliation with northern Egypt, which was expressed not only through the name of his wife, Merneith, but also by the creation of the post of 'chancellor of the king of lower Egypt'. The tomb of Hemaka a holder of this office, was discovered at Sakkara It contained a quantity of rich funerary furniture as well as a wooden table bearing the name of Djer whoich may have been record of Den's Sed festival (Horniung and Staehelin 1974: 17). The inscription on this tablet includes the earliest depiction of a mummy, perhaps that of Djer (Vandier 1952: 845-8). This is surprising in view of the fact that there is no other evidence for the practice of mummification until some time later. In the tomb bult by Den at Abydos a granite pavement was found, the first known example of stone-built architecture, which until then had been exclusively of mud brick. f, as I have set out in various articles, Moses had served in ancient Egypt as a Vizier and Chief Judge during the so-called Fourth and Twelfth dynasties, then it would be fitting if his Hebrew predecessor, Joseph, had served in ancient Egypt during the Third and Eleventh dynasties. Moses was a high official of Egypt at the apex of its great Pyramid-building age, the Fourth Dynasty. But the Fourth was the same as, so I have argued, the mighty Twelfth Dynasty, also a time of Pyramid and Sphinx building. The Hebrews were heavily involved in these gargantuan building projects. This was the Oppressor Dynasty of Israel (Exodus). It must also be merged with the Sixth Dynasty, whose founder, Teti, bears some striking similarites to the founder of the Twelfth Dynasty, Amenemhet, so-called I, he being the "new king who knew not Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). Moses was the Vizier and Chief Judge, Weni, successively serving Teti (Merenre) and Pepi, as he tells in Weni's famous Autobiography; and Moses was likewise the Vizier and Chief Judge, Menthuhotep, successively serving Amenemhet (= Teti) and the great sphinx-builder, Sesostris (= Pepi). Like many Old Kingdom architectural achievements, such as the Great Sphinx of Giza, these are also so-called 'Middle' Kingdom achievements. In other words, the enigmatic Sphinx of Giza was built in 'Middle' Kingdom times, which were actually Old Kingdom times. Joseph Joseph, whose death is estimated to have occured about 65 years before the birth of his compatriot Moses, belonged to, as has definitely been established by now, Egypt's Third Dynasty. Joseph was Imhotep, a Vizier and lector-priest of incredible and lasting fame, continuing centuries beyond his time. He was apparently the architect of Egypt's first pyramid, the wondrous Step Pyramid of Saqqara, a material icon - so I believe - of his father Jacob's dream-vision at Bethel of a Stairway to Heaven (Genesis 28:12). Massive enclosures, serving Egypt as granaries, and dams - most of relatively short duration, use-wise - were built at this time: e.g., Gisr el-Mudir, Shon Yusef, Shunet el-Zebib, etc. Incredible that Pharaoh Netjerikhet had allowed for - even insisted upon it - such a massive effort in infrastructure in prepartion for a seven-year Famine that Joseph-as-Imhotep had foretold! A late document (Ptolemaic), the famous Sehel Island Stela (or Famine Stela), tells of such a seven-year Famine and of Netjerikhet's dependence upon the sage advice of Imhotep. Now, it has been argued that, since there appear to be no actual contemporary references to Imhotep - the one at the base of Netjerikhet's statue being better interpreted as a title, not a name - then Imhotep must have been a later fabrication, perhaps even a Ramesside conspiracy to delete from memory the real Joseph. I hope that I recently may have solved the problem by identifiying Joseph-Imhotep as Khasekhemui Imhotep (Horus and Nebti names) - thought to be of Egypt's Second dynasty or Third dynasty - accredited with the building of the Shunet el-Zebib great enclosure. But this now opens the door for some other potentially relevant identifications. We probably need to run with the suggestion of some Egyptologists that Khasekhemui is the same as Khasekhem, before the unification of Egypt. Khasekhem can now also be the most obscure Sekhemkhet, associated with the unusual Buried Pyramid, situated right next to Netjerikhet's Step Pyramid. The name Imhotep has been written in a graffito there. Sekhemkhet also has the name of Djoser, making it likely that he (Joseph/ Imhotep), and not Netjerikhet, was the semi-legendary Djoser/Zoser. Meanwhile, Khasekhemui also has the alternative name of Bebi, a name that had been associated with the seven-year biblical Famine by Dr. Donovan Courville (The Exodus Problem and its Ramifications, 1971). And he (also Sekhemkhet) had the name elements, Anhk-ti, which might perhaps enable for a tie-up of Khasekemui again with Joseph through the highly powerful, quasi-pharaonic, Ankhtifi, of long-lasting Famine fame, whom I have already identified as Joseph. So much for the Third Dynasty, Pharaoh Netjerikhet and Imhotep (Khasekhemwy). Can any of this lead us also in to the Eleventh Dynasty? What about Bebi (Khasekhemui again)? Did not Pharaoh Mentuhotep so-called II have a Vizer named Bebi? Note on sub pharaohs: Ramses II 'the Great', ruling over the massive kingdom of Egypt and Ethiopia, would appoint as sub-Pharaoh his famous son, the intellectual Khaemwaset. In my revised chronology, this is the same situation as Shabaka (Ramses again) and Shebitku Khaemwaset (Khaemwaset again), which has caused much chronological mayhem for the conventional chronologists based upon the evidence of the Tang-i Var inscription, which has Shebitku located to a phase of the neo-Assyrian era (Sargon II's) where, supposedly, he ought not have been. Pharaoh of the Famine Clearly he was, as has now been established - and as attested by the Famine Stela of Sehel Island - Horus Netjerikhet of the Third Dynasty, wonderfully served by Imhotep/Joseph. The Famine preparation infrastructure throughout Egypt is there for all to behold and to study. But what about the king's so-called 'Middle' Kingdom alter ego, which I suspect that he must have had, based on Moses 's belonging to the both the Old Kingdom (Fourth and Sixth) and the 'Middle' Kingdom (Twelfth)? My research is leading in the direction that Horus Netjerikhet was also the prominent ruler, Mentuhotep so-called II, who had a Vizier called Bebi at the time of a severe Famine, the same Famine as that during which Ankhtifi was so effectively active. In the Eleventh Dynasty, but construed as during the time of an apparent successor of Mentuhotep II, namely IV of that name, there occurred the "seven empty years" of which the farmer, Heqanakht writes. This could only have been Joseph's Famine. As in the situation of Ankhtifi, people were cannibalising each other due to hunger. I suspect that the various names Mentuhotep will need to be streamlined as I have found to have been necessary the case of too many kings Amenemhet and Sesostris in the Twelfth Dynasty, and also the need to merge Thutmose III with IV, and Amenhotep II with III, in the Eighteenth Dynasty. Mentuhotep would take the name, Netjerikhet, which is much like that of our Third Dynasty Famine king. So I suggest a combined Third/Eleventh dynasty era in the Egypt for the biblical Famine, with Mentuhotep-Netjerikhet as the compliant ruler. Profile of the Famine Pharaoh I expect that, when Joseph aged 30 entered the service of the Pharaoh of Egypt (Genesis 41:46), the king was the younger man, only at the very beginning of his reign. From the Palermo Stone it may be deduced that it was in the king's Year 4 when the surveyor's, the Egyptian "rope-stretchers", began making preparations for the massive building program that was about to ensue. Fourteen years later, at the time when the terrible drought had subsided, in Year 18 (Sehel Stela), Egypt was free from the scourge. Joseph would thus have seemed like a Father to Pharaoh, as Genesis 45:8 in fact calls him. Jacob, when he came to Egypt during the Famine would twice bless the young Pharaoh (47:7, 10). Under such circumstances, it was traditional that the king's mother took a firm hand for a time. As apparent from the pharaonic titles, and Joseph's name of Khasekhemwy, Egypt was unified at this time, north and south. Some battles were needed to achieve this. There was great abundance, followed by a massive Famine during his reign. The king was a long-reigning one, who attained to a Heb Sed festival in which his Vizier was heavily involved. He greatly limitefd the power of his officials, centralizing power, and becoming very powerful. Obviously, the king was a great builder. So, these are the main points for which I would be looking in Joseph's Pharaoh: - Youth, perhaps a prominent mother at first; - Egypt united, sometimes through warfare; - A long reign, certainly exceeding 18 years; - A powerful (sub-Pharaonic) Chancellor; - Celebration of a Heb Sed festival; - Centralisation of power greatly strenghtening the king's hold on the land. Some of these are immediately apparent in, now Netjerikhet, now Mentuhotep.

