by Ahmed Osman
The expression ‘Hebrew’ is used in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) as a name for the Israelites to differentiate between them and Egyptians and Philistines. Therefore, as the word Khabiru, which occurs frequently in Amarna letters, has been shown by many scholars to be similar to the word for ‘Hebrew’ (‘Ibri), there has been an attempt to identify the people referred to in these letters with the Israelites. A number of factors have served to confuse the issue, however:
• Many Amarna letters sent from the Palestinian city States to Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun indicate that they had encountered a great deal of trouble in their territories as a result of people sometimes called Khabiru and sometimes referred to as Sa-Gaz. (There is considerable evidence to support the belief that both peoples were associated);
• It is clear from the letters that these people were composed of small groups, acting simultaneously in different parts of Palestine, north as well as south, and not a united group under one leadership;
• At the time these letters were sent to Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, in the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries BC, the Israelites were still in Egypt, according to most scholars, whether we believe in an Exodus during the reign of Ramses I or Ramses II;
• There are references to ′Peru (the way Egyptian texts represent the word ‘Hebrew’) being in Egypt from the time of Amenhotep III during the second half of the fifteenth century BC, right through the Amarna period and as late as the time of Ramses IV, a little before the middle of the twelfth century BC, long after the Exodus, whichever date we accept for it;
• From Egyptian sources we find the word ‘Peru used to indicate labourers working for the State at heavy manual labour in connection with building operations of the kings, especially the quarrying and transportation of stone;
• The Babylonian texts, known as the Nuzu Texts, use the word Khabiru to indicate a class of slaves and, as with the Egyptian word ‘Peru, the word appears to indicate a social class of hard labourers rather than an ethnic group;
• The Bible does not refer to the Israelites as ‘Hebrews’ after the Exodus and during the entry into Canaan with Joshua.
The conclusion is obvious. The word ‘Hebrew’ was used to designate a particular social class – either disorganized groups of wandering slaves or labourers in the Palestine city States, who were quite distinct from the Hebrews in Egypt, or the Israelites in Egypt, who were known as Hebrews while they were engaged in harsh labour. However, this term was no longer applied to them once they had been freed by Moses and were looked upon as a nation. Thus, as the term ‘Hebrew’ denoted a social class rather than a people, not all Hebrews can be regarded as Israelites although the Israelites were classed as Hebrews while they laboured at building the treasure cities of Pithom and Raamses.
The implication of the King of Jerusalem’s letter (see Chapter 19) is that the two Egyptian officials murdered by the Hebrews at Zarw may have been among the supervisors of their work, and it is possible that these very incidents – or something similar – could have been responsible for bringing to a head the anti-Akhenaten movement in the army that eventually caused his downfall and flight to Sinai.
