“Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal with them wisely, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us: and get them out of the land.”
Such are the words which the new king who knew not Joseph, when he came to the throne, spoke to his people with regard to the alien population which had been allowed during a former reign to settle in the land of Goshen, a fruitful district on the north-east of Egypt, east of Bubastis (Zakāzik). It is the speech of one who feared that, if nothing were done to prevent them from becoming too powerful, they would be a source of danger to the state, as they might join, with every chance of success, in any attack which might be made on the kingdom over which he ruled. It was, in all probability, the presence of a similar foreign (Semitic) population in or near this district, about 2100 years b.c., which had contributed—or perhaps even made—the success of the Hyksos invaders, [pg 269] through which Egypt had been ruled by an alien dynasty for five hundred years. The repetition of such a catastrophe was at all hazards to be prevented. It would seem, therefore, that the persecution of the Hebrews was not undertaken altogether wantonly, but with the object of turning aside a possible misfortune.
As the historical nature of the Exodus has not as yet been absolutely disproved, it is here taken to be a matter of history, and this being the case, it is necessary to try to identify, or, rather, to state what are the most probable opinions, as to the rulers of Egypt at the time of the Oppression and the Exodus. Ramses II. of the nineteenth dynasty is generally held to be the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and Meneptah, his son and successor, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Lieblein, however, would regard this latter event as having occurred during the reign either of Amenophis III., or his son, Amenophis IV., of the eighteenth dynasty. This latter theory is based on the Tel-el-Amarna letters, which speak of the Ḫabiri, roving bodies of men which went about Palestine stirring up the people, and even compelling them by force to renounce Egyptian rule (which extended in those days over the whole of this district). It will be part of the scope of the present work to examine into this question.
After the death of Seqnen-Rê in battle (see p. [255]), he was buried in the usual way at Thebes, implying, as Petrie points out, that the Egyptians had pushed their frontier some way to the north, “so that ceremonials at Thebes were uninterrupted.” Further advance, he thinks, was made in the reign of Kames, “the valiant prince,” as he calls himself, because Aah-mes was able to besiege the stronghold of the Hyksos down in the Delta at the beginning of his reign, about 1585 b.c. It is to be noted that two names come, to all appearance, between those of [pg 270] Kames and Aah-mes, but these are probably not those of important kings, though a part of the honour of the progress made ought to be accredited to them. To all appearance it was the efforts of the Thebans, who had been pushing their way northwards during these last three years, which prepared the way for the successes of Aah-mes—successes which placed him on the throne of Egypt, thus making him the founder of the eighteenth dynasty.
Before he became Pharaoh, he succeeded, within four or five years, not only in getting rid of the overlordship of the Hyksos kings, but also in driving them out of the Nile valley, taking possession of Avaris, and pursuing them into Palestine. Here, in the fifth year, he was able to capture Sharhana or Sharuhen, some miles south of Lachish. He then went on to Zahi (Phœnicia), and later defeated the Mentiu of Setet (the Bedouin of the hill-country), attacking afterwards the Anu Khenti. On his return to Egypt, he found that he had to deal with two outbreaks on the part of those of the Hyksos (probably half-breeds) who remained, and these having been reduced to subjection, there was apparently no further trouble from the Asiatics remaining in the country. So popular was this founder of a new dynasty in Egypt, that both he and his queen had divine honours paid to them beyond those rendered to any other Egyptian ruler. His son Amen-hotep I. shared largely in these testimonies of popular esteem.
After this the power of Egypt increased. The venerable captain of marines, Aah-mes, relates that 'Aa-kheper-ka-Rê (Thothmes I.) went against the Rutennu (Syrians) for the purpose of taking satisfaction, and marched as far as Naharaina (Upper Mesopotamia), where he found that an enemy had plotted conspiracy. On this occasion Thothmes gained many victories and took many captives. Another official mentioning the Syrian campaigns of this ruler is Pen-nekheb, who [pg 271] accompanied him to Naharaina. Thothmes III. also refers to his grandfather's conquest in Syria, stating that he placed another inscription where the tablet of his father 'Aa-kheper-ka-Rê was, and adds that “his majesty came to the city of Niy on his return. Then his majesty set up his tablet in Naharaina to enlarge the frontiers of Kemi,” i.e. Egypt. Niy was in the region of Aleppo, on the Euphrates.
Thothmes II. (1516-1503, Petrie) retained those portions of Syria which his father had conquered. An expedition thither is also mentioned by Pen-nekheb, who says: “I followed the king 'A-kheper-en-Rê (Thothmes II.), the blessed one. I brought away from the land of the Shasu (Bedouin, apparently the same tribes as those to which the Hyksos or hak shasu belonged) very many prisoners—I cannot reckon them.... The king 'A-kheper-en-Rê gave me two gold bracelets, six collars, three bracelets of lapis-lazuli, and a silver war-ax.”
Thothmes III. (1505-1449), son of Thothmes II., had one of the longest and most glorious reigns in all Egyptian history. He was born at Thebes, and crowned when about nine years old. On the death of Hatshepsut, the queen regent, his father's first wife, who, however, was not his own mother, his warlike expeditions began, and he assembled an army on the frontier of Zalu, preparatory to an expedition against the chiefs of Southern Syria, who had rebelled. This was his twenty-second year. Next year, on his coronation-day, he found himself, after a long march, at Gaza, on the way to Carmel and Megiddo, where he defeated the assembled Syrian chiefs, and utterly routed them on the plain of Esdraelon. The allies then took refuge in the town, which was besieged, and they were obliged to capitulate. Enormous spoils from this place, as well as from the other cities of Syria, was the result. This expedition was repeated in the two following years.
In his twenty-ninth year he made his fifth expedition to the Syrian hill-country, Tunep, Arvad, and Phœnicia, from which latter district much spoil was obtained. The two following years found him in the same region. In his thirty-third year he set up a tablet on the boundaries of Naharaina. The next year he made a campaign to, and received tribute from Syria, Phœnicia, and Cyprus. In his thirty-fifth year he went to Phœnicia, and received tribute from Naharaina. The year following this he received tribute from Cyprus. After this he again went to Phœnicia, and he is supposed to have received tribute from Cyprus, Syria, and the Hittites in the fortieth and forty-first years of his reign. In his forty-second year there was an expedition to Tunep, Kadesh, etc. Besides the above, he either made himself, or dispatched, under his generals, during his long reign (fifty-four years) many expeditions into other lands than those mentioned above, and also took part in numerous works and public functions in his own country.
The expeditions in Syria made by this king are told very graphically and at great length. The march to Megiddo, the council of war, and the dispositions for the attack, are given in full, and the king claims to have himself protected his army when going through a narrow defile in which all might have been lost had the enemy against whom they were marching made an onslaught. Representations of the spoil taken accompany the lists enumerating the amount, and show that the ancient Syrians had attained to a skill, in the arts as then known, equal, if not superior, to that of the Egyptians. Among the places mentioned are Arvad, Kadesh, Gaza, Yemma, etc. Besides Thothmes III.'s own annals, there is an inscription of one of his officers, Amen-em-heb, who gives his version, which, however, is not divided into different years. This text mentions the Negeb, where he took some captives; Carchemish, from which place he obtained [pg 273] spoil, and other places. He speaks also of Thothmes III. having hunted elephants in the land of Niy, one hundred and twenty in number, for their tusks. This agrees with what has been stated from the Assyrian inscriptions (pp. [200], [201]) concerning the existence of these animals in the Lebanon and around Haran.