MOSES AND THE PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER

By Covenant Report

Courtesy of: BIWF [NZ] Auckland

Formerly the  Adverse Critics could not  be answered when  they asked  for the authenticity of the story of Moses as set forth in the Old Testament. Those who believed in the Bible could  merely  state  that it was in the Bible, and therefore must be true. But how different it is today. I lived in the time when  the critics could  not be answered, and  I  have lived to see  the day when  they can  be entirely  backed off the stage, and  they do  not dare  to ask  their questions. Let us see  what  archaeology has  to say regarding the life story of Moses.

The Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings of Egypt, were  not Egyptians,  but  Asiatics ethnically related  to  the Semites. They  invaded the  Nile Valley about the beginning of the Eighteenth century B.C. They came by the way  of Palestine, and  left their  marks  upon th a t    country.  The y  overthrew  the    Egyptian government, ascended the throne, and ruled until the middle of the Fifteenth  century B.C. The first king of the Eighteenth Dynasty was the one who led the revolution which overthrew the Hyksos Dynasties, and drove  them  completely from  the country of Egypt. This king was Amosis, or Ahmes,  or Ahmose  I. The three  different  spellings refer  to the same man.  In about  1580 B.C. this king defeated the Hyksos. but lost his life in battle.  Today we may see  his mummy with the wound that caused his death. He fell upon the battlefield, but his body carefully cared for by his people. The Hyksos were driven from Egypt over the same  route  by which  they entered the country 300 years  before. They  made stand   in  Palestine, then disappeared from history.

In 1560 B.C. Amenhotep I succeeded to the throne, and carried out the policies of predecessor. He was a very religious man and built some  additions  to the temples Karnak and Luxor. In 1540 B.C. he succeeded on the throne by his son Thotmes I. The following year something happened in the family that was and still is a disgrace in an Oriental family- the first born child was a girl. This young lady was  named by her father Maatatkara. In spite of her handicap, she was to be one of the great historical characters of all time. She born in the palace at Memphis (Noph) amidst all the splendours of the  time.  Regardless of the  fact  that  she  was  a disappointment to her family, nevertheless she was her father’s  favourite;  she  had  all his characteristics,  his determination, and  his energy.  If  the reader  has the notion that she was a pampered, petted young lady, he is all wrong.  I  am  inclined  to think  that  her  father, Thotmes  I was the general ancestors of all Scotsmen. But in spite of the fact, the Pharaoh’s Daughter enjoyed the good and fine things of this life.

Again, if you think of Egypt of that day in the light of Egypt of today, you are all wrong.  It was a beautiful land, almost  a fairy land,  a dream land in its beauty, and that was especially true in the vicinity of Memphis, the oldest  capital  of Egypt. Its palaces and  temples were  of grandeur almost beyond imagination; its gardens (we would  call them  parks  in this country) were far beyond anything that we have today. Within the  palace grounds the banks of the Nile were paved with marble  in the shape of walks,  and  steps of the same  material led down to and into the gentle waves. Water plants  of all kinds  nodded their  heads in the rippling waves,  and  the stately  papyrus plant  stood rigid guard  over all. The  palace area  was  carefully walled  in, including  portions  of the river, in order  to exclude any stray crocodile that might be looking for a tasty dinner.  In your imagination paint as beautiful a picture  as you can,  then  this imagined picture  will fall short,  far short of reality.

The Pharaoh’s daughter was  not a clinging vine. She was the first “athletic” girl of record. She believed in and  practised the athletic sports  of her  day. She was any man’s equal,  and she did not hesitate to say so later in her life.

You fathers and mothers who now have grandchildren, do you remember the “Gay 90’s?” Do you remember the hobble-skirt,  the camel-walk, then the athletic girl? Neither the styles nor the “fads”  of the day were new. In those days the young ladies had what they called “slumber parties” at which very little slumber took place.  It was  a matter of pillow fights and  so  on  rather  than  slumber. Even that  was  not new. Solomon  was correct when  he said that there is nothing  new under  the sun.

