Moses, Part 2 – Plagues

“Lamenting the Death of the Firstborn of Egypt” (1877) by Charles Sprague Pearce, Source https://artvee.com/dl/lamentations-over-the-death-of-the-first-born-of-egypt-2#00, (PD)

We continue our examination of the archaeological evidence for Moses.

Brickmaking

We know from the Bible that the Hebrew slaves were pressed into was making bricks (Ex 5: 6-18).  Egyptian tomb paintings depict slaves making bricks.  The Egyptian papyri Anastasi IV and V highlight the importance of straw as a binder in brickmaking [1A].   This is consistent with the dismay the Bible indicates the Israelites felt when the pharaoh stopped supplying it, yet required the same number of bricks (Ex 5: 18-21).

Note that the Bible does not describe the Hebrew slaves as constructing the pyramids, but rather as building the cities  of Pithom and Rameses (Ex. 1: 11).  (Skilled Egyptian craftsmen are known to have built the pyramids, cinematic depictions notwithstanding.)

Avaris

According to the biblical text, the Israelites settled “in the land of Rameses” (Gen. 47: 11) sometime in the 19th Century BC.  Use of the word “Rameses” is an update of the biblical text by later editors to replace an archaic place-name with one that was more recognizable [1B].

Because of extensive excavation, we now know that Tell el-Dab‘a in the eastern Nile Delta was the site of the city Rameses, built over the previous city Avaris [1C].  The site is most famous as the Hyksos capital (the Hyksos being Semitic traders who ruled lower Egypt c. 1660 BC to 1550 BC) [2].   Pottery and weapons found indicate the site was originally settled by a group of non-Egyptians from Canaan in the 19th Century BC, the time of Joseph [1D]. 

There is, also, evidence of a four-roomed house in the village (the same layout as houses typical in Israelite settlements during the later Iron Age) [1E].  A palace complex dates to the time of Moses.

Interestingly, the site was suddenly abandoned after the reign of Amenhotep II, suggesting that a plague may have been the reason.

Pharaoh Amenhotep II

Numerous scholars now identify Amenhotep II (rather than Rameses II a/k/a Rameses the Great) as the pharaoh of the Exodus [1F]. 

Amenhotep II was not the firstborn son of his father, Thutmose III, so would not, himself, have died in the final plague, the death of the firstborn.  Nor was Amenhotep’s successor, Thutmose IV, his firstborn son (who would have died in that plague).  By contrast, Rameses II was, himself, a firstborn.

Amenhotep II in the ninth year of his reign (c. 1446 BC) made a military excursion into Palestine, taking 101,128 captives [1G].  One possible explanation is that he was seeking to replace the portion of his slave-labor base that had just left Egypt.

The mummy of Pharaoh Amenhotep II was found in KV35 in the Valley of the Kings [8].  The pharaoh’s body now rests in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.

Plagues

Scientists have speculated that many of the plagues of Egypt described in the Bible could have been the result of ecological disaster [3][4]. 

A drought could have caused a so called “red tide” or algae bloom in the Nile with the appearance of blood.  This, in turn, could have killed off some species while causing other populations to explode, i.e. frogs, gnats, flies, and locusts.  Insects could have spread disease to animals and humans in the form of pestilence and boils.

A volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini c. 1540 BC has been put forward as the cause of the plague of darkness.  But pinning down the date of that eruption has been extremely difficult [5].  The Santorini eruption is, also, said to have caused the destruction of the Minoan civilization, and to have inspired the myth of Atlantis [6].

Assuming all this was the case, the timing was certainly fortuitous for the Israelites, to say the least.  Certainly, God could have orchestrated events, even if natural forces were responsible.

That would better explain why the plagues so closely corresponded to the Egyptian gods [7].  The plague of blood was against Hapi and Osiris, the Egyptian gods of the Nile.  The plague of frogs was against Heqet, the Egyptian god of fertility.  The plague of dead livestock was against Apis, the god of livestock.  The plague of darkness was against Ra, the god the sun.

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[1A through 1G]  Associates for Biblical Research, The Shiloh Excavations, “Top Ten Discoveries Related to Moses and the Exodus” by Bryan Windle, 7/29/22, https://biblearchaeology.org/research/chronological-categories/exodus-era/4919-top-ten-discoveries-related-to-moses-and-the-exod.

[2]  Wikipedia, “Hyksos”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyksos.

[3]  Wikipedia, “Plagues of Egypt”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagues_of_Egypt.

[4]  History, “What Caused the 10 Plagues of Egypt?” by Christopher Klein, 4/16/24, https://www.history.com/articles/10-plagues-egypt-causes.

[5]  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), “On the enigma of dating the Minoan eruption of Santorini” by Walter Kurschera, 4/14/20, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004243117.

[6]  Akrotiri Museum, “Atlantis and Santorini:  Connecting Myth and Geology” by Pausanias, 8/29/23, https://akrotiri-museum.com/2023/08/29/atlantis-and-santorini-connecting-myths-and-geology/#:~:text=This%20eruption%20was%20one%20of%20the%20most,to%20the%201815%20eruption%20of%20Mount%20Tambora.

[7]  Calvary Chapel Palos Verdes, “Exodus 7 – 11 God’s Judgment on Egypt” by https://www.calvarypalosverdes.com/blog/exodus7-11.

[8] Egypt Museum, “Mummy of Amenhotep II”, https://egypt-museum.com/mummy-of-amenhotep-ii.

This series will conclude next week

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