Joseph like a sub-Pharaoh to King Horus Netjerikhet

by Damien F. Mackey 'You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with the respect to the throne will I be greater than you'. Genesis 41:40 Introduction Moses If, as I have set out in various articles, Moses had served in ancient Egypt as a Vizier and Chief Judge during the so-called Fourth and Twelfth dynasties, then it would be fitting if his Hebrew predecessor, Joseph, had served in ancient Egypt during the Third and Eleventh dynasties. Moses was a high official of Egypt at the apex of its great Pyramid-building age, the Fourth Dynasty. But the Fourth was the same as, so I have argued, the mighty Twelfth Dynasty, also a time of Pyramid and Sphinx building. The Hebrews were heavily involved in these gargantuan building projects. This was the Oppressor Dynasty of Israel (Exodus). It must also be merged with the Sixth Dynasty, whose founder, Teti, bears some striking similarites to the founder of the Twelfth Dynasty, Amenemhet, so-called I, he being the "new king who knew not Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). Moses was the Vizier and Chief Judge, Weni, successively serving Teti (Merenre) and Pepi, as he tells in Weni's famous Autobiography; and Moses was likewise the Vizier and Chief Judge, Menthuhotep, successively serving Amenemhet (= Teti) and the great sphinx-builder, Sesostris (= Pepi). Like many Old Kingdom architectural achievements, such as the Great Sphinx of Giza, these are also so-called 'Middle' Kingdom achievements. In other words, the enigmatic Sphinx of Giza was built in 'Middle' Kingdom times, which were actually Old Kingdom times. Joseph Joseph, whose death is estimated to have occured about 65 years before the birth of his compatriot Moses, belonged to, as has definitely been established by now, Egypt's Third Dynasty. Joseph was Imhotep, a Vizier and lector-priest of incredible and lasting fame, continuing centuries beyond his time. He was apparently the architect of Egypt's first pyramid, the wondrous Step Pyramid of Saqqara, a material icon - so I believe - of his father Jacob's dream-vision at Bethel of a Stairway to Heaven (Genesis 28:12). Massive enclosures, serving Egypt as granaries, and dams - most of relatively short duration, use-wise - were built at this time: e.g., Gisr el-Mudir, Shon Yusef, Shunet el-Zebib, etc. Incredible that Pharaoh Netjerikhet had allowed for - even insisted upon it - such a massive effort in infrastructure in prepartion for a seven-year Famine that Joseph-as-Imhotep had foretold! A late document (Ptolemaic), the famous Sehel Island Stela (or Famine Stela), tells of such a seven-year Famine and of Netjerikhet's dependence upon the sage advice of Imhotep. Now, it has been argued that, since there appear to be no actual contemporary references to Imhotep - the one at the base of Netjerikhet's statue being better interpreted as a title, not a name - then Imhotep must have been a later fabrication, perhaps even a Ramesside conspiracy to delete from memory the real Joseph. I hope that I recently may have solved the problem by identifiying Joseph-Imhotep as Khasekhemui Imhotep (Horus and Nebti names) - thought to be of Egypt's Second dynasty or Third dynasty - accredited with the building of the Shunet el-Zebib great enclosure. But this now opens the door for some other potentially relevant identifications. We probably need to run with the suggestion of some Egyptologists that Khasekhemui is the same as Khasekhem, before the unification of Egypt. Khasekhem can now also be the most obscure Sekhemkhet, associated with the unusual Buried Pyramid, situated right next to Netjerikhet's Step Pyramid. The name Imhotep has been written in a graffito there. Sekhemkhet also has the name of Djoser, making it likely that he (Joseph/ Imhotep), and not Netjerikhet, was the semi-legendary Djoser/Zoser. Meanwhile, Khasekhemui also has the alternative name of Bebi, a name that had been associated with the seven-year biblical Famine by Dr. Donovan Courville (The Exodus Problem and its Ramifications, 1971). And he (also Sekhemkhet) had the name elements, Anhk-ti, which might perhaps enable for a tie-up of Khasekemui again with Joseph through the highly powerful, quasi-pharaonic, Ankhtifi, of long-lasting Famine fame, whom I have already identified as Joseph. So much for the Third Dynasty, Pharaoh Netjerikhet and Imhotep (Khasekhemwy). Can any of this lead us also in to the Eleventh Dynasty? What about Bebi (Khasekhemui again)? Did not Pharaoh Mentuhotep so-called II have a Vizer named Bebi? Note on sub pharaohs: Ramses II 'the Great', ruling over the massive kingdom of Egypt and Ethiopia, would appoint as sub-Pharaoh his famous son, the intellectual Khaemwaset. In my revised chronology, this is the same situation as Shabaka (Ramses again) and Shebitku Khaemwaset (Khaemwaset again), which has caused much chronological mayhem for the conventional chronologists based upon the evidence of the Tang-i Var inscription, which has Shebitku located to a phase of the neo-Assyrian era (Sargon II's) where, supposedly, he ought not have been. Pharaoh of the Famine Clearly he was, as has now been established - and as attested by the Famine Stela of Sehel Island - Horus Netjerikhet of the Third Dynasty, wonderfully served by Imhotep/Joseph. The Famine preparation infrastructure throughout Egypt is there for all to behold and to study. But what about the king's so-called 'Middle' Kingdom alter ego, which I suspect that he must have had, based on Moses 's belonging to the both the Old Kingdom (Fourth and Sixth) and the 'Middle' Kingdom (Twelfth)? My research is leading in the direction that Horus Netjerikhet was also the prominent ruler, Mentuhotep so-called II, who had a Vizier called Bebi at the time of a severe Famine, the same Famine as that during which Ankhtifi was so effectively active. In the Eleventh Dynasty, but construed as during the time of an apparent successor of Mentuhotep II, namely IV of that name, there occurred the "seven empty years" of which the farmer, Heqanakht writes. This could only have been Joseph's Famine. As in the situation of Ankhtifi, people were cannibalising each other due to hunger. I suspect that the various names Mentuhotep will need to be streamlined as I have found to have been necessary the case of too many kings Amenemhet and Sesostris in the Twelfth Dynasty, and also the need to merge Thutmose III with IV, and Amenhotep II with III, in the Eighteenth Dynasty. Mentuhotep would take the name, Netjerikhet, which is much like that of our Third Dynasty Famine king. So I suggest a combined Third/Eleventh dynasty era in the Egypt for the biblical Famine, with Mentuhotep-Netjerikhet as the compliant ruler. Profile of the Famine Pharaoh I expect that, when Joseph aged 30 entered the service of the Pharaoh of Egypt (Genesis 41:46), the king was the younger man, only at the very beginning of his reign. From the Palermo Stone it may be deduced that it was in the king's Year 