When  the Hyksos were driven from Egypt, the descendants of Jacob remained in  the  land.  They were distant  kin to the despised Hyksos, and Amosis I was the first king “who did not know Joseph.” Then the oppression of the Hebrews began in Egypt, i.e. they  became the second group  in history  who  did the  public  building  work  for the  Empire;  in other words,  the second group  of WPA workers, the first being  those  who  built  the  Great  Pyramid  at  Gizeh under King Khufu. The Semites were put upon public works  for two  reasons: (a)  they seemed to be especially  adapted to that  sort  of work;  (b)  in that way the increase of population could,  according to the theory of the times,  be kept within control. At this time the government of Egypt had a population question  which  was  pressing for solution. The birth rate among the Semitic  peoples was very high, while it was very low among the Egyptians. It meant that within a very short time the Semites in the land would outnumber the  natives,  and  then  all the  sacrifices made in order  to drive out the Hyksos would  be vain. It would be a case of merely changing  masters,  a very serious question to the Egyptian people. This increase was so rapid  that  it became necessary for the government to take drastic action to stop it. This action was inaugurated by Thotrnes I. You know  the story as related in the First Chapter of Exodus. To carry out this policy, secret police were  everywhere to enforce the law, or at least  to report  any  transgression. No one would know who was a member of this dreaded police. But there is always someone who will take the chance  of transgressing any law, provided  that law interferes with his personal desires.

Thus it was with the mother of Moses. They lived in Memphis and, apparently,  quite close to the palace grounds. The  young  mother was  able  to hide  the infant from the police  for about  three  months, then his lungs became so lusty that he was liable to betray the hiding place  at any moment. Something had  to be done.  What? Then some one  in the family had a bright idea. They watched the daily movements of the Pharaoh’s Daughter,  the  Princess. This was  a bold plan indeed.

The Pharaoh’s Daughter held a slumber party one night for her girl friends. Of course,  there  was  very little slumber. Therefore they were  up early, as is the custom in the Orient. These young ladies, all “athletic” in their  fad ,  did  not  rush  for the  bath  tub,  nor  the shower. They were up to date, and wanted  a “plunge” from the old spring-board. As a result of their training, they wended their way down  to the Nile to take this plunge. They were walking along on the marble walks ver y close  to the edge  of the water,  when  suddenly the Pharaoh’s Daughter stopped, listening. She asked her companions if they had heard  what she had – the cry of an  infant!  Evidently  they  had.  The  Princess requested  one of the girls to go and see from whence the cry came. In my imagination I can see  this young lady go down  the steps, put an exploratory toe into the water,  then  step  in,  part  the  papyrus  and  look down upon the ark (bassinet) filled with a wriggling, kicking something which  was  all wrapped up in a beautiful little blanket. She stooped down, worked the blanket loose,  and saw  the awry, wet features of a boy baby. She looked at him a moment, then tickling him in his little”tummy”,!’ she said , “Boo!” The little chap smiled,  and stretched out his little arms  to her. What woman could resist that motion? She took him up, and  carried him to the  Princess. The Pharaoh’s Daughter looked at  him ,  and  asked: “Is he  not  a Hebrew child?”  But she  took  him  in her arms  and petted  him.

At this point the third scene of the act takes  place. Miriam,  the oldest sister of the  child, had  been standing behind  a palm tree all the time to see  what would happen. She  had  carefully timed the movements of the  Princess; but  there  might  be  a change in her schedule, in that case the sister would be there  to take little brother back home. But things worked  out fine. The Princess had found him. Miriam then  came from  behind the  tree,  approached the Princess, and asked her if she should  bring a Nurse. Receiving  the affirmative answer, the mother of the child was brought, according to plan, and introduced as the would-be Nurse. The Princess  told her to bring the child back to her at a stated time. I am inclined  to believe  that the plunge was not taken  that morning.

