stone, and could write in hieroglyphic character. All this wonderful cultivation they possessed while Israel as yet was hardly a nation. Thus the Bible account of the Canaan overrun by Joshua is fully confirmed by monumental evidence."[1]
[Authorities and Sources:—"A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs." By Henry Brugsch-Bey. "The Empire of the Hittites." By William Wright, D.D. "The Hittites: the Story of a forgotten Empire." By A. H. Sayce, LL.D. "Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology."]
5. Semites in Egypt before the Oppression.
If, as seems probable, the Pharaoh of Joseph was Apepi, the last of the Shepherd Kings, and the Pharaoh of the Oppression was Rameses II., the third king of the nineteenth dynasty, we have a period of nearly three centuries between Joseph and the "new king who knew not Joseph." The period appears to be much too long to make the expression "new king" seem natural, while at the same time a shorter period would hardly leave room for the descendants of Jacob to multiply and become a danger to Egypt. This perplexity is removed by the recent discovery of ancient writings under the extensive ruins existing at Tell-el-Amarna in Upper Egypt—a site about midway between Minieh and Siout, and on the eastern bank of the Nile. From these documents it appears that Semites were in great favour with Amenhotep IV. (Amenôphis), the last king of the eighteenth dynasty, whereas the new dynasty that succeeded abominated this foreign influence.
In the latter part of the eighteenth dynasty friendly relations prevailed between Egypt and Mitanni or Nahrina
- ↑ Major Conder, in the "Journal of the Anthropological Institute," August 1889.