4 when the surveyor's, the Egyptian "rope-stretchers", began making preparations for the massive building program that was about to ensue. Fourteen years later, at the time when the terrible drought had subsided, in Year 18 (Sehel Stela), Egypt was free from the scourge. Joseph would thus have seemed like a Father to Pharaoh, as Genesis 45:8 in fact calls him. Jacob, when he came to Egypt during the Famine would twice bless the young Pharaoh (47:7, 10). Under such circumstances, it was traditional that the king's mother took a firm hand for a time. As apparent from the pharaonic titles, and Joseph's name of Khasekhemwy, Egypt was unified at this time, north and south. Some battles were needed to achieve this. There was great abundance, followed by a massive Famine during his reign. The king was a long-reigning one, who attained to a Heb Sed festival in which his Vizier was heavily involved. He greatly limitefd the power of his officials, centralizing power, and becoming very powerful. Obviously, the king was a great builder. So, these are the main points for which I would be looking in Joseph's Pharaoh: - Youth, perhaps a prominent mother at first; - Egypt united, sometimes through warfare; - A long reign, certainly exceeding 18 years; - A powerful (sub-Pharaonic) Chancellor; - Celebration of a Heb Sed festival; - Centralisation of power greatly strenghtening the king's hold on the land. Some of these are immediately apparent in, now Netjerikhet, now Mentuhotep.

Joseph also as Den, 'he who brings water'

by Damien F. Mackey "But, just as I have argued that Moses actually needs to be assigned to more than the one Old Kingdom dynasty - {I have set him in, all at once, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth dynasties} - so too, now, does it seem to me that Joseph-Imhotep of the Third Dynasty also requires in his portfolio an inclusion in the First Dynasty. Introduction Most recently, I have attempted to do for the biblical Joseph what I had done previously for his compatriot, Moses, that is, I have found for Joseph a combined Old Kingdom and so-called 'Middle' Kingdom location in the history of ancient Egypt. On this, see my article: Joseph like a sub-Pharaoh to King Horus Netjerikhet https://www.academia.edu/121302694/Joseph_like_a_sub_Pharaoh_to_King_Horus_Netjerikhet Joseph, whom I have multi-identified, was basically Khasekhemwy-Imhotep, that is, Imhotep, the famed - and later deified - Great Chancellor of Horus Netjerikhet of the Old Kingdom's Third Dynasty, who reigned during a seven-year Famine (Sehel Island Stela). In their 'Middle' Kingdom guises, the pair were the ruler, Mentuhotep Netjerihedjet, and his Vizier, Bebi. But, just as I have argued that Moses actually needs to be assigned to more than the one Old Kingdom dynasty - {I have set him in, all at once, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth dynasties} - so too, now, does it seem to me that Joseph-Imhotep of the Third Dynasty also requires in his portfolio an inclusion in the First Dynasty. I seem to recall that Dr. Donovan Courville may even have synchronised, in part - in relation to a severe Famine during the time of the First Dynasty's Uenephes - Egypt's First and Third dynasties (in The Exodus Problem and its Ramifications, 1971). What has led me towards embracing this further stage of synchronisation is that there emerges a ruler in Egypt's First Dynasty who well meets my criteria for Joseph-Imhotep. I refer to Horus Den (c. 3050 - 2995 BC, conventional dating), supposed fourth ruler of that dynasty. The Criteria In the above-mentioned article on Joseph, I had suggested the following: So, these are the main points for which I would be looking in Joseph's Pharaoh: - Youth, perhaps a prominent mother at first; - Egypt united, sometimes perhaps through warfare; - A long reign, certainly exceeding 18 years; - A powerful (sub-Pharaonic) Chancellor; - Celebration of a Heb Sed festival; - Centralisation of power greatly strengthening the king's hold on the land. Some of these are immediately apparent in, now Netjerikhet, now Mentuhotep. [End of quote] Now I find some of these, too, marvellously included in the career of Horus Den. But, the more that I look at it, the more have I come to think that Den might actually have been Joseph-Imhotep himself, rather than Joseph's Pharaoh. Biography of Den Let us take a look at this by following through Nicolas Grimal's brief account of Horus Den in his book, A History of Ancient Egypt (Blackwell, 1994, pp. 52-53): The reign of Den (Udimu), the fourth king of the dynasty, appears to have been a glorious and prosperous one. He limited the power of the high court officials, which had previously been allowed to grow dangerously during Merneith's regency at the beginning of his reign. "... limited the power of the high court officials ...", is precisely what Joseph had done, shifting all power to Pharaoh and to the priests (Genesis 47:20-22). Queen Merneith, whose precise placement within the First Dynasty has been somewhat difficult, may have been the mother of Horus Djer who now firms for me as another alter ego for Horus Netjerikhet/Mentuhotep Netjerihedjet (both names having the Djer, tjer, element). I had suspected that the biblical Pharaoh had begun to rule at a young age, and therefore may have had a mother to assist him in that early phase of responsibility. N. Grimal continues with Den (Udimu): He pursued a vigorous foreign policy, rapidly turning his attention to the Near East with an 'Asiatic' campaign in the first year of his reign. He even brought back a harem of female prisoners, an act which was to be copied later by Amenophis III. This military activity, along with an expedition into the Sinai to deal with Bedouin must have influenced his choice of 'Khasty' (meaning 'foreigner' or 'man of the desert') as his nsw-bity (King of Upper and Lower Egypt) name, which was changed to Usaphais in Manetho's Greek version. As a second to Pharaoh, Joseph would have been expected to lead military campaigns for Egypt, just as Vizier Moses would later do for "Chenephres" (Chephren/Sesostris). His other names given here are most interesting: "'Khasty' ... meaning 'foreigner' or 'man of the desert' ...". Joseph was indeed a foreigner in Egypt; and 'Usaphais', not a bad Greek transliteration at all (Usaph-) of the Semitifc name Yusef (Joseph) – the Uenephes above. And his Horus name, Den (Dewen, Udimu) is thought to mean: "He who brings water". Who, more than Joseph, would harvest water for Egypt with his large dams and his still famous Bahr Yusef (“Joseph's Canal”) which flows to this day? N. Grimal continues with Den (Udimu): He was the first Egyptian king to add to his titulature this third name; the nsw-bity title was evidently intended to reflect his active internal policy, including the building of a fortress, celebration of religious ceremonies to the gods Atum and Apis, and a national census (if the Palermo Stone is to be believed). Joseph, as Khasekhemwy-Imhotep (or Imhotep), likewise used name and serekh innovations. Some of his architectural infrastructure has been misinterpreted, for example great enclosures to serve as granaries have been wrongly identified as fortresses (see "the building of a fortress" above) and temples. A "national census" might have been essential in a national crisis such as a seven-year Famine. Den also seems to have pursued a policy of conciliation with northern Egypt, which was expressed not only through the name of his wife, Merneith, but also by the creation of the post of 'chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt'. Den's "... policy of conciliation with northern Egypt" may well be reflected in what N. Grimal has written about the supposed "first ruler of the Second Dynasty: Hetepsekhemwy", who can only have been Khasekhemwy-Imhotep (p. 54): ... Hetepsekhemwy, "the Two Powers are at peace". The 'Two Powers' were clearly Horus and Seth, and this interpretation is confirmed by Hetepsekhemwy's nebty name: 'the Two Mistresses are at peace', which must be another allusion to the political opposition between north and south. This north-south confrontation was not necessarily an actual physical struggle - it more likely referred to the country's tendency to split into these two regions at any time of conflict. Joseph's wife was Asenath (Genesis 41:45), an Egyptian name that shares with Merneith (above) the Neith element. A name at this time, like Asenath (Asaneth), was Ahaneth, who, too, is difficult to pinpoint in a dynastic context. The name Ahaneth may simply be a variation of Merneith, the presumed wife of Den. The new "post of 'chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt'" may have been 'created' just for Joseph. It was held by one Hemaka, as we will now learn, a powerful high official of Djer, a king of whom I wrote above: "Horus Djer who now firms for me as another alter ego for Netjerikhet-Mentuhotep Netjerihedjet (both names having the Djer, tjer, element)". The tomb of Hemaka a holder of this office, was discovered at Sakkara. It contained a quantity of rich funerary furniture as well as a wooden table bearing the name of Djer which may have been a record of Den's Sed festival (Hornung and Staehelin 1974:17). Once again, as with Horus Netjerikhet and Imhotep, Saqqara ("Sakkara") takes centre stage. Den may here have been recording Horus Djer's Sed festival rather than his own. Similarly, Mentuhotep's quasi-pharaonic vizier, Kheti, will be prominent in the case of his Pharaoh's Sed festival, presumably as its organiser: https://aminoapps.com/c/kemeticism-amino/page/blog/the-heb-sed-renewal-and-reaffirmation/J8lp_Bm1sduPveLjxknMoM71anWmar6NQ14 “… in the reign of Mentuhotep II (of the 11th dynasty), His “treasurer”, Kheti, who was involved in organising the Sed festival”. So far, I have not even come to this Kheti, whose name may be a hypocoristicon of Sekhem-khet (= Zoser/Imhotep). In Djer/Hemaka; Djer/Den; and Mentuhotep/Kheti, we have, I believe, three variant combinations of the one King and Chancellor. And we have not even included here Netjerikhet/Imhotep.

Biblical King of the seven-year Famine

by Damien F. Mackey The Pharaoh whom I am hoping to establish here will certainly be, like Moses' s first two Egyptian rulers were, a king of various names, dynasties, and even kingdoms, conventionally speaking. In reality, of course, he belonged to only the one dynasty, and only the one kingdom, of Egypt. Introduction Moses Egypt's Twelfth Dynasty ('Middle' Kingdom) encompassed the entire early life of Moses, from his birth to his recall to Egypt from his exile in Midian (Exodus 2:1-4:31). This was that mighty dynasty that oppressed, as slaves, the growing number of Israelites in Egypt. The first Oppressor King, the "new king who knew not Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), was Amenemhet (Amenemes) so-called I, "... the first ruler of a new dynasty. This is confirmed by his choice of Horus name: Weḥem-meswt ('He who repeats births'), which suggests that he was the first of a new line" (Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell, 1994, p. 158). This king would express his alarm at the growing number of "Asiatics" (includes Israelites) in the Delta region. He will consequently embark upon a massive building and infrastructural program, pyramids, temples, canals, agriculture, under whose weight the Israelites and other foreigners would groan. But this was also the famous Pyramid-building and sphinxes-raising phase (including Giza) of ancient Egypt. The early career of Moses enables for the beginnings of a comprehensive reconstruction of ancient Egyptian history, with the Fourth, Fifth (probably), Sixth, and the Twelfth dynasties now all to be recognised as being the one and the same. Basically, this era consisted of only the two major oppressor pharaohs, namely: 1. Khufu/Teti-Merenre/Amenemhet; and 2. Chephren-"Chenephres"/Pepi/Sesostris) Then briefly came a woman Pharaoh, Sebekneferure (likely at about the time of the Burning Bush incident of Exodus 3), followed by the Thirteenth Dynasty, with its Pharaoh of the Exodus, Neferhotep, and Israel's departure from Egypt. The career of Moses thus enables for a synchronisation (or tucking up) of Egypt's Old and 'Middle' kingdoms, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Twelfth and Thirteenth (partly) - all within a span of some 80 years - the age of Moses when in confrontation with the hard-hearted Pharaoh of the Exodus (7:7). Joseph Will the same sort of chronological service - but towards the reconstruction of an earlier phase of ancient Egyptian history - be provided by the life of Joseph? The answer to this will be: Yes. Abram (Abraham) Thanks to Dr. John Osgood ("The Times of Abraham", Creation.com), one can now tie up in the life of Abram (Abraham) various archaeological strata: namely, Late Chalcolithic (En-geddi); Neolithic (Jericho); Ghassul IV (Syro-Palestine); a near contemporaneous Narmer level at Arad's Stratum IV; Gerzean in Egypt. And all of this dovetailing at the time of the four-king coalition led by Chedorlaomer of Elam (Genesis 14:1-16), when five kings ruled Pentapolis (14:2: Bera, Birsha, Shinab, Shemeber, and the king of Zoar). A greatly aged Melchizedek (Shem) was yet then still alive as well (14:18-20). Noah And, similarly, I have wondered if Noah and the Flood may even hold the key to a more satisfactory lay-out of those highly-inflated Geological Ages - just as the life of Abram has served to demonstrate that the Stone Ages were not entirely linear, but were partly contemporaneous, and shrinkable. I suspect that, for one, the Eocene Sea (a mere 56-34 million years ago - you're kidding, aren't you?) was actually contemporaneous with the great Noachic Flood (c. 2900 BC), as was the Black Sea flood (c. 7000-5500 BC, conventional dating). The Bible defeats the linear evolutionary and Sothic (dynastic) models at every turn. Biblical King of Jacob and Joseph Old Kingdom (1) I include