INDEX
Aamu (Palestinians), 43
Aaron (Moses’ brother): as Moses’ spokesman, 16–17, 167, 182; makes golden calf, 18; Israelite hostility to, 19; death, 20; born, 25; age, 52; meets Pharaoh, 107; magic rod, 175, 177–8; nursed by Tiy, 182
Abd-Khiba, King of Jerusalem, 183, 247
Abraham, 2, 246
Abu Simbel, 111
Abydos, 4, 102–4, 111
Acco, 43
Achencheres, 157–8
Adon, Adonai (God), 166–9
Adonith (Aten-it), Queen of Ethiopia, 23, 32, 183
Africanus, Sextus Julius, 27, 101
Ahmose (naval officer), 112, 227
Ahmosis I (Amos), Pharaoh, 27, 30, 35, 93, 112, 221–2, 227
Akhenaten (formerly Amenhotep IV), Pharaoh: as descendant of Joseph, 2, 53, 54; identified as Moses, 3, 7, 65, 106, 162, 167; Tell el-Amarna figure, 4–5; character, 5–6; monotheism and worship of Aten, 5, 7–8, 32–3, 88, 121, 123, 130, 160, 162–73; Karnak colossi of, 6, 8, 145, 234, 236, 239; supposed Fröhlich’s Syndrome, 8–9, 233–4, 238; children, 9, 126; historical hostility to, 10, 124–5; as high priest, 23; name excised, 27, 64, 67, 92, 157, 202–3, 241; reign, 28, 92, 96, 99–100, 105, 148, 151–3; rejected by Amunites, 62; marriage, 62, 122, 180–1; life, 65; epithet, 65; coregency, 68–89, 97–8, 118, 122–3, 158, 198–9, 204; name, 68–9, 71, 88, 122–3, 210, 244; and father’s death, 70–1; adopts Aten as ‘father’, 82, 126–9, 149, 199; letters from Tushratta, 82–8, 212–14; age, 105; birth, 106–7, 118–19, 121; youth, 117–23; representations of, 129; religious reforms, 130–2; disappearance, 132–3, 150, 154; tomb desecrated, 134–5, 140–1, 147, 155; tomb described, 135; burial, mummy and pathology of, 135–47, 231–8; supposed coregency with Tutankhamun, 148–9; abdication, 147–50, 155–6; survival, 157–61, 240–5; seen as rebel, 160; and worship, 162–6; in exile, 167, 169–70, 172, 179, 247; joins Israelites, 167–8; and Ten Commandments, 173; rejects magic, 175; royal sceptre, 179; on Amarna rock tombs, 198–202; and Kheruef tomb, 202–4; on Ramose tomb, 204–11; and Hebrews, 246; see also Moses
Akhetaten (city), 62, 91, 126, 156, 239
Akhmim (city), 229
Aldred, Cyril, 8–9, 69, 140, 204–5, 233, 235–9, 241–3
Alexandria, 27
Amarna (city): and Moses’ monotheism, 63; as capital, 64; inscriptions at, 68, 89, 91; Akhenaten builds, 64, 87, 124–7, 134, 158; tombs and monuments, 73–7, 79, 81, 134–47, 157, 180, 198–211; Akhenaten moves to, 129, 239; garrison, 129–30, 158; Maruaten (pavilion), 132; tablets, 183; name, 184; see also Tomb 55
Amenemhat I, Pharaoh, 108
Amenemope, 94
Amenemopet, 105
Amenhotep II, Pharaoh, 100, 105, 119, 139
Amenhotep III (Amenophis; Neb-Maat-Re): as father of Nefertiti’s children, 9; coregency with Akhenaten, 12, 69–89, 97–8, 118, 122, 158, 198–9, 204; and Joseph, 13, 54; reign, 27–8, 32, 99–100, 104, 105, 120, 153, 157–8; marriage to Sitamun, 29, 54, 118; and Israelite invasion, 30, 184; flight to Ethiopia, 32, 183; stela, 37; marriage to Tiye, 54, 57, 117; as father of Akhenaten/Moses, 61, 146; death, 63, 70–1, 82–9; on stelae and reliefs, 72–3, 77, 79–80, 88, 198–9; age at death, 76; and Tushratta, 82–7, 118, 211–14; and Horemheb, 91; Luxor temple, 104; and Zarw-kha, 106, 108, 222; and Akhenaten’s youth, 117–20; at Zarw, 119; building, 119; hostility to, 124; mummy, 145, 233; and paternity of Tutankhamun, 146–7; represented on Amarna tombs, 178, 203–6, 208–10; as father of Nefertiti, 181; at Amarna, 198; burial, 231, 240; and Hebrews, 246–7
