Charles F. Aling
Charles F. Aling, Ph.D., is professor of history at Norhwestern College in Minneapolis MN and President of The Institute for Biblical Archaeology. He is author of Egypt and Bible History, Baker Books, 1981.
The first Biblical figure to have contact with a king of Egypt was Abraham, who is recorded travelling to Egypt to get food during a time of famine (Gn 12:10). While in Egypt, Abraham passed his wife Sarah off as his sister in order to prevent the Pharaoh from taking her into his harem. But the plot backfires. Pharaoh takes Sarah, believing that she is not yet married. For this he is punished by God, and, when he realizes what he has done, he returns Sarah to Abraham but expels the couple from Egypt.
When did this event take place? Is there any way to establish the probable identity of the Pharaoh? And, is there anything in Egyptian history that mirrors the events of Genesis 12?
To date Abraham, we begin with the Biblical date of the Exodus and work back. According to 1 Kings 6:1, the Exodus took place 480 years before the fourth year of Solomon, i.e. 966 BC. Thus, the Exodus was in about 1446 BC. In Exodus 12:40, we find that the length of time from the Exodus back to Jacob’s descent into Egypt was 430 years, dating that Patriarch’s arrival to 1876 BC. Figuring back from Jacob to Abraham by the numbers given in Genesis (for details see Aling 1981: 21), Abraham must have come to Egypt sometime shortly after 2090 BC, thus placing the events of Genesis 12 in the Egyptian First Intermediate period.
What was Egypt like then? Two major characteristics are known. First, there was comparative anarchy during most of this age. The great Old Kingdom had come to an end, and, as the literature of the period shows so clearly, social conditions were chaotic. Secondly, since border defenses were neglected in the north, Asiatics migrated into the Nile delta from Syria-Palestine and settled there.
The kings of the First Intermediate period did not rule all of Egypt. However, one dynasty, the Tenth, working out of its capital at Heracleopolis in northern Middle Egypt, tried to extend its power and influence. In the south, the Tenth dynasty was not very successful. It found a strong enemy in the princes of Thebes. But one of its kings, Wahkare Khety III, had some success in establishing his authority over the delta (see Grimal 1992: 139ff). He freed the north from Asiatic control, re-introduced local government there, re-dug irrigation canals, and established colonies in the eastern delta (Grimal 1992: 145).
BSP 10:1 (Winter 1997) p. 7
The generally accepted dates for Khety III, 2120–2070 BC, are a perfect fit with the account of Genesis 12. Abraham would have come to Egypt late in the reign of this Pharaoh. Also, Khety’s preoccupation with the delta fits well, since that region of Egypt is the area where any traveller from Syria-Palestine would enter Egypt.
There is one other interesting fact about the First Intermediate period that may fit the story of the descent of Abraham. The Biblically stated reason for his trip is a famine. Abraham hoped to find food for his people in Egypt. Such a famine may in fact be a major contributing factor to the large number of Asiatics who migrated to the delta in this period. But is there any further evidence?
There is evidence of a substantial change in climate in eastern Africa at the start of the First Intermediate period (Bell 1971:1–8), and the literary works of the age speak of famine. While the crisis for Egypt was past by the days of Khety III, perhaps Syria-Palestine was still in the throes of famine, thus accounting for a mass migration of some kind into northern Egypt, where food could be had.
But let us return to Khety III.
A very interesting literary work, said to have been composed by the king himself and addressed to his son, may have a bearing on the story of Abraham’s descent. This work, the “Instruction for King Merikare,” is a kind of manual on how to be a proper king, and is preserved in three papyri.
The “Instruction” genre of Egyptian literature extends back to the Old Kingdom, but this work adds a new feature: the fact that it was written by a king. This makes it a valuable source, since it illustrates for us the ideal of Egyptian kingship. While most scholars would doubt that King Khety actually wrote this treatise himself, there is no reason to doubt that it contains his basic thoughts on the proper behavior of a pharaoh (on all of this see Lichtheim 1975: 97 ff).
The “Instruction” is divided into the following parts:
• part I, how to overcome rebellion;
• part II, how to deal properly and fairly with your subjects;
• part III, how to recruit soldiers and how to correctly perform religious duties;
• part IV is a historical section dealing with the glories of the reign of Khety III and other historical matters;
• part V presents a hymn to the Creator;
• part VI, the conclusion, exhorts Prince Merikare to accept the admonitions found in the “Instruction.”
There is one passage in this work which may have a specific bearing on Abraham’s visit to Egypt. King Khety exhorts his son at one point “Don’t reduce the nobles in their possessions” (Lichtheim 1975: 100). Could this refer, among other things, to Abraham? We must remember that a wife was considered in many ancient societies to be a possession of her husband. Khety is of course mainly referring to his own officials in this injunction, but it is tempting to think he may also have remembered his awkward situation with Abraham and Sarah.
(Reprinted by permission from Institute for Biblical Archaeology Newsletter, October-December 1996, p. 9.)
BSP 10:1 (Winter 1997) p. 8
Bibliography
Aling, C.F.
1981 Egypt and Bible History. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Book House.
Bell, B.
1971 The Dark Ages in Ancient History I: The First Dark Age in Egypt. American Journal of Archaeology 75: 1–26.
Grimal, N.
1992 A History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lichtheim, M.
1975 Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1. Berkley: University of California Press.