Jacob here because he, during the Famine, twice blessed the Pharaoh (Genesis 47:7, 10), who, I suspect, may have been quite young. The Pharaoh whom I am hoping to establish here will certainly be, like Moses' s first two Egyptian rulers were, a king of various names, dynasties, and even kingdoms, conventionally speaking. In reality, of course, he belonged to only the one dynasty, and only the one kingdom, of Egypt. To begin with, he is assuredly the notable Horus Netjerikhet, who oversaw the building of the famous Step Pyramid at Saqqara, and who is the king named in the seven-year Famine Stela of Sehel Island. The period is called Egypt's Third Dynasty (Old Kingdom). Netjerikhet's Joseph was Imhotep, also named in the Sehel Stela. But Imhotep needs to be filled out with alter egos, most necessarily with that of Khasekhemwy-Imhotep. Joseph-Imhotep must therefore have been a veritable sub-Pharaoh. King Horus Netjerikhet is often also called Djoser (or Zoser), but this, I believe, is incorrect. Djoser was another name of Sekhemkhet's, whom, too, I have identified with Khasekhem(wy), or Imhotep. In other words, Djoser was Imhotep. There is much proof for Horus Netjerikhet as the Famine Pharaoh, including the (admittedly late) Famine Stela, and the enormous dams, canals, and super granaries constructed at the time (e.g., Bahr Yusef, Shon Yusef, Gisr el-Mudir, etc.). This is undoubtedly one of the most incredible moments in all of history. Here was the ruler of a great nation bending to the advice of his foreign subordinate based on the latter's ability to interpret dreams, and thus ordering, or allowing for, the raising of a massive water-harvesting infrastructural program some seven years before the fore-warned crisis had even occurred. Conclusion One The Famine Pharaoh was Horus Netjerikhet. His Joseph was Imhotep (Khasekhemwy). ---------------------------- Before considering this king's other Old Kingdom guises - for he, like Moses's two early rulers must surely have had such - let us make a shift to consider his so-called 'Middle' Kingdom guise. Here we encounter another famous name. 'Middle' Kingdom Here we meet the mighty Mentuhotep II Netjerihedjet, also a famine Pharaoh. As Nicolas Grimal explains the situation (op. cit., p. 155. My emphasis): Mentuhotpe [Mentuhotep] II ... came to the Theban throne under the name S'ankhibtawy ... his domain stretched from the First Cataract to the tenth nome of Upper Egypt; in other words, it was still curtailed to the north by the territory of the princes of Asyut. A hostile peace was maintained between the two kingdoms, but this was disrupted when the Thinite nome, suffering grievously from famine, revolted against the Herakleopolitan clan. Mentuhotpe captured Asyut and passed through the fifteenth nome without encountering resistance - this was effectively the fall of the Herakleapolitan dynasty. A 'grievous famine' in Egypt was hardly likely to have been restricted to just the one nome, however. Nicolas Grimal will give more information for famine during the Eleventh Dynasty, though presumably after the passing of Mentuhotep II: P. 158: ... Mentuhotpe III .... Hekanakht also described the problems of his time, including the onset of famine in the Theban region. .... After the death of Mentuhotpe III ... the country was evidently left in a confused state. At this point the Turin Canon mentions 'seven empty years' which correspond to the reign of Mentuhotpe IV, whose coronation name, Nebtawyre ("Ra is the lord of the Two Lands") perhaps represents a return to the values of the Old Kingdom. Except that, this was the Old Kingdom! I suspect that Egyptologists have either turned the one great Mentuhotep (II) into an unnecessary succession (III, IV) - just as they have done to a greater or lesser degree with Pepi and Amenemhet and Sesostris and Thutmose and Amenhotep - or, that later kings Mentuhotep (or their officials) were reflecting back to Egypt's time of great Famine. The Famine - like Noah's Flood, like the life of Abram, and like the life of Moses - brings a much-needed cohesion to ancient geology (Geological Ages)/geography/ Stone Ages/archaeology/kingdoms-dynasties and rulers. Creationist Patrick Clarke, too (in his article, "Joseph's Zaphenath Paaneah - a chronological key", at Academia.edu), has pointed to the Eleventh Dynasty as being the most likely period for Joseph's Famine, with Mentuhotep II being the biblical Pharaoh. Unsatisfyingly, though, the author does not offer any suggestion as to who Joseph himself may have been in this Eleventh Dynasty context. Mentuhotep's Joseph was his Vizier, Bebi - {another name of Khasekhemwy-Imhotep} - who likewise lived during a protracted Famine in Egypt. Like Horus Netjerikhet, "[Mentuhotep] was a prolific builder [Heqaib and Satis at Elephantine; Deir el-Ballas; Dendera; Elkab; Gebelein; Abydos; Deir el-Bahri] ... he built himself a funerary monument modelled on the pyramid complexes of the Old Kingdom" (Grimal, N., op. cit., p. 156-157). But, as I must repeat from above: This was the Old Kingdom! Hence it is not surprising to read further (p. 157): "[Mentuhotep] also revived [sic] the foreign policy of the Old Kingdom by leading an expedition to the west against the Tjemehu and Tjehenu Libyans and into the Sinai peninsula against the Mentjiu nomads". Another potential anomaly. Raneb (Nebra), supposedly of the Second Dynasty, is generally consdered to have been the first ruler to have included the sun god Ra in his name. However, there is to be considered the possibility that this long-reigning Pharaoh (some 39 years?) was contemporaneous with - and I suspect the same as - Mentuhotep II, one of whose names, Nebhepetre (ibid., p. 155), contained both elements of the name Raneb (Neb and re). Conclusion Two The Famine Pharaoh was also Mentuhotep II Netjerihedjet. His Joseph was Bebi. ---------------------------- Old Kingdom (2) We are now going to look at Djer (Nynetjer?) and Djet. Djer Could this name, Djer - or Nynetjer? - have been a hypocoristicon (ne-)tjer element taken from Netjerikhet and/or Netjerihedjet (Mentuhotep)? The little known Horus It(i) Djer will do what we have just read that Mentuhotep did, that is, expand into Libya and the Sinai. Hence Nicolas Grimal (ibid., p. 51): "The reign of Djer was characterised by further developments in foreign policy, including expeditions into Nubia (as far as Wadi Halfa), Libya and the Sinai ...". Again, as with Horus Netjerikhet/Mentuhotep, Djer's reign was an opulent one: "Judging from the funerary furniture in the private tombs of his contemporaries, the reign of Djer was a time of great prosperity". Nynetjer Nynetjer, the supposed son of Raneb (above), is variously said to have reigned for 47 years (Manetho), or even the hardly credible 96 years. What we are finding in common with our potential Famine Pharaoh alter egos is a lengthy, prosperous reign of anything upwards of some 40 years. His reign experienced a phase of "poor harvests" (Ancient Egypt