Reference Sources in this section include:

Encyclopaedia Britannica - 15th Edition

 

2009 AM

1991 BC

AMENEMHET I (1991 BC to 1962 BC) This year (1991 BC) is: three years after (1994 BC) when Noah died, and one year after Sodom and Gomorah revolted against Chedloraomer (ELAM); and Abram is 61 years old. Amenhemet I founded the 12th Dynasty of Egypt. He was the vizier under the last king of the 11th Dynasty. With the aid of a number of provincial governors he restored unity to Egypt after the civil war that followed the death of his predecessor. Amenemhet was an experienced administrator and moved the capital from Thebes to a more central location at al-Fayyum, an oasis-like depression lying southwest of Cairo, and appointed his supporters to various posts within the administration. Levying troops from one of the governors, Amenemhet sailed up the Nile, destroying what resistance remained to his rule. to safeguard the Delta he built fortresses along the eastern and western frontiers. Amenemhet also added to the Temple of Amon at Thebes and built at various other sites in Upper Egypt.

There is famine in Canaan, so Abram goes to Egypt. According to this chronology, Abram (aged 75) went into Egypt about 1977 BC. So the Pharaoh in Egypt then was Amenhemet I. According to the book of Jasher, Oswiris is King of Egypt and Rikayou is his Prefect. Rikayou cunningly usurped the government of Egypt through taxes. God delivers Sarah from the "desires" of Pharaoh, and they (Abram, Lot and Sarah) leave Egypt. Abram and Lot separate. Abram stays in Canaan, then goes to Mamre in Hebron. Lot went east to Jordan. Abram meets the priest Melchizadek.

2029 AM

1971 BC

Co-Regency: AMENEMHET and SESOSTRIS I (The name "Sesostris" is derived from "Senwosret". Note the similarity of name "Senwosret", and the name "Oswiris" the King of Egypt as recorded in the Book of Jasher.) Amenemhet made his son Sesostris, co-regent. The younger ruler assumed the task of extending Egyptian control into Nubia (the modern Sudan), advancing as far as the Second Cataract of the Nile and building fortifications at strategic points. Under Amenemhet, the copper mines at Sinai were worked and punitive raids were made against the local Bedouin tribes.

2038 AM

1962 BC

(NOTE: According to this chronological work, this was Abram's 90th year, when God confirmed His covenant with Abram (Ahram is in Canaan). Abram's son Ishmael, born of Sarah's handmaiden, is four years old). Enc. Britannica's 15th edition chronology, says that this year was the 30th year of Amenemhet I's reign in Egypt. He was assassinated. His son, Sesostris, while returning from a raid against the Libyans in the Wadi an-Natrun (a large dry watercourse, extending into Egypt, near Cairo) received news of Amenemhet's assassination and hurried back to the capital to assume the kingship. The "Instructions of Amenemhet", a political piece, couched in the old king's words, described the assassination attempt, confirmed the new king, and gave him advice concerning the government. Another politically motivated work, "The Story of Sinuhe", described Sesostris' receipt of the news, his reaction, and the glory of his reign. Amenemhet I of Egypt died in 1962 BC.

2038 AM

1962 BC

SESOSTRIS I (1962 BC to 1927 BC) sole rule as king of Egypt begins in 1962 BC. (The name "Sesostris" is derived from "Senwosret". Note the similarity of name "Senwosret", and the name "Oswiris" the King of Egypt as recorded in the Book of Jasher at the time that Abram went into Egypt, according to this chronology about 1977 BC.) During his reign he brought Egypt to a peak of internal and external prosperity. During the previous co-regency ten years with his father Amenemhet, Sesostris assumed the more rigorous duties of rule. While his father completed his domestic reforms, Sesostris undertook the conquest of Nubia, the land immediately south of Egypt. Once securely in power, Sesostris continued the conquest of Nubia. Eventually, he thoroughly subjugated Nubia, and established forts with garrisons at strategic points. The border was established at Buhen, at the Second Nile Cataract, where a strong fortress was erected. The governor of Elephantine, the king's own appointee, became responsible for the new territory. After the war the exploitation of Nubia's resources began. Gold, copper, amethysts and diorite were extracted at several sites, and inscriptions by the leaders of expeditions and inspectors attest much activity. The post at Kerma continued to trade with inner Africa, and a noble from Middle Egypt was probably placed in charge of its operations. Within Egypt, Sesostris worked the granite quarries at Aswan and gold mines and quarries in the Wadi Hammamat, east of Coptos in Upper Egypt, while he pursued an active building programme. Nine years after Sesostris I's sole rule began, in 1953 BC, God made His Covenant with AbraHAm. Abraham's first son, Ishmael was aged 13, and Abraham visited the land of the Philistines. He went via Sodom and Egypt, and Sodom was destroyed at that time. God changed Sarai's name to Sarah. A year later, in 1952 BC in the land of the Philistines, Isaac was born to Abram (aged 100) and Sarah. About 1950 BC, Isaac was weaned; at a celebration feast, Isaac's 15 or 16 year old brother (who was born of Sarah's Egyptian handmaid, Hagar), mocks Isaac, and here begins a 400 year period of racial antagonism, affliction or mocking of the seed (or the promise of the seed) by the Egyptians. Sesostris I built a major sanctuary at Heliopolis, near Cairo. At Thebes he built Karnak, where the cult and temple of Amon began to flourish. Sesostris also brought several of the western oases under his jurisdiction, as is shown by messengers and police officials who travelled there. With Palestine and Syria, Sesostris maintained peaceful relations. As shown by The Story of Sinuhe, the king had no desire to acquire territory in Asia, although his emissaries traversed its lands and sought to exert diplomatic pressures. Sesostris built his pyramid and funerary temple near his father's, at Lisht, near the capital, in the Fayyum. In its architecture, the king fostered a revival of Old Kingdom traditions, imitating the pyramid complex of Pepi II, a Sixth Dynasty King.

