Volume 1 Chapter 5

COMPENDIUM OF WORLD HISTORY

VOLUME 1

A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Ambassador College Graduate
School of Theology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Theology

by Herman L. Hoeh

1962(1963-1965, 1967 Edition)

CHAPTER FIVE

Egypt After the Exodus

Numerous catastrophic events befell Egypt at the time of the Exodus. A frightful
destruction of its national wealth; loss of two million people used as slaves;
the death of its most powerful rulers.

All public building ceases. Historians have looked vainly for this sign of
the Exodus sometime in the great eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties of Thebes.
They have never found it. And no wonder. The Exodus occurred at the end of the
fifth dynasty, and during the sixth, thirteenth and fourteenth! Every one of
these dynasties preserves the record of the calamity.

After the Exodus an invasion of the Delta occurred, a natural consequence
of Israel evacuating the territory. The story of the Exodus and of this invasion
is recounted in the ‘Admonitions of Ipu-wer.’ A recent translation by John A.
Wilson, of this early document may be found in Pritchard’s ‘Ancient Near Eastern
Texts’, pages 441-444.

Who Were the Invaders?

The Egyptian priest Manetho wrote a full account of this great event. Much
of his material has been preserved by Josephus. It is found in ‘Against Apion’,
book I, chapter 14, parts 73-92.

Manetho began his report by admitting, ‘… for what cause I know not, a
blast of God smote us; and unexpectedly, from the regions of the East, invaders
of obscure race marched in confidence of victory against our land. By main force
they easily seized it without striking a blow, and having overpowered the rulers
of the land, they burned our cities ruthlessly, razed to the ground the temples
of the gods, and treated all the natives with a cruel hostility, massacring
some and leading into slavery the wives and children of others. Finally they
appointed a king of one of their number whose name was Salatis. He had his seat
at Memphis, levying tribute from Upper and Lower Egypt, and always leaving garrisons
behind in the most advantageous positions.’

The name Salitis comes from a Semitic root meaning prince. It is the root
of the word Sultan. These invaders came from the East. They must have passed
to Egypt from Sinai. They made Egyptians slaves. Does the Bible speak of such
a people who suddenly gained the dominance of this part of the world? Indeed,
the Edomite Amalekites!

As late as the days of King Saul the Egyptians were still partly subject
to these people. In I Samuel 30:11-13 appears this account: ‘And they found
an Egyptian in the field …. And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou?
and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite;
and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.’

In the time of Moses, shortly after the Exodus, Balaam spoke of Amalek in
these terms: ‘And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said,
Amalek the first of nations: but his latter end shall be that he perish forever’
(Numbers 24:20). ‘The first of nations’ is not a matter of time, but of position
and rank. The Amalekites were a nation late to arrive, since they stemmed from
Esau. But they were suddenly plummeted to greatness by seizing the Delta at
the Exodus.

The first people to attack the children of Israel in Sinai were the Amalekites.
‘Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim’ (Exodus 17:8). Had not
God intervened on behalf of Israel, the Amalekites would have gained a great
victory.

From 1486 to 1076 the Amalekite Shepherd Kings and kindred peoples dominated
the land of Egypt, as shall now be demonstrated. Historians have arbitrarily
shortened this period to little more than a century and placed it much too early.
But such are the vagaries of historians who have no respect for the record of
history.

The Great Shepherds

Manetho tells us that Dynasty XV was composed of Shepherd Kings. The Egyptian
word for them is ‘Hyksos’. Hence these people are often spoken of as ‘the Hyksos.’
In the year the Hyksos overran Egypt they established their government at Memphis
— 1486 — and ruled Egypt for the next 259 years. Nine years after the Exodus
— in 1477 — they established court in Thebes. This explains why Eusebius assigns
them only 250 years at Thebes — 1477-1227. The year 1477, uniquely, coincides
with the founding of Troy, in Asia Minor, by a related people. Dynasty XV is
listed below according to Josephus and Eusebius. The varied spellings are from
transcriptions by Josephus and Eusebius.