Amenhotep IV see Akhenaten
Amenhotep, son of Habu, 29–30, 32, 57, 205–6, 209
Amenophis, son of Paapis, son of Habu, 29, 184
Amram, 19, 25, 35, 51–3
Amun (deity): temples, 43, 159; as State and patron god, 62, 80–2, 119, 123; persecuted, 130–2; Tutankhamun readopts, 149–50; and sacrifice of Shasu captives, 194; represented on Amarna tombs, 207, 209; dominance, 226
Amun-Re (deity), 119–20, 123, 205–6, 210–11
Amunites, 61–2, 87, 160
Amurru, 44
Anastasi Papyri, 112, 219, 224
Anen (brother of Tiye), 120
Aniy (priest), 95–6, 215
Ankhsenpa-aten, 76, 126, 132
Aper-el (vizier), 88,. 185
Apion: History of Egypt, 31, 33
Apophis, 221
Araba rift valley, 45
Archiv für Orientforschung, 75
Ascalon, 46–7
Ashkelon, 40–1
Aswan: rock relief, 71–2
Aten, the (deity): and monotheism of Akhenaten/Moses, 5–8, 12, 32, 62–3, 123, 126, 130, 162–73; on Amarna fragments and tombs, 77, 199–201, 208; Akhenaten adopts as ‘father’, 82, 126, 149, 199; cult of, 121, 127–8, 16
0; temples, 121, 123, 126–7; and Akhenaten’s tomb, 139–40, 143; and fall of Akhenaten, 155; attributes, 162–5; and Adon, 167; Ramses I adopts, 170
Aten Gleams (ship), 107, 118, 121
Aten-it see Adonith
Athribis Stela (Kom el Ahmar Stela), 40
Avaris (city; rebuilt as Pi-Ramses): Israelites occupy, 29, 33; as Hyksos capital, 35–6; location, 106–7, 109, 110–15, 217–30; and god Seth, 220; see also Pi-Ramses
Aye, Pharaoh: descended from Joseph, 2; name excised, 27, 92; warns Moses, 63, 183; reign, 63, 68, 92–3, 96–7, 99–100, 105, 134, 155, 160, 167; tomb, 76, 91, 128, 163, 180, 182; as military commander, 130–1, 147, 158–60; and abdication of Akhenaten, 147, 149; power and support for Akhenaten, 158–60; death, 161
Ayrton, Edward R., 144
Baikie, Rev. James, 6, 180
Baketaten, Princess, 73–5, 77, 146, 198–9, 202
Ballah, Lake, 110, 116, 225
Barsanti, Alessandro, 134–6
Bathia, Princess, 25
Beisan (Beth-Shan; N. Palestine), 43–4, 46
Bek (sculptor), 71
Bennett, 152–3
Beth-Shan see Beisan
Bible, Holy: opposes magic, 175; see also individual books
Bietak, Manfred, 109, 220, 222–3, 225, 227
Bigeh (Upper Egypt), 205
Bi’lan, 22–3, 25–6
Birket Hapu (lake), 228
Björkman, Gun, 121, 222
Book of the Dead, 172–3, 175
Bouriant, Urbain, 136
Breasted, James Henry, 5, 101–2
Cairo Column, 40
Caleb, 19
Campbell, 69
Canaan: as Promised Land, 19, 21, 33, 186; in Israel Stela, 40–1, 47; Seti I’s campaign against, 42–4, 47, 194
Carter, Howard, 73, 76, 80, 244
Cassuto, Umberto, 52–3, 57, 64
Černý, Jaroslav, 151–2
Chaereman, 32
Champollion, François, 4
City of Akhenaten III, 151
Clédat, Jean, 113, 116, 219–20
Dapur (city), 44
Daressy, Georges, 241
Darwha, 229
Davies, Norman de Garis: The Rock Temples of El Amarna, 74–6, 198, 200, 207
Davis, Theodore M., 144, 232
Derry, D. E., 145, 153, 234–7
Deuteronomy, Book of, 19–20, 186
Dhiban (Dibon), 56
Djehutymes, 109
Dynasties: Eighteenth, chronology, 11, 37, 157; Nineteenth, chronology, 11, 36–7
Edom, 45–6, 196–7
