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Joseph and Asenath
by
Damien F. Mackey
“No one like Joseph has ever been born
…”.
(Sirach 49:15)
Introduction
The Third Dynasty of ancient
Egypt’s Old Kingdom has proven to be something of a rich goldmine for
discovering historical proof of the reality of Joseph and the Famine, as
recorded late in the Book of Genesis (esp. Chapters 41-43).
Joseph as the celebrated vizier,
Imhotep, the pious sage serving Horus Netjerikhet, had saved Egypt from a
seven-year Famine.
This is famously recorded in a late
(Ptolemaïc) document, the Sehel Famine Stela.
But there may now have been identified
much earlier, apparent originals of this Ptolemaïc inscription. On this, see my
article:
Was
this the original ‘Famine Stela’?
(6) Was this the
original 'Famine Stela'?
Imhotep was the quasi-pharaonic Khasekhemwy-Hetep-Imef
(= Im-hotep), who built huge enclosures (storage facilities) at Nekhen, at
Abydos (known as Shunet ez Zebib), and the massive Gisr el-Mudir at Saqqara –
all in preparation for the Famine.
He was also the like-named (to Khasekhemwy)
Sekhemkhet-Djoser-ti (see below). Thus Imhotep was Djoser
(Zoser).
And Horus Netjerikhet, thought to have been Djoser, was not.
Great
Enclosure at Saqqara
To the west
of the unfinished
pyramid of Sekhemkhet, a large rectangular
structure was discovered composed mainly of a gigantic enclosure wall.
With its
600 by 300 metres, this enclosure encompasses an area that is even considerably
larger than Netjerikhet’s
neighbouring complex.
It as long
been assumed -without any substantial examination of this structure- that this
wall, known as the ‘Great Enclosure‘ or by its Arab
name ‘Gisr el-Mudir‘ (wall of the director), was part of an
unfinished mortuary complex of an unidentified 3rd
Dynasty king. There is, however, no trace of a step
pyramid inside this wall. Furthermore, this wall seems to have been completed,
which would make the building of a pyramid within its compounds quite
impossible.
Recent research by the EES has shown that Gisr el-Mudir may at least be one
generation older than the Horus Netjerikhet, thus dating to the 2nd Dynasty.
Traces of
other such enclosures have also been found: one to the immediate west of
Netjerikhet’s complex and one apparently between Sekhemkhet’s pyramid and the
‘Great Enclosure’.
It has been
suggested that these enclosures bear a striking resemblance to similar
structures found near Umm
el-Qa’ab. The largest of these enclosures,
named Shunet
ez-Zebib, has been identified as having
belonged to Khasekhemwi. It is believed that this structure was intended as a
simulacrum of the royal palace [sic], a copy that the king would take with him
to the hereafter. If indeed these palace-copies are similar to the Saqqara
enclosures, then it is likely that the Saqqara enclosures were related to the
2nd Dynasty tombs which were located in the vicinity.
If the
enclosures at Saqqara are indeed of 2nd Dynasty date and not, as was assumed in
the past, of the 3rd Dynasty, then the ‘Great Enclosure’ is to be
considered the oldest known building constructed, at least partially, in stone!
[End
of quote]
These were ‘gigantic enclosures’ built
for storing vast quantities of grain.
They were not, as wrongly thought,
mortuary complexes, or copies of palaces.
This was all Joseph-Imhotep’s divinely
inspired work.
Absolutely amazing to think that all of
this infrastructure was built in anticipation of a great and protracted Famine,
as foretold to Pharaoh by the prescient Joseph.
Whenever, before, or even after, has
the like of this been done!
“No one like Joseph has ever been born
…”.
(Sirach 49:15)
Waterways and canals were also constructed by Joseph the
water bringer, along with large dams. One immediately thinks of the Bahr
Yusef canal, named after Joseph.
Much of this infrastructure was erected hastily, without the
usual Egyptian decoration, purpose-built to serve for only a specified period
of time.
Then it fell into disuse – or was appropriated and enhanced
by the mighty Pyramid building oppressor-pharaohs of the subsequent Fourth
Dynasty: the era of Moses.
With a necessary folding of Egypt’s Old
Kingdom into its so-called ‘Middle’ Kingdom, which simply duplicates the Old
Kingdom, we encounter all over again the Famine era, including, among other
things, mention of “seven empty years” (Heqanakht papyri).
