Moses and Akhenaten (39 page)

Then again, if Akhenaten, having originally ordered the magical bricks to be made, later changed his mind, he would not have left the bricks forgotten in the stores. He would either have ordered any changes he thought necessary to be made or even have ordered their destruction if his developed religious beliefs caused him to reject their use. This was the course he followed in changing his own name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten and erasing the name of Amun in his father's name. He would not have left his name on objects that offended his monotheistic belief, for it was the Egyptian creed that, as long as an inscription existed in the wrong form, the wrong beliefs lived.

(vi) Tutankharnun's Tomb

Some funerary objects – small items, such as statuettes and bracelets – made originally for Akhenaten, but evidently never used for any burial of his, were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, who was not buried until nine years after the end of Akhenaten's rule. A list of these objects was given by Martin.
³
The numbers cited referred to objects as they appear in
A Handlist to Howard Carter's Catalogue of Objects in Tutankhamun's Tomb
, compiled by Helen Murray and Mary Nuttall of the Griffith Institute, Oxford, and published in 1963: ‘Those connected with Akhenaten appear to be nos. 54ee, 54ff, 54vv, 256 4t, 261a, 281a, 291a, 300a, 596a, 620(40) and an unnumbered sealing. Cf. also objects of Akhenaten, Semenkhkare or Merytaten nos. 1k, 46gg, 48h, 79 + 147, 101s, 256a, 256b(4), 261(1), 262, 405, 448, 620(13), 620(41), 620(42) and unnumbered gold sequins.'

Thus not only does the evidence from the royal tomb at Amarna prove that Akhenaten was never buried there: at Thebes, where it was thought that he was either buried originally in Tomb No. 55 or that his mummy was moved there from Amarna, it is now accepted that the skeleton in Tomb No. 55 is that of Semenkhkare, not Akhenaten. Then, as some original, essential parts of the funerary equipment of Akhenaten were found
in situ
in Tomb No. 55 they could not have been used for Akhenaten, reinforcing the belief that he was still alive at the time of Semenkhkare's burial.

APPENDIX G

The Hebrews

T
HE
word for Hebrew in the Hebrew language of the Bible is
‘Ibri.
Scholars have differed about its specific meaning, but the most common view is that the word is related to the Hebrew preposition
‘ibr
meaning ‘across' and that it was modified to describe Abraham, the founder of the tribe of Israel, and his descendants because of their migration from Ur in Mesopotamia across the river Euphrates to the land of Palestine-Jordan.

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, 160; 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

Č
erný, 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