Online, "Nynetjer"): The end of his reign seems to have been marked by poor harvests, internal tension, and possibly even civil war. The Palermo Stone records fighting in several towns including one named "the House of the North". This reference may suggest that the king had to suppress a rebellion in Lower Egypt. A period of Famine is another common denominator, as is conquest of the North, and an active foreign policy. Djet And could this name, Djet, have been a hypocoristicon djet element taken from Netjerihedjet (Mentuhotep)? Unfortunately, we meet again that regular phrase, "little is known about". Thus Nicolas Grimal (op. cit., p. 52): Very little is known about Djer's successor, Djet or Wadjit (or 'Serpent' if his name is taken as a pure pictogram), except that he led an expedition to the Red Sea, perhaps with the aim of exploring the mines in the Eastern Desert. Djet's tomb at Abydos contained numerous stelae, including a magnificent limestone example inscribed with his name (Paris, Louvre). Not much to be derived from Grimal here on either Djer, Nynetjer or Djet. But another source tells us that Egypt suffered a major famine during the reign of Djet, and that, I would suggest, ties him to Netjerihedjet (Mentuhotep). Another of Djet's names was Uenephes of Famine consideration. Manetho said that a great famine occurred during this reign. Djer, Nynetjer or Djet's Joseph was his powerful sub-Pharaoh, Den (Udimu), whose names tell it all. Den means "He who brings water'. Consider the vast water harvesting projects undertaken at the time. His name 'Khasty' means 'foreigner', most apropriate for Joseph, a Hebrew living in Egypt. And Manetho's name for him, Usaphais, tells us clearly that he is Joseph (Yosef, Yusef), Usaiph- = Yusef. Conclusion Three The Famine Pharaoh was also Djer, Nynetjer or Djet. His Joseph was Den (Udimu) Usaphais. ---------------------------- A further commonality: The Sed festival was celebrated by Netjerikhet, by Mentuhotep Netjerihedjet, and one is also attributed to Den, but ought likely be attributed to his Pharaoh instead. In these cases, the ruler's second-in-charge official is notably conspicuous - no doubt organising the festival for the Pharaoh.

Joseph, whose coat was of many colours, was a man of many names

by Damien F. Mackey And, perhaps most telling of all, Manetho’s Usaphais, a virtually perfect Greek transliteration of the Semitic name, Yusef (=Usaph-), or Joseph. Apparently in the search for the historical Joseph, as was the case with Moses, one will need to – in order to find him in all of his fulness – course through various of the old Egyptian dynasties, both Old Kingdom and so-called ‘Middle’ Kingdom. This is what I have come up with so far: Basically, Joseph was – as many are now thinking (see Internet and You Tube) – Imhotep of Egypt’s Third Dynasty, who brilliantly served Horus Netjerikhet. But Imhotep, simply qua Imhotep, does not appear to be very well attested from contemporaneous records, so much so that some say he may never have existed, but may have been a later (say, Ramesside, or Ptolemaïc) fabrication. That problem can be nicely solved, I think, by recognising Imhotep as the Second Dynasty, or the Third Dynasty character, Khasekhemwy-Imhotep (variously Hetep-Khasekhemwy, Khasekhem, or Sekhemkhet). Of this Khasekhemwy, we read (Britannica) that “… he was the first to use extensive stone masonry”. But, then, something similar is said again ofHorus Den (Dewen, Udimu) of the First Dynasty. Thus, Nicolas Grimal (A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell, p. 53. My emphasis): “In the tomb built by Den at Abydos a granite pavement was found, the first known example of stone-built architecture, which until then had been exclusively of mud brick”. And it is said, again, of Netjerikhet (ibid., p. 64): “… Netjerykhet … is famed for having invented stone-built architecture with the help of his architect Imhotep …”. Very confusing! “… Den … first known example of stone-built architecture …”. Khasekhemwy “… first to use extensive stone masonry”. “… stone-built architecture [invented] with the help of … Imhotep …”. Never mind, if – as I am proposing – Den, was Khasekhemwy, was Imhotep. Now, Den supposedly had a powerful Chancellor, Hemaka, who might likewise be considered as a potential candidate for Joseph (Wikipedia, article “Hemaka”. My emphasis): One of Hemaka’s titles was that of “seal-bearer of the King of Lower Egypt” … effectively identifying him as chancellor and second in power only to the king. …. The tomb of Hemaka is larger than the king’s own tomb, and for years was mistakenly thought as belonging to Den. But not a mistake if Hemaka was Den! And Den’s wife, Merneith, may be the same as Ahaneth, a name almost identical to that of Joseph’s wife, Aseneth (Asenath/Ahaneth) (Cf. Genesis 41:45, 50; 46:20). This Ahaneth must have been very important considering the large size of her tomb. Den’s ruler may have been Horus Djer, which name recalls Horus Netjerikhet. Joseph’s given Egyptian name, Zaphenath paneah, which biblical commentators generally find so difficult to interpret, I have connected in some of its elements, as a hypocoristicon, with Ankhtifi, a quasi-pharaonic like official (of no definitely fixed address) whose records boast of him as being ‘unlike any man ever born’, and who fails even to make any clear reference to his ruler. Ankhtifi, and the prolonged Famine of his time, with people cannibalising one another, I have linked to other similarly-described famines, of Bebi, and also the one at the time of Heqanakht. And I have then tentatively suggested a connection between the Famine personage, Bebi, and the Vizier of that same name serving Mentuhotep, so-called II, of the Eleventh Dynasty (‘Middle’ Kingdom). This powerful king, Mentuhotep, also had a Chancellor of Ankhtifi-like prominence and importance, Kheti. Previously I wrote on King and Chancellor pairings: Once again, as with Horus Netjerikhet and Imhotep, Saqqara (“Sakkara”) takes centre stage. Den may here have been recording Horus Djer’s Sed festival rather than his own. Similarly, Mentuhotep’s quasi-pharaonic vizier, Kheti, will be prominent in the case of his Pharaoh’s Sed festival, presumably as its organiser. So far, I have not even come to this Kheti, whose name may be a hypocoristicon of Sekhem-khet (= Zoser/Imhotep). In Djer/Hemaka; Djer/Den; and Mentuhotep/Kheti, we have, I believe, three variant combinations of the one King and Chancellor. And we have not even included here Netjerikhet/Imhotep. The multi-named Joseph From what we have just read, Joseph’s names may include Imhotep; Khasekhemwy-Imhotep; Hetep-Khasekhemwy; Khasekhem; Sekhemkhet; Den (Dewen, Udimu); Khasti; Uenephes; Usaphais (Yusef); Zaphenath paneah; Ankhtifi; Bebi and perhaps also: Hemaka; Kheti From stark obscurity, the historical Joseph now abounds! And I suspect that this will not exhaust the potential list of Egyptian (also including some Greek) names for the biblical Joseph.