For Horus Netjerikhet of Egypt’s Third
Dynasty was the same king as the powerful Netjerihedjet (Mentuhotep II) of
the Eleventh Dynasty – the Famine Pharaoh.
Having come to these twin conclusions
some time ago now, that the biblical Famine belonged historically to the Old
Kingdom, but is duplicated with the ‘Middle’ Kingdom, I never expected to find
a ‘third’ manifestation of it all, back in Egypt’s Archaïc Period.
Archaic
Period: Dynasties
1-2;
Old Kingdom: Dynasties 3-6;
First
Intermediate Period:
Dynasties 7-11 (part of);
Middle
Kingdom: Dynasties
11-12.
First Dynasty
biblical scenario
Although Egypt’s First Dynasty is conventionally set
out like this:
http://www.phouka.com/pharaoh/pharaoh/dynasties/dyn01/dyn01.html
Menes
Djer
Merneith
Djet
Den
Anedjib
Semerkhet
Qa'a
Sneferka
the listing, I would strongly suggest,
is in need of a major overhaul.
While the famous Menes, the first
mentioned king in this list, traditionally belongs to the time of Abram
(Abraham), with which syncretism I would agree (see my article):
Dr.
W.F. Albright’s game-changing chronological shift
(6) Dr. W.F.
Albright's game-changing chronological shift
the next four listed personages, Djer, Merneith, Djet and Den, all belong to - as we
are going to find out - the era of Joseph (c. 1700 BC), which era is, roughly
speaking, two centuries later than that of Abram (Abraham) (c. 1900 BC).
Perhaps that
yawning gap in the First Dynasty list is filled out by the Second Dynasty that we read earlier to be potentially
causing complications with the First Dynasty: “Recent
research by the EES has shown that Gisr el-Mudir may at least be one generation
older than the Horus Netjerikhet, thus dating to the 2nd Dynasty”.
But, then again, perhaps not!
http://www.phouka.com/pharaoh/pharaoh/dynasties/dyn02/dyn02.html
|
Hetepsekhemwy |
|
There immediately appear to be some
obstacles to such a suggestion, with the first listed ruler, Hetepsekhemwy, being, yet once again, I
would suggest, Joseph-Imhotep himself, as Hotep-Im (= Hetep-Imef) Khasekhemwy, who, it needs to be
noted, emerges again at the end of this Second Dynasty list.
Here, I do
not intend to become bogged down with the Second Dynasty, which, to
date, I have not studied at any great length.
However, I would
just like to suggest, tentatively, that I think a case could be mounted also
for Ninetjer (Nynetjer) in this list to be the same ruler as Djer (Nine-tjer)
in the First Dynasty list, a contemporary of Joseph as I shall be
arguing – for Ninetjer, too, may have experienced a great famine (see 1. below).
And,
intriguingly, Peribsen in the list was once thought (the idea is not popular
today) to have introduced monotheism to Egypt (as could perhaps be expected
from Joseph) along the lines of Akhnaton at a much later date. On this last,
see e.g. my article:
Akhnaton’s
Theophany
Whilst, in the lengthy Phouka king list
above, a full five regal names separate Ninetjer (potential Famine Pharaoh)
from Seth-Peribsen (most tentatively, Joseph), Peribsen immediately follows
Ninetjer in the (roughly) half as long list here at Higher Intellect:
https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/other/crystalinks/dynasty2.html
Hotepsekhemwy
- 'Pleasing in Powers'
Reneb
- Re is the Lord
Ninetjer
- Godlike
Peribsen
- Sekhemib - 'Powerful in Heart'
Khasekhemwy
- "The Two Powerful Ones Appear"
Could
it be that more than half (8 out of 14) of the names listed for these
supposedly two distinct dynasties – {here following the shortened version of
the Second Dynasty} - pertain to the era of the biblical Joseph?
There
could well be much more to be said about all of this!
1. Famine Pharaoh: Archaïc
Period
Returning to the First Dynasty list, to Djer, Merneith, Djet and Den,
about all of whom I wrote above that they belonged to the era of the biblical
Joseph, we can put aside Merneith, a female, who obviously could not have been
Joseph’s Pharaoh.
