In the fifth year of King Merneptah, who ruled from 1225-1215 B. C., and who is thought to be the Pharaoh of the exodus, he inscribed on a pillar an account of his wars and victories. The inscription concludes with the following poetic strophe:[453]
The kings are overthrown, saying: “salaam!”
Not one holds up his head among the nine bows.[454]
Wasted is Tehenu,[455]
Kheta[456] is pacified,
Plundered is the Canaan[457] with every evil,
Carried off is Askelon,
Seized upon is Gezer,
Yenoam[458] is made as a thing not existing.
Israel is desolated, his seed is not;
Palestine has become a widow for Egypt.
All lands are united, they are pacified;
Every one that is turbulent is bound by King Merneptah, who gives life like Rā every day.
This inscription contains the only mention of Israel in a document of this age outside the Bible. It is, for that reason, of great importance. It should be noted that Israel is mentioned along with peoples and places in Palestine and Phœnicia. The Israel here referred to was not, accordingly, in Egypt. Israel, on the other hand, may not have been more than a nomadic people. The Egyptians used a certain “determinative” in connection with the names of settled peoples. That sign is here used with Tehenu, Kheta, Askelon, Gezer, and Yenoam, but not with Israel.
As Merneptah has been supposed by many to be the Pharaoh in whose reign the exodus occurred, the mention of Israel here has somewhat puzzled scholars, and different explanations of the fact have arisen. At least one scholar holds that the exodus occurred in Merneptah’s third year, and that he afterward attacked the Hebrews. Others have supposed that not all the Hebrews had been in Egypt, but only the Joseph tribes. Still others have thought that the Leah tribes had made their exodus during the eighteenth dynasty, and that it was these with whom Merneptah fought, while the Rachel tribes made their exodus under the nineteenth dynasty. Opinions vary according to the critical views of different writers. All scholars would welcome more information on these problems.
CHAPTER XIII
THE CODE OF HAMMURAPI AND THE PENTATEUCH
The Text of the Code; Resemblance to and Contrast with the Mosaic Code. The Mosaic Code Not Borrowed from the Babylonian; Different Underlying Conceptions.
1. The Text of the Code; Comparison with the Mosaic Code.