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Introduction to Ancient Egypt |
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No other place
in the entire world has had the effect on so many people
as Ancient Egypt has. With the decipherment of the
Rosetta Stone, Egyptian influences are seen reflected in
our modern society through art, literature, and
architecture.
Reference to Biblical
Egypt was always pointing to “the black land around the
Nile” and no other area.
The political
boundaries we see today have very little to do with the
region referred to in the Bible apart from the Nile River and
Delta areas. Although the Sinai is currently part of
political Egypt today, this region was part of the
Wilderness, the western part of the area inhabited by
the descendants of Esau and referred to as “the
Land of Edom.
None of this should be
surprising. Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted well
over 5,000 years. This span oftime covered a period
from c. 5000 BC to the early centuries AD. Before the
unification of the country in 3100 BC there were some
2000 years during the pre-dynastic period.
Over the last centuries
Egyptologists and scholars have assembled the missing
pieces from our picture of Ancient Egypt. Not only
do we now know about the pharaohs and the nobility, but
also of the common people. Continuing
research covers all aspects of Ancient Egyptian society.
We do this by examining several main study
sources: the monuments, objects and artifacts from
archaeological sites, and the literature of the
period that is ancient Egyptian history.
We may never solve all
the riddles that ancient Egypt sets before us, but each
day of research brings us closer to a more
complete understanding of one of the most important
civilizations on earth.
For the student of the
Bible dating is very important. For a long time it was
difficult to correlate ancient Egyptian history with
Biblical history. This was because historians dated the
exodus of Israel from Egypt around 1300 BC. Using
that date nothing fit. However, now the "New
Egyptologists" have correctly dated the exodus at the
mid-15th century BC.
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The
Historicity of Joseph |
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By looking for
Hebrew occupation in the several hundred years before
1450 BC (instead of around 1300 BC), there is much
evidence. There are large peasant-type cities in Goshen,
with a Semitic culture obviously different from that of
their Egyptian hosts. There are also some mass graves
with numerous bodies, very unusual in Egypt, indicating
some kind of plague that struck the land, as indicated
in the Book of Exodus. In the upper Nile River, where
the water flows between high cliffs, there are markings
by the Pharaohs of the high levels of the river. There
are several years in a row in this early time frame,
when the level was marked as extremely high. This would
cause excessive flooding along the Nile, making it
impossible to plant crops until it was too late for the
growing season, ruining the harvest.
Thenew breed of
Egyptologists thinks that the seven bad years in Egypt
in Joseph's time were caused by this type of flooding
action, rather than by a lengthy drought.
There is other evidence
of Joseph in Egypt during this time period. An
artificial lake was made in ancient times called Lake
Moeris. It was formed by a canal running off the Nile
River called to this day the Canal of Joseph.
Beside the
lake, which still exists (although smaller in size),
there are ruins of a massive building, which
contained a labyrinth, and was considered one of the
greatest structures of its time by the Greek
historian/traveler, Herodotus. The building had twelve
sections (reminiscent of the twelve tribes), and might well have
been an administrative headquarters for Joseph's
agricultural program. The Pharaoh of the time was
obviously very proud of the lake and the massive
building, because he built his own pyramid at the site for
his burial. Nothing like this complex exists anywhere
else in the vast ruins of ancient Egypt. Again,
the new Egyptologists suggest that this complex is
stunning evidence for a remarkable foreign
assistant to Pharaoh, and occurs in the correct time
frame for Joseph.
^^
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Mummification process |
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At the time of death,
the person's body was purified in a natron solution
(sodium carbonate & bicarbonate) in a place of
purification. After this, the liver, lungs, stomach and
intestines were removed and placed in canopic jars, the lids
often decorated with the sons of Horus. The corpse was
then packed with natron for forty days in order to
dehydrate it. After this time had passed the embalmers
repacked the body with clean natron. The body
was then wrapped in resin and aromatic oil soaked
linens. The entire process took seventy days,
during which time the tomb was prepared with everything
the deceased would need for the afterlife. The
burials of Israel's patriarchs, Jacob and Joseph,
followed Egypt's mummification procedures.
When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his
sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his
last and was gathered to his people. Joseph threw
himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed
him.
Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service
to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians
embalmed him, taking a full forty days, for that was the
time required for embalming. And the Egyptians
mourned him for seventy days.
^^
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