Biblically Compatible Archaeology and Geography

by Damien F. Mackey The manifestation of Joseph in Egypt upon whom I want to concentrate here, initially, is as Den (or Udimu), considered to have been one of the First Dynasty pharaohs. A. Joseph of Egypt as Den (Usaphais) According to a legend as recorded by Artapanus (History of the Jews), c. 100 BC, Moses was “a king” of Egypt. This information, most crucial if it were true, but leading one on a wild goose chase if it were not, saw me spending years trying to identify Moses as one or other Pharaoh. And it is still leading scholars a merry dance, with Amenemhet IV being a favourite for King Moses, though some regard Moses as the monotheistic Akhnaton (Akhenaten). Moses was, as it turns out, Vizer and Chief Judge in Egypt: mighty, but not Pharaonic. His office is perfectly defined by the more belligerent of the two squabbling Hebrews, who rounded on him with (Exodus 2:14): ‘Who made you ruler [Vizier] and [Chief] judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you ki

Part One: ‘Imhotep’, was it a name or a title? by Damien F. Mackey “And two millennia later, other rulers, different people, raised [Imhotep] to the rank of a deity: in the era of the Ptolemies, the Greeks … revered him as the god of medicine on a par with their “native” Asclepius.” Alexandra Malenko Some of this article, originally written last June (2024), needs a bit of amending. Even a year ago I would not seriously have queried the historical reality of Imhotep. As far as I was concerned, the genius Imhotep of Egypt’s so-called Third Dynasty was the clear candidate for the biblical Joseph, son of Jacob, who had saved Egypt from a seven-year Famine. Did not Imhotep do the very same on behalf of his ruler (Pharaoh, as we say), Horus Netjerikhet, generally considered to have been the same as Djoser (or Zoser)? Thus we read, in part, in Netjerikhet’s (Neterkhet’s) celebrated Sehel Famine Stela: Year 18 of Horus: Neterkhet; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Nete