Egypt: Libyans invade, 38–40; army, 159
Egypt Exploration Society, 136–7, 150
Eleazar (Moses’ son), 19
el-Kab (Nubia), 112
Elohim (El; God), 166, 185
Engelbach, Reginald, 69, 235, 241
Ephraim: identified as Aye, 54
Erman, Adolf, 82
Ethiopia (Nubia), 22–3, 32, 183
Et Till (village), 125
Eusebius, 27–8, 101
Exodus, Book of: as source for life of Moses, 12–21, 22, 36, 58–60, 65, 107, 167; and chronology, 49; on Moses’ mother, 55–7; on Oppression, 64; on city of Ramses, 112; and name Jehovah, 168; and magic rod, 175
Ezra, 35
Fairman, H. W., 69, 79, 91, 148, 150–2, 237, 241–4
Fayyum, 224
Fields of Piyer, The, 39
Freud, Sigmund, 6–8, 10, 66, 162, 167–8, 187
Fröhlich’s Syndrome, 8–9, 233–4, 238
Gardiner, Alan H.: on Karnak colossi, 6; on Manetho, 30; on Moses’ epithet, 65; King list, 68; opposes coregency theory, 69; on Tushratta letters, 83; on Akhenaten’s reign, 92; on Amenhotep II, 100; on Pi-Ramses, 111, 218; on non-burial of Akhenaten, 139; on fall of Akhenaten, 155; identifies Gaza, 194; on Akhenaten’s tomb, 241; Egypt of the Pharaohs, 30
Gaza, 43, 194
Gebel Barakal (Nubia), 101–2
Gebel Shahuf, 196
Gebel Silsila (Nubia), 127
Genesis, Book of, 54–5, 64, 125, 162
George the Monk (Syncellus) of Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, 27–8
Gershon (Moses’ son), 15–16
Gezer, 40–1, 147
Giles, Frederick J., 69, 75
Giliya (messenger), 83–6, 214
Gilukhipa, 118, 212
Goshen, 13–14, 22, 35–6, 54, 108
Grdseloff, Bernard, 45, 196
Griffith, Francis, 219
Gunn, Battiscombe, 150–3
Habachi, Labib, 202, 224
Habu, son of see Amenhotep, son of Habu
Haggadah, The (Talmud), 178
Hammath (city), 43
Hamza, Muhammad, 139, 142, 144, 224, 226
Harris, J. R., 90
Harrison, R. G., 145–6, 160, 237–9
Hassan, Ali, 115
Hathor (deity), 169
Hatshepsut, Queen, 5, 222
Hatti, 40, 47, 195
Hattusili III, Hittite King, 44
Hattusili Peace Treaty, 195
Hayes, William C., 69, 88, 224
Hebrews: as term, 246–7
Helck, Wolfgang, 69, 97, 157
Heliopolis (On), 31–2, 38–9, 119–20, 163
Heliopolis Column, 40
Hezekiah, 21
Hittites, 41, 42, 44–7, 96
Horeb, Mount (Mount Sinai), 18
Horemheb, Pharaoh: reign, 3, 11, 13, 63–4, 67–8, 70, 90–100, 103, 105, 157–8, 167; as Oppressor of Israelites, 27, 50, 108; appoints Pa-Ramses, 49, 172; death, 49, 63, 172, 179; age at death, 98; marriage, 122, 181; burial, 139; suppresses Aten cult, 155, 161, 170, 181; and Zarw, 219, 221; and Tell el-Dab’a, 223
Horus (deity), 187, 227
Horus, road of, 112–14, 218–19
Hurru, 40–1, 47
Huy, 93–5, 215–16
Huya: tomb, 73–7, 198–202, 204; appointment, 204
Hyksos (shepherds): invade and occupy Eastern Delta, 13, 36–7, 66, 220; defeated, 27, 35, 112, 159, 221–2, 227; Josephus on, 28, 31; at Avaris, 29, 35–6, 108
Imago (journal), 6–7
International Congress of Egyptology, 5th, Cairo, 1988, 113
Isaiah, Book of, 163
Israel Stela, 37–41, 42, 47–8, 197
Israelites: Descent and Sojourn in Egypt, 13, 51–4; Oppression in Egypt, 13–15, 64; Exodus, 15–19, 108; as Shasu, 47, 197; as threat to Pharaoh, 63; worship, 163–5; Akhenaten joins, 167; origins, 184; and Hebrews, 246–7
Jacob (father of Joseph), 13, 55, 171
Janssen, Joseph M., 70
Jehovah (deity), 163, 166–9
Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law), 15
Jithro see Reu’el
Job Stone, 46
