If
indeed Thutmose III was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, his acts recorded in history
would have been consistent with how the bible portrays him as personally leading
his army against the Israelites.Moses In Egypt
Although the bible never specifically identifies the pharaoh of the Exodus by
name, it does tell us the exact date of the Exodus. 1 Kings 6:1 states that
Solomon began building the
The
first place we will start is with the date of his birth. According to Exodus 7:7
"Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to
Pharaoh." Adding 80 years to the date of the Exodus in 1447 B.C equals 1527
B.C., the approximate year in which Moses was born. The ruler of
Although the bible never records her name, the Jewish historian Josephus writing
in the first century does. He states:
"Pharaoh’s daughter, Thermuthis, was walking along the river bank. Seeing
a basket floating by, she called to her swimmers to retrieve it for her. When
her servants came back with the basket, she was overjoyed to see the beautiful
little infant inside . . . Thermuthis gave him the name Moses, which in Egyptian
means saved from the water" . . . Having no children of her own, she adopted him
as her own son."
Josephus says the daughter of pharaoh was Thermuthis, which sounds an awful lot
like the royal name Thutmose or Thutmosis. Either Thutmose II or Thutmose III
would have been in power around this time. Since historians are not sure on the
exact dates for their reign, lets go through the two possibilities.
If
Thutmose II was the Pharaoh from whom Moses fled, Thutmose III would have been
the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
The
Jewish historian Josephus wrote the following: "The Pharaoh, from whom Moses
fled, died, and a new Pharaoh had become ruler."
After the death of Thutmose II, his son, not by Hatshepsut, became pharaoh.
Thutmose III co-reigned with Queen Hatshepsut until her death in 1482 B.C. He
then ruled alone until approximately 1450 B.C. It is also known that Thutmose
III was so jealous of the acts done by Queen Hatshepsut that one of his first
acts, after her death, was to purge her name off of all monuments in Egypt.
An
interesting thing recorded in history about Thutmose III was that he was the
greatest conqueror in Egyptian history, he was known as the Napoleon of ancient
Egypt. During his reign he had recorded that he subdued the Ethiopians.
Although the bible doesn't mention these events, the historian Josephus states
the following: " A state of war broke out between the Egyptians and the
Ethiopians. At this time Moses had grown to be a man. The two sides fought a
great battle in which the Ethiopians were triumphant, and they pushed to conquer
all of Egypt. The Egyptians looking for help inquired of their priests. The
priests revealed to them that they should make Moses their general . . . Moses
then became the commander of a great army . . . In a surprise attack against the
Ethiopians, Moses led his troops to victory."
It
may be that Thutmose III, being jealous, took credit for victories over the
Ethiopians, even though Moses achieved them.
Josephus also mentions that Moses married an Ethiopian woman after this
conflict: "Because of the bravery of Moses, The daughter of the king of
Ethiopia, Tharbis, saw Moses and fell madly in love with him. She sent to him a
delegation of her most trusted servants to propose marriage. He accepted, on the
condition that she would surrender the city over to him . . . After Moses had
punished the Ethiopians, he praised God and then celebrated his marriage."
The
bible also mentions his Ethiopian wife in Numbers 12:1: "Then Miriam and Aaron
spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he
had married an Ethiopian woman."
Josephus also writes: "The Pharaoh, from whom Moses had fled, died, and a new
Pharaoh had become ruler. Moses traveled to his palace and told him of the
victories he gained for Egypt in the war against Ethiopia . . . He also spoke to
Pharaoh about what had taken place on Mount Sinai, and when Pharaoh laughed,
Moses showed him the signs."
According to the bible, after the ten plagues God sent against Egypt, Israel
departed, but Pharaoh led his army in pursuit of them at the Red Sea. The bible
records the following:
"So
the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen
and his army, and overtook them And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of
Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they
were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. "Then the
waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the armies of
Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained."
Exodus 14:23-28
The
bible says in Psalm 136:13-15:
"To
him who divided the Red Sea asunder, and brought Israel in the midst of it, but
swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea."
This
passage says Pharaoh was killed in the incident. If so, the date of the Exodus
in 1447 B.C., as calculated from the Bible, is synonymous with Pharaoh Thutmose
III death which most historians approximate at 1450 B.C.
If
indeed Thutmose III was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, his acts recorded in history
would have been consistent with how the bible portrays him as personally leading
his army against the Israelites.
The following inscription
was found in Egyptian records detailing one of his well known military campaigns
where he personally led his army against the Canaanites at the fortress of
Megiddo:
"Then the king moved to
the front of his army . . .Where his majesty [Thutmose III] triumphed over them
as leader of his troops."
Some people don't
believe that the Pharaoh perished in the waters of the Red Sea because the tombs
of both Pharaoh Thutmose III and his successor, Amenhotep II, have been found.
But if one reads Exodus
14:30 carefully it states the following: "So the LORD saved Israel that day out
of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
"This passage indicates that the dead bodies of the Egyptians were deposited on
the shore of the Red Sea. This would have allowed the Egyptians access to his
body for burial.
One amazing fact about
Amenhotep II was that his successor was not his firstborn son nor his heir. This
would confirm the biblical passage in Exodus 4:22-23 which states:
"Then you shall say to
Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn. "So I say to you,
let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I
will kill your son, your firstborn."