News passes rapidly  in a palace by means of underground telegraph, and always reaches the wrong ears,  or, those for whom  the news or gossip is not intended. Soon  the  Princess  was  summoned to the presence of her father, the Pharaoh. I suspect that she knew she was  in for a bad half-hour; but what girl is afraid of her father? Can you see the King look sternly at his daughter,  not saying anything for several  minutes? In my imagination I can see him as his daughter stands demurely  before him. I  can hear him say: “Daughter, did you find an Hebrew child within the Palace grounds this morning, a boy-child?” Then the argument began. I can hear the Pharaoh  scold his daughter  for breaking one  of the proclamations of the government. I  think, after a long argument, the Princess said: “Oh, Father, he was such a sweet,  smiling, cuddling little chap. I want him as my own.” Then I  can  hear  the king say in an assumed severity and gruffness: “Well, have it your way, then.” The Princess won, as is usual in the case of daughter and father.

Now as  we  said  above, the  Princess was  born about 1539 B.C. and this little boy came into this world about  1525 B.C. Thus  the  Princess was  fourteen or fifteen  years  old  when she  took  the  “cuddly  little fellow”  from  the  Nile. This does  not mean that she was a child  herself,  for Oriental  girls are women at twelve years of age, and fully competent to guide their own affairs. The Oriental woman of antiquity was not the  mollycoddle that she became after Mohammedanism got control  of her earth  destiny.

When the Hebrew child was able to eat solid food, he was taken to the Princess at the palace. The mother kissed  him good-bye,  and  thanked Jahweh that his life had been spared.

With  that  kiss  all  his  Hebrew communications were  cut. The Princess adopted him as her son, and he began his career as the Heir-Apparent to the throne of the New Egyptian Empire.

Within two years,  the Princess was  called  to the throne  to be co-regent with her father. This was the policy of the Egyptian government- to train the heir, apparent by actual  participation in the administration of affairs. This was a very practical way in which  to impose such  training.

When the Princess actually adopted the child, she named him  Thotmes-Meshu. The  last  part  of the Egyptian name has a double meaning: (a) “the son of”; (b) “drawn or rescued from the water.” Thus we have two meanings of the word, first- “the son of Thotmes”; second, “the one who was rescued from the water.”

The child was  put into school when he reached the proper  age,  in addition to having a private Tutor at all times. He attended the great  Universities of the land. He studied everything that the curricula had to offer- Art, Science, Literature, Theology, Law, Music, Military Art and Science, Naval Instruction, Mineralogy and many other  things. Some  day he, in turn, would be the Heir to the throne of the Empire, and he must be prepared to assume the greatest responsibility in the world at that time.

Moses spent  the first forty years of his life in school preparing for the  task  which  was  ultimately  to fall upon  his shoulders.

hen Moses was five or six years of age the Princess, the Pharaoh’s Daughter, ascended the throne  and became the first great woman in the history of the world – as we have it written today. She assumed the crown under the name of Queen Hatshepsut She married her half-brother, who later became Thotmes 111, and had one child, a daughter,  a very beautiful  girl, as she  is depicted  upon the monuments, and described by the Scribes.  I  have  often  wondered just what  plans  the Queen had for this beautiful young girl. Moses was the Heir Apparent  to the throne,  but he was  not of royal descent even if he were the adopted son of the reigning monarch. There would  be one way to strengthen  his claim upon the throne. The young Princess was of royal blood from each side of lineage, and there could be no question  as to her right to the throne except  the fact that she was a woman. Her mother, in order to satisfy the principles laid down by the priesthood, was forced to give herself a straight and uninterrupted lineage from the chief god of the pantheon. Besides this, she often appeared in public in male attire, and wearing a false beard. She was a Thotmes,  and  could  hold, her own against the influences that ever attempted to undermine the throne;  but could  Moses do so,  if  and  when he should  ascend the  throne?  There  was  one  way  to stabilize the whole situation – unite the two claimants to the sovereignty by marriage. If such  plans  were ever in the mind of the Queen, God took a hand and eliminated such  possibility by removing  the young Princess from the earthly  stage  of action  – she  died long before  her mother did.