Jochebed (mother of Moses), 14, 19, 25, 180
Joseph, Patriarch: Yuya identified with, 2, 13, 32, 53, 108, 229; descendants, 3; career, 13; imprisoned, 37; arrival in Egypt, 51, 54; father’s death, 55, 57; meets brothers, 55; Egyptian name, 66; Tuthmosis IV appoints, 124–5
Josephus, Flavius, 22, 27–31, 36, 90, 101, 111, 184
Joshua, 19, 186
Kadesh (city), 19–20, 43–4, 218; Battle of, 46
Kamose, 221
Kamose Stela, 112, 218, 224–5
Kantarah, 109, 112–13, 219
Karnak: colossi of Akhenaten at, 6, 8, 145, 234, 236, 239; Amun’s temple reliefs, 43–4, 46, 76, 101, 131, 159; Meketaten depicted at, 72; temple of Ptah, 90; Hypostyle Hall, 102, 104, 112, 193; Aten temple, 121, 123, 125, 181, 236; and Zarw, 218
Karnak War Inscriptions, 40
Khabiru (Sa-Gaz), 183, 246–7
Khamashshi (messenger), 84, 86, 213
Khay, 93–4, 96
Khayri, 92–5, 215
Kheruef (steward): tomb, 79–80, 178, 202–4
Kings, Second Book of, 21
Kitchen, Kenneth A., 45–8, 196–7, 218
Klein, Rev. F., 56
Knudzton, J. A., 82
Kohath (son of Levi),
35, 51–3
Koran: on Moses, 24, 54, 58–60; on drowning of Pharaoh, 49; on Moses’ magic rod, 175–8; on Aaron, 182; on Aye, 183
Kurnah (Western Thebes), 103
Kush, 105
Laban, 45, 162, 196
Levi (grandfather of Moses), 19, 35, 51–3
Levites, 130, 184–5
Leviticus, Book of, 19–20
Libnah, 45
Libya (or Tehenu): invades Egypt, 38–40, 44, 47–9
Lucas, A., 242
Luxor, 44, 46, 104; Aten temple, 121, 123, 125
Lysimachus, 32
Maat (goddess), 73
Madinet Habu (Western Thebes), 91
magic, 174–5
Malkata palace (Western Thebes), 87, 110, 117, 119, 222, 224, 228
Mallevi (Mal-lawi), 184
Manasseh (Anen; Joseph’s son), 54
Manetho (historian), 22–3, 26–32, 57–8, 63, 90, 97, 99–101, 110–11, 157, 184, 227; History of Egypt (Aegytica), 26
Mani (messenger), 84–7, 214
Maqsoud, Mohammed Abdel, 113–15
Martin, Geoffrey T., 137–8, 140–4, 244
Maspero, Gaston, 101, 103–4, 116
Mehy, 102
Meidum, 80–2, 158
Meketaten (Akhenaten’s daughter), 72, 76, 126, 132, 135–7, 140
Memphis, 38–9, 91, 124, 219, 224–5
Men (sculptor), 71
Merari, 184
Merenptah Stela, 48
Merenptah, Pharaoh, 37–41, 47–8, 197
Merey (Libyan leader), 38–9
Meribah (Sinai), 20, 186
Meryre II: tomb, 68, 74, 198–202, 204; as high priest of Aten, 163, 185
Merytaten (Akhenaten’s daughter), 9, 69, 76, 126, 131, 232; tomb, 241, 243
Merytaten-the-less, Princess (daughter and granddaughter of Akhenaten), 9
Mesha, King of Moab, 56
Mesman (goatherd), 94
Midian and Midianites, 15, 47, 179
Miriam (elder sister of Moses), 14, 18–20, 25, 182
Mitanni, 42, 82–7, 212, 214; see also Tushratta
Moab, 46, 186, 188, 194, 196–7
Moabite Stone, 56
Mos case, 155, 215–16
Moses: identified as Pharaoh Akhenaten, 3, 7, 65, 106, 162, 167; Freud on, 6–7, 10, 66, 162, 167–8, 187: Old Testament account of, 12–21, 22, 35, 58–60; takes second wife, 20; death and burial, 20–1, 186–8; fails to enter Promised Land, 20–1, 33, 186–7; Talmud account of, 22–4, 134, 156, 183; with Pharaoh as child, 25–6; unites with Midianites, 47; return to Egypt, 49, 54; age, 51–3; as son of Amenhotep III and Tiye, 54, 60–2, 182; childhood at Goshen, 62; monotheism and worship, 62–3, 162, 164–7; name, 65–7; birth, 68, 106–7; and name of God, 167–9; flight to Sinai, 169; magic rod, 174–9, 186–7; relations with Aaron, 182; see also Akhenaten