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Step Pyramid was a Stairway to Heaven

by Damien F. Mackey "The Old Kingdom pharaohs believed that death was the beginning of eternal life. To help them on their way they built pyramids; huge ramps or stairways ... leading directly to the sky". Joyce A. Tyldesley Not very long before the biblical Joseph, as Imhotep (= Khasekhemwy) in Egypt: Enigmatic Imhotep - did he really exist? https://www.academia.edu/120844277/Enigmatic_Imhotep_did_he_really_exist aged 30, would stand before the Pharaoh (Genesis 41:46), Horus Netjerikhet, his father, Jacob, would dream of a stairway (or staircase) leading to heaven (28:12): "[Jacob] had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it". Might this not have been what had inspired Joseph, as the brilliant architect, Imhotep, when he designed the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, the first pyramid - to provide a fixed, material icon in Egypt of his father's dream-vision at Bethel? Whatever the various uses and intentions for the Step Pyramid may have been, what could better describe it than "a stairway resting on the earth with its top reaching to heaven"? The later and greater pyramids, of Giza and other places, were all based upon the concept of the Step Pyramid. But, coming from new dynasts - possibly non-native Egyptians ethnically - who "knew not Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), these autocrats likewise "knew not" about Jacob's miraculous stairway to heaven. So they built monoliths, albeit impressive ones, Wonders of the World, in fact, but that no longer really looked like stairways to heaven. * * * * * Above quote from Joyce A. Tyldesley's book, Pyramids: The Real Story Behind Egypt's Most Ancient Monuments (2023). The Guardian. "Pyramids seen as stairways to heaven": "The pyramids of Egypt could be explained as symbolic stairways to heaven". Arc. "Ancient Egyptian stairway to heaven". "The structure in Saqqara is the famous step pyramid of the pharaoh Djoser [sic] ... intended to facilitate his journey to the afterlife". Southern Staircase. "Time Travel: Ancient Staircase Architecture". "Although the exact origin of the staircase concept is not known [sic?], the earliest signs of stairs have been linked to Egypt. ... an Egyptian pyramid is one of the most primitive staircases. With large ledges, this oversized series of steps held both practical and spiritual meaning to citizens of the time".

Enigmatic Imhotep - did he really exist?

by Damien F. Mackey "Probably few articles caused more disappointement in SIS circles than John Bimson's 1986 'Hatshepsut and the Queen of Sheba', which presents strong evidence and argument against Velikovsky's proposal that the ... queen who visited King Solomon was none other than the famous Egyptian female pharaoh. This removed one of the key identifications in Velikovsky's Ages in Chaos historical reconstruction and was a key factor in the rejection of his proposed chronology by Bimson and others in favour of the more moderate 'New Chronology'. It also took away what had seemed a romantic and satisfactory solution to the mystery of the identity and origins of Solomon's visitor, leaving her once more as an historical enigma. ...". Alasdair Beal Introduction 1: Dr. John Bimson's probing 1986 article for SIS, "Hatshepsut and the Queen of Sheba", critically analysing Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky's most popular identification of Hatshepsut as the biblical Queen of Sheba (in Ages in Chaos, I, 1952), came as a disappointment to many - myself included - destroying, as it did, Velikovsky's pièce de résistance, that Hatshepsut's expedition to the fabulous Land of Punt was nothing other than the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon. Two major points raised by Dr. Bimson, namely that: - Hatshepsut was no longer a Queen when she launched her Punt voyage, but was already in about her 9th year as Pharaoh; and - Hatshepsut did not personally accompany the Punt expedition, unlike the biblical Queen of Sheba, who most certainly went in person to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem, put paid immediately in my mind to any suggestion that the Punt and Jerusalem expeditions could have been one and the same. So devastating was Dr. Bimson's critique that I, for a full decade, would drop any consideration that Dr. Velikovsky had historically identified the biblical event. Then, in 1997, I took up the matter again, as Alasdair Beal goes on to tell: "In this issue [SIS 1997:1] Damien Mackey returns to the question, challenging Bimson's conclusions, giving a new twist to Velikovsky's scheme - and throwing up some controversial identifications of other famous Egyptian (and Greek) historical figures. No doubt this will not be the last word on the matter but maybe it will stimulate fresh discussion about the identities and lives of these people whose names and stories have been handed down to us from ancient times". Whilst in the process of preparing this article, "Solomon and Sheba", for SIS publication, I believed that I had discovered the person of King Solomon himself as the Eighteenth Dynasty official to Pharaoh Hatshepsut, Senenmut (Senmut). Thought to have been a commoner, but with regal pretensions, Senenmut is often described as having been 'the real power behind the throne'. Chronologically, it all fits like a glove. For, another of Dr. Velikovsky's famous identifications, related to Hatshepsut, was his identification of Pharaoh Thutmose III as the biblical "Shishak king of Egypt", who had despoiled the Temple of Yaweh and the royal palace in Year 5 of King Solomon's ne'er-do-well son, Rehoboam (I Kings 14:25-26). Now, with Senenmut fading out from the Egyptian scene in approximately Year 16 of Hatshepsut/Thutmose III, then this perfectly harmonises with Dr. Velikovsky's identification of Thutmose III's Year 22-23 (First Campaign) as the biblical incident pertaining to "Shishak". As with Dr. Velikovsky's Hatshepsut/Queen of Sheba reconstruction, this one also needed some restorative work. In the case of Thutmose III, Velikovsky's geography and topography would require some considerable amendment. I hope to have achieved this - one of the trickiest problems that I have ever encountered - in my