Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus?

Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus?

Thomas Allen

In Solving the Exodus Mystery, Volume 1 (1999), Ted Stewart identifies the Pharaoh of the Exodus and the Pharaoh who appointed Joseph Vizier. His arguments should convince everyone who is not an orthodox Egyptologist.

According to Stewart, the Exodus occurred in 1446 B.C. (Ussher’s date is 1491 B.C., and Beecher’s is 1498.) According to the orthodox dating system of Egypt, Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty was the Pharaoh of the Exodus; his reign according to one orthodox chronology was 1479 to 1426 B.C. (Another orthodox chronology gives his reign as 1504 to 1452 B.C.) However, nothing in the history of Thutmose III’s reign matches the events of the Exodus.

Steward argues that the orthodox Egyptian chronology, which has changed over the years, is about 300 years too long. Consequently, he places Thutmose III’s reign from 1140 to 1086 B.C.

None of the Egyptian historical records of the Seventeenth or Eighteenth Dynasties match the description given in the Bible about Egypt in the time of Joseph or Moses. Therefore, many modern scholars consider the Biblical accounts of Joseph and Moses to be myths.

However, Stewart argues that the Egyptian and Biblical scholars are looking at the wrong dynasties. He evidences that Joseph and Moses lived during the Twelfth Dynasty and that Egyptian records of that Dynasty match the Biblical Account.

Moreover, Steward also adjusted the traditional Biblical dating of Ussher, Beecher, and others. Scholars who use the New International Version and like translations have the Israelites being in Egypt for 430 years beginning when Jacob entered Egypt and ending 430 years later with the Exodus. Scholars who use the King James Version and like translations argue that the 430 years begin with God’s promise to Abraham. Steward agrees with the scholars who follow the King James translation. Consequently, Steward reduces the time that the Israelites were in Egypt from 430 years to 210 years. With the adjustment to the traditional Biblical chronology, Biblical chronology matches his revised Egyptian chronology.

According to the Biblical account, Stewart states that Joseph became Pharaoh’s Vizier in 1665 B.C. (Ussher’s date is 1716 B.C., and Beecher’s is 1723 B.C.) Based on his chronology, he identifies Sesostris I as the Pharaoh who appointed Joseph Vizier. His chronology gives Sesostris I’s reign from 1667 to 1625 B.C. (The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia gives his reign as 1971 to 1926 B.C., and the New Encyclopaedia Britannica gives 1916 to 1876 B.C. Carbon 14 dating is 1680 B.C.)

Based on his revised chronology and the Egyptian historical record, Stewart identifies Amenemhet IV as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. According to his chronology, Amenemhet IV reigned from 1456 to 1446 B.C. (According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, he died in 1792 B.C.) Amenemhet IV seems to have vanished in 1446 B.C. Nothing is heard of him afterward, and his tomb has never been found. His sister-wife became queen and reigned four years until 1450 B.C. when the Twelfth Dynasty ended.

Thus, Amenemhet I, the founder of the Twelfth Dynasty, was Pharaoh when Joseph entered Egypt in 1678 B.C. (Ussher’s date is 1718 B.C., and Beecher’s is 1736 B.C.). Sesostris I appointed Joseph Vizier in 1665 B.C. (Ussher’s date is 1716, and Beecher’s is 1723 B.C.) When Moses was born in 1526 B.C. (Ussher’s date is 1571 B.C., and Beecher’s is 1578 B.C.), Sesostris III was Pharaoh. He was the Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. During the reign of Amenemhet III, Moses fled Egypt in 1486 B.C. (Ussher’s date is 1491 B.C., and Beecher’s is 1989 B.C.) When Moses returned to Egypt in 1446 B.C. (Ussher’s date is 1491, Beecher’s is 1498), Amenemhet IV was Pharaoh. Soon after Moses’ return, came the plagues and the Exodus.

By adjusting the Egyptian and Biblical chronology, Stewart has identified the Pharaohs of Joseph’s and Moses’ time. He confirms that the Twelfth Dynasty is the correct Dynasty by comparing the Biblical account of Joseph and Moses with the Egyptian historical record.

Copyright © 2020 by Thomas Coley Allen.

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