The reign of Queen Hatshepsut was a prosperous one beyond anything  that had preceded her in the history of the world.  The government had  no wars, except one  little expedition in Nubia led  by Moses himself as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of Egypt. The policy was  that of expansion, not of territory,  but of commerce, and good will among neighbouring nations and  peoples. The Queen was to, or rather  did,  lay up the  resources that  were  to make  possible the Imperial  Expansion of her actual successor, Thotmes 111.

Evidently the   Queen made Moses the Superintendent of Public Works, for he went  upon a tour of inspection of the public works of the empire, and it was on this tour that Moses saw  the Foreman of the  then  WPA abuse a Hebrew.  You know  what happened. Moses lost his temper, and  killed the offender.  Moses was forty years  old, and  just at this time the Queen  died.

Thotmes 111, a legitimate claimant to the throne, was  in the capital city. He seized the  throne, proclaimed Moses an outlaw, and proceeded against him with the secret police.

Moses was  in the  northern part  of Egypt, in the vicinity of the Wady Tumilat, when  the news reached him of the death of the Queen, and his own status  as an outlaw, and the accession ofThotmes III. The Heir and Claimant  to the throne  of the greatest Empire on earth  became a fugitive before the law. He fled to the peninsula of Sinai, to kindred clans and tribes, where he spent  the next forty years of his life.

The Queen  had carved  herself a tomb in the Valley of the Tomb of the Kings opposite the temples of Luxor and  Karnak.  This tomb  is carved, like King “Tut’s,” from the mountain. The sepulchral chamber is about ninety-eight feet  below  the level of the  mountain’s base.  Here the sarcophagus with its inscriptions was found,  and  may be seen in the Egyptian Museum  at Cairo; but the mummy of the Queen has never been found  to date.

At Dier el Bahari, the Queen built a great temple for herself. It is even today a very beautiful structure, and remarkably  preserved  even for Egyptian monuments. Here she tells the main facts of her reign, in spite of the fact that Thotmes 111 attempted to destroy every vestige of the Queen’s rule He even  built a wall around  the obelisks a Karnak so that the people  might not be able to read the inscriptions on them. Two of these obelisks are still standing where she placed them; the other has fallen to the ground;  the apices of both were  plated with gold. Around the temple of Dier el Bahar have been found the broken  pieces  of the statues of the Queen; but some escape destruction, and we have them today. Some are life-sized, and we now know that the Queen was a very beautiful woman and that she belonged  to the white race.

The  Author  wishes he  had  time  and  space  to record what archaeology has found in the peninsula of Sinai that bears directly upor the life of Moses when he was  there a Governor of the  country, the Superintendent of Mines, and in other capacities; but both space and  time forbid the attempt. We hope  to live long enough to write  a whole book  on the archaeological discoveries that relate to Moses alone.

Moses spent  forty years getting what we call an “education” in the schools of the Empire but he was exactly like   the   modern student  he  absorbed information, but  he  probably did  not  digest that which he absorbed. He had his head stuffed with facts and theories, but he had no wisdom, or the ability to apply that which  he had acquired. That is the trouble with the educational systems of today. If were to offer a word of criticism, God put Moses through  another forty years of education, but the process was different – he spent  forty years  digesting that which  had cost him forty years in absorbing, i.e. he spent  the second forty years of his life arranging, classifying, surveying the information he had obtained in the college  and made it a part of himself-  that which he had absorbed, through this process became knowledge.

During this second forty years Moses was not idle, nor was he just sitting around  the popularly conceived “wilderness” contemplating. He was  active  all the time. He made a survey of the peninsula. How do we know?

We know  because we  have  today  the  map  that Moses made.  It is even  now  the  best  map  of the country in existence. On it is found every road, route, and trail. It was  drawn on papyrus,  and  is in almost per condition at the present day. (Bear this fact mind while reading  the following chapter).