Den (Udimu) was, I have already concluded most
emphatically, Joseph himself:
Joseph
also as Den, ‘he who brings water’
(6) Joseph also as
Den, 'he who brings water'
Djer and Djet I would consider to be two manifestations of
just the one Pharaoh - paralleling the already discussed Third Dynasty and
Eleventh Dynasty syncretism - respectively, Horus Netjerikhet as
Djer, and Mentuhotep Netjerihedjet as Djet.
For an easy explanation of this, see my article:
Symmetrical
dynastic links for Famine Pharaoh and Joseph
(6) Symmetrical
dynastic links for Famine Pharaoh and Joseph
Above, I tentatively included the long-reigning Second
Dynasty ruler, Ninetjer (-djer).
Djet and
Ninetjer had in common long reigns and celebration of the Heb Sed
festival, which (supposedly occurring every 30 years) was probably far less
common in those early times as may be thought, but which may have become
duplicated (or more) due to an inaccurate, repetitive Egyptology.
Not only did
Djet and Ninetjer, in common, enjoy a Heb Sed festival, however, but
Djet, certainly, and Ninetjer, potentially, experienced a severe Famine.
Regarding
pharaoh Djet and the Famine, see e.g. my article (revised, with Imhotep now
intended as Djoser):
Taking
a Djet to Djoser’s Famine
(6) Taking a Djet to Djoser's Famine
And,
regarding a possible lengthy famine at the time of Ninetjer, we read as
follows:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nynetjer
“Egyptologists such
as Barbara Bell believe that an economic catastrophe such as
a famine or a long lasting
drought affected Egypt around this time. Therefore, to address the problem of
feeding the Egyptian population, Nynetjer split the realm into two and his
successors ruled two independent states until the famine came to an end. Bell
points to the inscriptions of the Palermo stone, where, in her opinion,
the records of the annual
Nile floods show
constantly low levels during this period”.
Likewise,
Miroslav Bárta has written in his article:
Journey
to the West The world of the Old Kingdom tombs in Ancient Egypt. Prague 2012
that: “… probably at the end of the First and
start of the Second Dynasty, a time marked by internal conflicts connected with
low levels of flooding and failed harvests …”:
“… low levels of flooding and failed
harvests …” the perfect mix of ingredients for Famine in ancient Egypt.
2. Joseph and Asenath:
Archaïc Period
No need to
repeat here what I have already written (in my “Joseph
also as Den …”
article above) about Den (Udimu) as Joseph-Imhotep.
While the
name Den, “he who brings water”, so fitting of Joseph, may have been
posthumously assigned, it, and his other names, especially Usafais
(Manetho) - clearly Joseph (Usaf-) - and Khasti, “the one of the
desert”, or “foreigner”, mark him as:
Joseph;
foreigner from the desert;
the one who brings water.
I have
further identified Joseph with the famous Chancellor of this time:
Joseph
as Chancellor of Egypt, Hemaka
https://www.academia.edu/121954546/Joseph_as_Chancellor_of_Egypt_Hemaka
More recently, I believe that I may have found evidence for
Joseph’s wife, Asenath:
A
possible identification of Asenath, the wife of Joseph
(4) A possible
identification of Asenath, the wife of Joseph
The name is obviously an Egyptian one,
whose later element, - nath, pertains to the goddess Neith.
The woman in question is the highly
important, Ahaneith (wikipedia.org):
“Ahaneith was an ancient Egyptian
woman, who lived during the
First Dynasty of Egypt. She was named
after the goddess Neith”.
The name Ahaneith is essentially the same name as Asenath,
bar one consonantal variation.
And she lived at the right Archaïc period for my revised
Asenath.
Whether or not Merneith of the First Dynasty was also
Joseph’s wife, Asenath, under a variant name form, I would not be able to
determine at this stage.
What is apparent, though, is that scholars cannot decide
between whether Merneith was the wife of Djet or the mother of Den (impossible
if Den was Joseph as I am claiming him to have been): https://www.livius.org/articles/person/merneith/
“Queen Merneith lived during Egypt’s Early
Dynastic Period and was presumably the great wife
of King
Djet and mother of King Den.
She is named in one of Egypt’s earliest known King Lists, which has led
scholars to believe that Merneith may have been a pharaoh in
her own right”.
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