The name of the fifth ruler is usually spelled by modern archaeologists ‘Khayan’
— a title very similar to the Turkish and Tatar word Khan.

The fourth king, Apophis, is an important figure in Greek history, as will
be seen when restoring to the correct dates the rulers of the Greek city of
Sicyon. The Greeks knew him as Epopeus. He was killed in Greece.

The Great Hyksos kings of Dynasty XV tolerated the native rulers of Dynasty
XIII of Thebes until 1227. In that year the Hyksos were forced to adopt a change
in government at Thebes consequent to a native uprising. There followed, wrote
Manetho, Dynasty XVII with 43 Shepherd Kings paralleled by 43 native kings of
Thebes for 151 years. The native kings continued as vassals of the Hyksos. The
43 appointed Shepherd and native kings of Dynasty XVII ruled from 1227 to 1076,
when the Hyksos were overthrown and the native Thebans of Dynasty XVII were
superseded by Dynasty XVIII, In chart form the change in dynasties appears thus:

The same pattern of change took place in 1179. In that year the fourteenth
dynasty of Xois ceased (1663-1179). In its place arose an important new king
line also called Dynasty XVII because it is related to the kings that came to
power in Thebes in 1227. ‘They were brothers from Phoenicia and foreign kings:
they seized Memphis.’ The Theban and Memphite branches were related by blood.
The stronger ruled in Memphis the other in Thebes. This new line of Memphite
kings ruled for 103 years — 1179-1076. The names and dates are these:

The year 1076 is clearly one of the most important in Egyptian history.

At the time of the conquest of Egypt by Dynasty XV, which set up its capital
at Memphis, and later held court at Thebes, a lesser dynasty of foreigners set
up a new regime in Upper Egypt in Thebes. This line of kings is known as Dynasty
XVI. The names of these kings have not come down through the classical writers.
There were 32 kings in all, ruling 511 or 518 years. The dates commence, of
course. with the fall of the fifth dynasty 1486.

Many have thought these long dynastic figures preposterous. But they make
good sense when studied in connection with the expeditions of Thutmose the Great.
The two different lengths of reign extend to 975 and 968. They represent the
23rd and the 30th years of Thutmose. The campaign of 975 took him along the
southern Phoenician coast and as far inland as Megiddo. The campaign of the
30th year brought Egyptian arms to Kadesh (Jerusalem) and to Arvad far to the
north, along the upper Phoenician coast. Since the Phoenicians were associated
with the Amalekites in the invasions of Egypt, under Dynasty XVII, the final
overthrow of those rulers was in Egyptian records synonymous with the conquest
of Phoenicia.

According to Africanus, the first five kings of Dynasty XVI ruled in Thebes
for 190 years — 1487-1297. At that time another line of Shepherd kings replaced
them at Thebes for 221 years according to Barbarus. These 221 years extend from
1297-1076. It is apparent therefore that after 1297 Dynasty XVI ceased to rule
at Thebes. The classical writers do not state where the government of this dynasty
was later centered, although toward the end it was located in Phoenicia where
Thutmose ends the rule of these local kings.

From Barbarus’ account it is also clear that Dynasty XVII ruled at Thebes
70 years before replacing the Great Hyksos of the Fifteenth Dynasty in 1227.
When Manetho stated the period as 151 years he referred only to the time after
Dynasty XV. In actuality Dynasty XVII had been reigning in Thebes since 1297
and continued for 221 years.

Thus all these figures, which at first seem so senseless, fit perfectly together.
In chart form it may thus be illustrated.

One item yet remains for discussion — the 48-year period between 1227-1179.
The names of the chief rulers of Egypt from 1486 to 1227 are known — Dynasty
XV. So are the names of the rulers from 1179-1076 — the Memphite branch of
Dynasty XVII. What is the name of the ruler between these two dynasties? Surely
Egypt can hardly have left us without a name for 48 years!