article, "Yehem near Aruna". Dr. Velikovsky's Queen of Sheba and Shishak historical identifications can now stand as two firm pillars of revisionism. Those who embrace the so-called 'New Chronology' in its various forms, stranded as it is halfway between (wrong) convention and (right) Veliovskianism (though requiring modification), in a kind of No Man's Land, miss out on all of this. To this day, the 'New Chronology' has not managed to turn up any suitable historical candidate for the wondrous Queen of Sheba. We need the likes of Dr. Velikovsky and Dr. Bimson. The former was intuitive, and had the happy knack of being able to find the right answers despite his often poor methodology and seeming disrespect for established archaeological sequences. The latter type - who appears to be boundless - is analytical, and can make for a marvellous critic. But, this one, for the most part, hardly ever seems to find the right answers. Introduction 2: Now, the very same situation has occurred for me with IMHOTEP. Initially, I had fully embraced him as the biblical Joseph - a view held by many - just as I had initially embraced Dr. Velikovsky's identification of Hatshepsut with the biblical Queen of Sheba. Why, did not an ancient record (Sehel Famine Stela) tell of Imhotep's having saved Egypt from a seven-year famine during the reign of Netjerikhet of the Third Dynasty? Then came the adverse reaction. I have just described this above, in the case of Dr. Velikovsky's thesis. In the case of Imhotep, it was a critique by one Brenton Minge, in a so-far unpublished work on Joseph and the Famine, that set me thinking. Brenton is arguing that there was no contemporary attestation for Imhotep in ancient Egypt. Nor could I immediately find any. The Sehel Famine Stela record is very late, dated to Ptolemaïc times. Moreover, Brenton showed that the word 'Imhotep', appearing as it does among the titles of an official on the base of Netjerikhet's statue, must therefore be a title, and not a name. Because officials, he says, but not the rulers, were always named after their titles. In the case of the statue base's inscription, an erasure has occurred at the end of the document where Brenton thinks that the official's name would have been. Thankfully, this second disappointment has lasted only a matter of months, not the full decade that elapsed after Dr. Bimson's 1986 critique. Because I believe that I have since found Imhotep well represented in Third Dynasty records. And to reveal him is my purpose in writing this article. Identifying a Third Dynasty Imhotep For, it is not a question of could Khasekhemwy have been Imhotep. Khasekhemwy was Imhotep! The Nebti name of Khasekhemwy was hotep im(-ef), that is, IMHOTEP. Who was Khasekhemwy? "Little is known about ...". This phrase is, as I have noted in various articles, one of the most common ones that one will encounter in historical studies. And it has been applied to Khasekhemwy (Khasekhemui) as well. "Little is known about him". (Wikipedia) Who was he? Was Khasekhemwy, as some Egyptologists have suggested, the same as the Khasekhem, supposedly of Egypt's Second Dynasty, changing his name to Khasekhemwy upon his having achieved the unification of Egypt's north and south? Or was he of the Third Dynasty, the father of pharaoh Netjerikhet (also thought to have been known as Djoser or Zoser), as has also been suggested. Was Khasekhemwy-Netjerikhet really a sequence, though, as we have just read, or was this, instead, a contemporaneous partnership? After all, Khasekhemwy seems to be encroaching upon Netjerikhet's activities. Nabil Swelim has assigned Saqqara's Gisr el-Mudir enclosure, to Netjerikhet's third dynasty. But the name of Netjerikhet's presumed father, Khasekhemwy, also occurs at two of the four enclosures (Abydos and Hierakonpolis) - massive ancient granary storage places - just as do both names at Khasekhemwy's Abydos tomb. Khasekhemwy is credited with having erected the massive Shunet es-Zebib enclosure. According to Mirsolav Barta ("The Search for Imhotep: Tomb of Architect-Turned-God Remains a Mystery": "Imhotep ... invented building in stone ... at the beginning of the third dynasty. This achievement corresponds with the spread of monumental stone architercture during the reign of Khasekhemwy". And, could Khasekhemwy also have been one of the most mysterious of all pharaohs, Sekhemkhet (= Ka-Sekhem-), whose Buried Pyramid lies right next to Netjerikhet's majestic Step Pyramid? Was Khasekhemwy also Imhotep? Imhotep, one of the most celebrated characters in ancient Egypt - and favoured as the biblical Joseph - is, for all that, a most obscure figure, with no seeming contemporaneous (Third Dynasty) mentions. Though, interestingly, Imhotep's name does appear as a graffito in the Buried Pyramid of Sekhemkhet, who, I am hinting, may also have been Khasekhemwy. Now I think that Imhotep can be more substantially than hitherto identified. And in the Third Dynasty. For, it is not a question of could Khasekhemwy have been Imhotep. Khasekhemwy was Imhotep! The Nebti name of Khasekhemwy was hotep im(-ef), that is, IMHOTEP. Was the Vizier, lector-priest, Imhotep, even a sub-pharaoh? Was Khasekhemwy the real Djoser? According to the king-lists, Sekhemkhet was also identified as Djoser (-ti): http://www.phouka.com/pharaoh/pharaoh/dynasties/dyn03/03sekhemkhet.html He, not pharaoh Netjerikhet, may have been the actual Djoser (Zoser). Khasekhemwy was also Bebi In my article: Bebi's Famine, like Joseph's, was of 'many years' duration https://www.academia.edu/120335321/Bebis_Famine_like_Josephs_was_of_many_years_duration I identified the protracted Famine at the time of the vizier Bebi with the one at the time of the quasi-pharaonic lector-priest, Ankhtifi, another potential ID for Joseph, under a hypocoristicon version of his given Egyptian name, Zaphenath paneah. Now, Khasekhemwy appears in the king lists as Bebi, or Bebti: http://www.phouka.com/pharaoh/pharaoh/dynasties/dyn02/07khasekhemwy.html Conclusion Khasekhemwy was indeed the father of Netjerikhet, but only in the biblical sense with reference to Joseph as “Father to Pharaoh” (Genesis 45:8). Khasekhemwy was Joseph-Imhotep, who saved Netjerikhet's Egypt from a seven-year Famine that the Hebrew man of dreams had predicted under Divine inspiration.