We shall consider only one  incident in the life of the great  Lawgiver  while  he lived in peninsula. You will recall that one day while he was in what is usually called wilderness, he  noticed a bush  burning.  That fact was  nothing new;  but there was something strange about  this particular bush. Moses looked at it closely. His observation had  been  that wood  on fire was always  consumed; but this bush  was not being consumed according to the  laws  of chemistry that Moses knew. He approached the phenomenon to attempt to solve this  unusual sight. When he approached quite  close  to the  place  of the  bush,  a voice came out of the flame, and commanded him to remove  his  sandals for  he  was  standing on  holy ground. Then  that strange conversation took place. Moses inquired who was talking to him. Then the answer came in Egyptian, for Moses was an Egyptian in every  way except by birth,  PUK-NU-PUK. This is usually  translated into the English tongue by the words, I AM.

Now let us come down  in time almost fifteen hundred years.  The scene is just after Jesus and  the Disciples,  had left Gethsemane. The Temple Guards (not the Roman  soldiers) are seeking the man from Nazareth  for the purpose of arresting him. He stands in their  midst,  and  asks  whom they seek. They tell him. Now the usual  translation of His reply reads: “I am he.” If you will look at the text in the English Bible you will find that the word  “he”  is printed  in italics. This mean that the personal  pronoun does not appear in the Greek, the tongue used by Jesus when speaking to the officer of the-guard. Jesus  used  the Greek verb eimi. The effect of that word was marvellous. Did you ever  wonder why  the  members of the  guard  were knocked flat , literally, not figuratively, by the reply of Jesus? This is the solution: When Jesus used the Greek word “eimi,” he used identically the same word, in its force, as had  been  spoken to Moses at the burning bush. The Levites, who constituted the Temple Guard, knew  instantly  upon  the utterance of the word  that they stood  in the presence of Divinity just as Moses had stood,  and it knocked them  down  physically.

Forty years  had passed since  the death of Queen Hatshepsut – the  government was  very  much absorbed by its Imperialistic policies, and had no time to give attention to any “minority”  which  might  be within  its boundaries. Then  on  the other  hand,  the chief  minority  took advantage of the opportunity to carry its policies into execution. The empire was in a distracted condition  externally, i.e. the external affairs absorbed its major attention.

It was  at this point  that God commanded  Moses to take  the  Children  of Israel  out  of Egypt. At first, Moses demurred. The prevalent view for the reason for this almost  refusal  is the notion  that  Moses had some stoppage in his speech, or stuttered, or had some other  defect.

Such was not the case. First, the older Moses got, the more he realized his shortcomings; that is always the case  with the accumulation of wisdom; second, he  probably  could  not  speak fluently  the  Hebrew which  was  current. Remember that he was  trained exclusively in Egypt. It may be possible, and  is even more than   probable that  he  had  training in  the colleges in Hebrew – something like the modern student receives in Modern Languages-in our current institutions, and any experienced person  knows how adept the average student becomes in any tongue so studied. But this difficulty  was  overcome by the presence of Aaron who  was  a thorough Hebrew scholar.

So at length the brothers stood before the Pharaoh then  upon   the  throne. This  Pharaoh,  Merneptah, knew  that  the  man  was  standing before  him  who should  be sitting  upon  the throne. Can we guess  at the personal interest this monarch had  in Moses as he sat with him in conference! What  thoughts must have  passed through the  Egyptian’s mind  as  he looked upon   the  man  who  was  the  most   highly educated man of all antiquity!

Their first interview must  have taken place  at Memphis (Noph), the oldest capital of the land. This city is twelve  miles south  of the present city of Cairo and  lies,  on  the  average, forty  feet  beneath  the present level of the land. It even lies below the bottom of the Nile. The city of this Pharaoh, Merneptah, lies about eighteen feet beneath the present surface, and is buried  beneath five distinctive cities.  The palace fell into ruins soon after the death of Memeptah, and remained undisturbed until  the  university  Museum of Pennsylvania  uncovered it in 1915. The palace was entirely uncovered, the walls of which still stand many feet high. The throne room  was cleared and  the platform,  upon which the actual  throne stood,  is still there with all its inscriptions and carvings setting forth the events of his reign and  praising  the greatness of the king. The columns are  still there,  covered with hieroglyphics cut  in the  stone  and  painted in blue and gold, detailing the exploits  of Merneptah. When one  walks  upon  that  floor, he  is walking  upon  the same floor that the feet of Moses pressed. Back of the throne  room  is the royal bath  and  couch where the monarch might take a nap when he felt so inclined. We can see his mummy now in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo.

