by
Damien F. Mackey
Now certain traditions tell that the pair, Jannes and Jambres (or Mambres), were two
Reubenite (Israelite) brothers, troublemakers for Moses, Dathan (or Jathan) and Abiram.
A simple as possible attempt will be made here to sort out, from the Bible and Egyptian history, those like names that can be the source of much confusion.
Iannes (and Iambres)
What shall we say about Saint Paul’s “Jannes and Jambres [Mambres]”? (2 Timothy 3:8): “And even as Jannes and Jambres [Mambres/Iambres] withstood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth. Men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith”.
Jannes (Iannes, Ioannes) and Jambres [var. Mambres] are generally considered to have been Pharaoh’s magicians.
I, though, had tried to connect them to actual Pharaohs, thereby stretching Moses’ life around Pharaoh Unas (my “Jannes”), from whom I suggested Moses had fled into Midian, and the Hyksos Maibre Sheshi (my “Mambres”), Pharaoh of the Exodus.
(5th and 14th dynasties, respectively).
But, for one, Dr. John Osgood has brilliantly shown that pharaoh Maibre belonged much later, to the Judges era of Eglon, king of Moab, ruling at Jericho:
Over the Face of All the Earth
Home / Archaeology / Over the Face of All the Earth
In this fascinating volume, Dr John Osgood explores man’s past using the most ancient evidences and records.
Building on his vast research over 40 years, Dr Osgood has developed a new and arguably superior framework of study which brings together all the evidence from ancient history to establish a true understanding of mankind’s exciting past. John presents a convincing case for accepting a modified version of the so-called ‘revised chronology’ of ancient Egypt and demonstrates how a genuine look at the facts establishes the accuracy and reliability of the Biblical records. ….
One ought not neglect Hebrew traditions, which - while various of them can be quite misleading - can often throw much light on a subject, even to the point of clinching the matter. Now certain traditions tell that the pair Jannes and Jambres (or Mambres), were two Reubenite (Israelite) brothers, troublemakers for Moses, Dathan (or Jathan) and Abiram. On this, see e.g. my article:
Jannes and Jambres
(2) Jannes and Jambres | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu
It was to this pair (names poorly transliterated into Greek), and not to any Egyptians, that Saint Paul was referring. He probably would not have said about idolatrous Egyptians, “Men … reprobate concerning the faith”.
Conclusion One: Jannes (Iannes, Ioannes) was a Reubenite,
not an Egyptian.
Unas (Unis)
Pharaoh Unas of Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty (Old Kingdom) was indeed the king from whom Moses fled:
Moses and Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty
(7) Moses and Egypt's Fifth Dynasty | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu
Unas needs to be multi-identified.
He is also Chephren; Pepi; and Sesostris (and more). On this, see e.g. my:
First two Egyptian kings during career of Moses
(4) First two Egyptian kings during career of Moses | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu
There I wrote:
The Tale of Sinuhe, which seems to recall in rough fashion
the flight of Moses from Egypt, may help us here by locating this famous
incident to early in the reign of Sesostris I.
With the tyrannical “new king” of Exodus 1:8 firmly established as, among many names, Teti-Amenemes I, the founding dynastic king (who was murdered) whose land was becoming overrun by foreigners, then the ruler from whom Moses fled to Midian - some time after the murder of Amenemes I, according to Sinuhe - can only have been the (son- successor of that first dynastic king.
To jump ahead of our story, by taking account of the C2nd BC Jewish historian, Artapanus, Moses was the foster son of the Egyptian queen “Merris”, who had married “Chenephres”:
https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/which-real-story-moses-was-he-criminal-philosopher-hero-or-atheist-008008
Moses, according to Artapanus, was raised as the son of Chenephres, king of Upper of Egypt. Chenephres thought Moses was his own son – but, apparently, the bond between a father and a son wasn’t enough to keep Chenephres from trying to kill him.
Chenephres sent Moses to lead his worst soldiers into an unwinnable war against Ethiopia, hoping Moses would die in battle. Moses, however, managed to conquer Ethiopia. He became a war hero across Egypt. He also declared the ibis as the sacred animal of the city – starting, in the process, the first of three religions he would found by the end of the story.
He started his second religion when he made it back to Memphis, where he taught people how to use oxen in agriculture and, in the process, started the cult of Apis . He didn’t get to enjoy his new cult for long. His father started outright hiring people to assassinate him, and he had no choice but to leave Egypt. ....