The answer is to be found in Africanus’ account of Dynasty XV. Previously
only Josephus’ and Eusebius’ transcriptions of Manetho were presented in chart
form. It is now time to study Africanus’ account.

Scholars have long puzzled over Africanus’ transcription of Dynasty XV from
Manetho. It is most commonly thought that Julius Africanus misplaced the name
of Apophis from fourth place to last place in the dynasty. This assumption is
unfounded. Africanus meant exactly what he wrote — that an Apophis did in fact
continue the line of kings of Dynasty XV after 1227. This second Apophis was
not included after king Archles (1276-1227) by either Josephus or Eusebius.
or in the Book of Sothis. Similarly Africanus did not include the first Apophis
(1387-1326) whom the other transcribers recorded.

That there were in fact three Hyksos kings with the name Apophis — two from
Dynasty XV and one from Dynasty XVII — has been amply confirmed by archaeological
discovery. From the monuments modern research teams have recovered the full
Egyptian names of each: Akenenre Apopi (1387-1326) who was slain in Greece:
Aweserre Apopi (1227-1166) who fought a native rebellion which rocked the country
in 1227: and Nebkhepeshre Apopi (1090-1076) of Dynasty XVII, whose short reign
ended in the collapse of Hyksos dominion in Egypt. (‘Egypt of the Pharaohs’
by Gardiner, pages 157-168 and 443.)

The following chart presents the data preserved from Manetho by Africanus
for Dynasty XV, beginning the year after the Exodus.

(Aphophis I — 1387-1326 — is not included by Africanus, and a longer reign
of 61 years instead of 36 years is assigned to Pachnan.)

This is the Hyksos ruler whose reign extended over the 48-year period between
the end of Dynasty XV in 1227 and the commencement of Dynasty XVII in 1179.

Hyksos in Book of Sothis

According to the Book of Sothis there were seven Hyksos kings who dominated
Egypt from 1486-1227. These kings in the book of Sothis are labeled ‘the Seventeenth
Dynasty’ according to the reckoning of George Syncellus. They were, however,
the kings usually known as Dynasty XV. Syncellus and Barbarus and other writers
in early times apparently followed different methods in numbering Manetho’s
dynasties. Notice that even Africanus grouped two lines of kings — one foreign,
the other native — under the heading ‘Dynasty XVII.’

These Hyksos kings in the Book of Sothis appear as follows:

At this point — 1227 — the natives forced the Hyksos or Amalekite to accept
a new line of Egyptian rulers to represent Egypt at Thebes.

Amalekites After 1076

One must not assume, from these events. however, that Amalekite power was
crushed solely by the Egyptians. Biblical history proofs that Saul had no small
part in the final overthrow of the Shepherd Amalekites outside Egypt. Saul was
king 40 years altogether (Acts 13:21). After his anointing by Samuel there were
almost twenty years (1091-1071) for which we have no record in the Bible. The
country went to pieces under Philistine and Amalekite invaders. Then Saul regained
his power for 20 years — 1071-1051 (‘Antiquities of the Jews’ by Josephus,
book VI, chapter XIV, section 9). One year later (following his return to power)
Saul appointed his now-grown son Jonathan to assist him in a military campaign
against the Philistines. This was the calendar year 1070-1069. God intervened
on behalf of Israel with a tremendous earthquake that shook the earth (I Sam.
14:15).

‘So Saul took the kingdom over Israel’ (I Sam. 14:47) after this great event.
He then gathered a great host against the Amalekites and defeated them (I Sam.
14:48). This account is amplified in I Sam. 15:1-9.

It is significant that in the year 1069, in Greek history, there was an invasion
of the Aegean by Amalekites and their brethren who were fleeing from war and
from a terrible earthquake that had destroyed their possessions in Western Europe.
Here we have the surprising Biblical evidence which reveals what befell the
Hyksos in the 7 years after their expulsion from Egypt.