The  Pharaoh was inclined not   to  allow the Hebrews to do  that  which   Moses,  in the  name of Jehovah, demanded.  In  order to  convince the monarch that Jehovah was  really God Almighty, he set  loose   the  Ten  Plagues. It took  ten  months to execute these plagues,  each  a little more severe than its predecessor. In the  process and  progress of the contest between Pharaoh and Moses, the Pharaoh’s heart was  “hardened,” sometimes by God,  and sometimes by the stubbornness of the man himself. Nineteen times  God is declared to have “hardened the heart” of the  Pharaoh, but eleven of these  God did, three times Pharaoh did it himself. In five cases it is only announced as being done. The Pharaoh  began it, God finished it. The word  used  for hardening” in the text has three different  meanings: (1) “To bind, or make  compact”- thus harden; (2) “To make  heavy,” i.e. stupidly obstinate and sullen;  (3) “To grow hard,” i.e a stubborn and  uncontrollable

The question has often been raised: Did Merneptah actually have  hardening of the heart,  or was  that  just a figure of speech? The fact is that the heart  of the monarch was sent  to the Royal College of Surgeons. The heart was studied, and Dr. Shafiock announced that  it was  actually hardened from  a disease known  as Atheroma.*

AGAIN GOD’S  WORD STANDS VINDICATED!

Moses went  to call upon  his cousin-in-law, the Pharaoh, Merneptah (Queen Hatshepsut was  the monarch’s own  blood  aunt), and  found  him at the city of Zoan.  Now the  location of this city was unknown  until Sir Flinders Petrie discovered it in 1884. This city stood in the Field of Zoan, translated by LXX as  the  Field  of Tanis.  It is  midway between  the easternmost branch of the Nile and  the Suez Canal, reaching to the shores of Lake Menzaleh. It is the most desolate region  in all the land  of Egypt. Zoan  was a city in the  time  of the  Fourth  Dynasty;  stood  in its beauty in the time of Abraham  in the Twelfth Dynasty, and it was here that the Hyksos made their last stand within   the  borders of  Egypt.  The  inscriptions  of Merneptah here  at Zoan  show conclusively that he succeeded Rameses II. Here in this court  Moses and Aaron met  the scientists of the court,  Jannes and Jambres (see  II Timothy 3:8), and  defeated them  in all their  attempts to match the  men  of Jehovah in, that which  they could  do. The two court officials did very well for a time, but there finally came a test which they  could not  duplicate. Jannes and  Jambres acknowledged defeat.

The climax  of the whole situation was  the death  of the first-born  of man  and  beast. At this point,  the adverse critics for a long time thought that they had discredited the  Biblical archaeologist; but God still works in wondrous ways to vindicate His Word. From archaeological evidence (inscriptions) we know that Merneptah was  not succeeded on the throne by his oldest  son.  We are  told that this boy died  suddenly and  unexpectedly, while still very young. This death occurred about the time recorded in the Bible as the time  of the death of the  first born.  This event  took place according to  the  best  chronology April 6-7 (midnight) 1486. There are those  who set it as 1479.  _ The  fact  of  the  matter is  that  according to  the estimates of scholars the date  of the  Exodus varies from 1648-1230 B.C. Hales puts it as 1648; Ussher as 1491; Brestead as 1230 (“if it ever  occurred at all,” says the last named). Personally, I favour 1486, or 1479. It seems to me  that  the  weight of archaeological evidence is on the side of the last two named dates.

From the book “Diggers For Facts” by J.O.Kinnaman 1940.

*This  hardening is recorded or mentioned nineteen times  in Exodus: Once  in Chapter IV;  four times in Chapter VII; three times in Chapter VIII; three times in Chapter  IX; three times in Chapter X; once in Chapter XI; twice in Chapter XIV.