[End of quote]
With “Merris” already identified as Meresankh - of whom Egyptology may have unnecessarily created several versions, not to mention her alter egos in Ankhesenmerire I-II - then “Chenephres”, apart from being Sesostris I (as in the Story of Sinuhe), must be the Fourth Dynasty’s Chephren (Khafre), who married Meresankh”:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Khafre-king-of-Egypt
“Khafre was the son of King Khufu and succeeded the short-lived Redjedef, probably his elder brother. He married his sister Khamerernebti, Meresankh III”.
Khufu (Cheops) I have already identified with the founder king of Exodus 1:8.
But I have also identified him with Redjedef (Djedefre), who was not (as I think) a ruler distinct from Khufu.
Let us now recall, very briefly, our many versions of the first dynastic king (from Part One) to determine if each of these may have a (son-) successor who is appropriate for “Chenephres”.
Snofru
His appropriate successor, I think – though it does not follow conventionally – would be the (albeit poorly known - parentage uncertain) Huni.
The name Huni may link up further on with Unis (Wenis) of the Fifth Dynasty.
Huni’s nomen may enable us to link him up with the Sixth Dynasty’s Pepi.
“[Huni] may have had the Nomen Neferkare ...”: https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/huni/
“Kerpheris” the name given to Huni, apparently, by Manetho is not unlike Kenephres/ Chenephres.
Khufu (Djedefre)
His highly appropriate (son-) successor was Khafre (Chephren), a name that will be reflected amongst the Twelfth Dynasty’s Sesostris’s praenomina (Kheperkare, Khakheperre, Khakaure).
Menkaure
The Kaf- element (Khafre) now becomes significant. The successor in this case can only be Shepseskaf (Manetho’s Sebercheres), who, like Khafre, was closely associated with (married to) a Khamerernebti. Shepseskaf continued his predecessor Menkaure’s building works, “... he completed the pyramid of Menkaure ...”:
https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/shepseskaf/
Sahure
Just going by names here of Sahure’s presumed successors: Neferikare has a heap of Kha- element and Neferkare type names (Nephercheres, Neferkeris, Kaikai, Kaka, Nefer-it-ka-re, Neferirkara).
And Shepseskaf (see previous paragraph) seems to re-emerge in Shepseskare.
But the more important Fifth Dynasty connection (e.g., with Huni) will be Unis (Wenis), see next.
Djedkare Isesi
As just noted, his successor was Unis or Wenis, and most appropriately Auguste Mariette, as we read in Part One, showed that Unis (Unas) followed on immediately after Tet (Teti), who is my 6th Dynasty version of the dynastic founder king. Teti and Unas also figure together in pyramid text decoration: “Two of the pyramids (those of Unas and Teti) contain chambers decorated with hieroglyph texts (the so called 'Pyramid Texts') that are amongst the earliest manifestations of ancient Egyptian writing”:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amthomson/43838532761
Merenre
As in some of the other instances, the Sixth Dynasty is out of sequence (my opinion), with Merenre - my dynastic founder king (= Teti) - following Pepi (Neferkare), who is, in fact, the son-successor.
The life of Moses before the return from Midian knew of only two long-reigning Egyptian monarchs, the “new king” of Exodus 1:8, and the ruler from whom Moses fled to Midian.
That one dynasty died out (Exodus 4:19) - its last ruler a woman - and Moses returned to Egypt.
[End of article]
Conclusion Two: Unas (Unis) was the ruler
from whom Moses fled, to Midian.
Uni (Weni)
Uni, or Weni, was likely Moses himself (6th dynasty), the same as Mentuhotep (12th dynasty). He was Vizier and Chief Judge in Egypt:
Historical Moses may be Weni and Mentuhotep
(4) Historical Moses may be Weni and Mentuhotep | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu
Drs. Courville and Osgood have unfortunately identified Mentuhotep as Joseph, thereby missing out on Joseph (Imhotep, 3rd dynasty), a connection that many others have embraced. See e.g. my article:
Enigmatic Imhotep - did he really exist?
(2) Enigmatic Imhotep - did he really exist? | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu
Dr. Osgood does follow Courville, and builds on him, in rightly recognising a link between the 6th and 12th dynasties – which syncretism conventional history would regard as absurd.
This is another of those useful contributions in Dr. Osgood’s book.
Conclusion Three: Uni (Weni) was likely Moses himself.
Ianassi
Finally, Ianassi was the son of the Hyksos pharaoh Khyan.
Conclusion Four: Ianassi was the son of Hyksos pharaoh Khyan.
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