2071 AM

1929 BC

Co-Regency: SESOSTRIS I and AMENHEMHET II. During the 42nd year of Sesostris I's reign, he appointed his son Amenhemhet II as co-regent, and passed some of the more strenuous duties to him. Two years later, the king died after a long and prosperous reign.

2072 AM

1928 BC

AMENHEMHET II begins his sole reign. He was grandson of Amenhemhet I. He furthered Egypt's trade relations and internal development. While he was still co-regent with his father earlier, Amenemhet led a gold-mining expedition to Nubia. Under his sole rule, the assistance treasurer led additional expeditions for gold and copper to Nubia and Sinai.

During Amenhemhet II's reign, but living outside of Egypt, Abraham's father TERAH died, and his wife SARAH died. Other patriarchs of the early Adamic generations also died. Abraham's son Isaac turns 40 years old and marries Rebekah.

2094 AM

1906 BC

In Amenemhet II's 24th year a new copper and gold mine shaft was opened at Sinai. Another official led a trade venture to Punt, a land on the African coast near modern Somalia, sailing down the Red Sea from an Egyptian coastal port. Statues of Amenemhet have been found at several Syrian cities; and a treasure of his reign discovered in a temple at Tawd, a town in Upper Egypt, reveals Cretan and Syrian stylistic patterns, verifying the foreign contacts. Within Egypt the provincial governors continued to play administrative key roles, and fine tombs were provided them near their home towns. Amenemhet's pyramid tomb, built at Dahshur, close to Al-Fayyum, an oasis-like depression southwest of Cairo, was patterned after his father's, with a fine limestone casing built over retaining walls and a rubble core. Near it was found the jewellery belonging to a daughter of Amenemhet, revealing the artistic heights of his reign.

2103 AM

1897 BC

Co-Regency: AMENHEMHET II and SESOSTRIS II. Amenhemhet II's son, Sesostris II, begins co-rule in Egypt. In this his first year, an expedition that made a trading venture to Punt, on the southeast African coast around Somalia, recorded its trip on the rocks at Egypt's Red Sea port.

2105 AM

1895 BC

SESOSTRIS II begins his sole rule in Egypt. He devoted himself to the peaceful exploitation of Nubia, Egypt's territory in the Sudan, and initiated the development of the Fayyum, a great oasis-like depression west of the Nile above Cairo. Early in Sesostris' sole reign, the fortresses of Lower Nubia, built by the king's grandfather, were inspected.

2108 AM

1892 BC

Isaac (aged 60) and his Rebekah have twin sons - ESAU (the firstborn) and JACOB. Back in Egypt, the fort at Aniba, near the gold-mining region of Nubia is rebuilt. As attested by commemorative stelae and inscriptions, diorite, copper, and possibly amethysts were extracted at a number of sites in Nubia. Inscriptions at Sinai indicate that the king's miners were also active there. Contacts with Palestine and Syria were also maintained, as is shown by the scene of Asiatic traders in a provincial tomb at Bani Hasan, in Middle Egypt. During this reign the noble family at this site increased its influence through intermarriage with neighbouring potentates. Sesostris II's greatest achievement was his beginning of the development of the Fayyum, the rich area near the royal residence. There, where the lake in the Fayyum received in its flow from a branch stream off the Nile, the king constructed a dam and floodgates to regulate the lake's level and reclaim partly the marshy ground around its shores. The project was later extended widely by his grandson. Neaby, Sesostris built his pyramid, which exhibits great craftsmanship; part of its town, nearby, has survived, yielding town planning evidence and documents that reveal Egypt's social conditions. In a princess' tomb in the complex, a magnificent set of jewellery was found. A few months before his death in 1878 BC, the king made Sesostris III his co-regent.

2122 AM

1878 BC

SESOSTRIS III begins his reign in Egypt. He completely reshaped Egypt's government and extended his dominion in Nubia, the land immediately south of Egypt. During the reigns of his predecessors, the provincial nobles of Middle Egypt had enhanced their power through royal favours and intermarriage with the families of neighbouring potentates. At some time after Sarah's death, Abraham remarried a lady called Keturah. They had children from that marriage, and they are recorded in Genesis 25 of the Bible. In 1878 BC, Abraham is 174 years old. He dies a year later, in 1877 BC, aged 175 years.

2129 AM

1871 BC

Before his first Nubian campaign in year eight, Sesostris III cut a canal through the First Nile Cataract at Elephantine, thus easing the passage of both military and commercial shipping. Probably after his Nubian campaigns, Sesostris conducted a minor foray into Palestine, advancing to Schechem. Inscriptions of the king's officials reveal that miners were busy at Sinai and at several places in Nubia. Within Egypt, Sesostris built a fine temple at Naj'al Madamud, near Thebes in Upper Egypt. The king built his pyramid near his grandfather's but incorporated the innovations of his father's tomb. In the complex, fine sets of two princesses' jewellery were recovered.

2136 AM

1864 BC

In Egypt, around the middle of Sesostris III's reign, the rich provincial tombs, which were a mark of the nobles' power, abruptly ceased to be built. Simultaneously, the memorials of middle class persons increased at Abydos, the Upper Egyptian shrine of the popular god Osiris. As shown by documents of the next dynasty, Sesostris III strengthened the central government, shearing the feudal nobility of their power and influence. Egypt was divided into three districts, one from the Delta to the capital in the Fayyum, above Cairo; the second from the capital to Thebes; and the third from Thebes to the southern border. Each of these departments possessed a hierarchy of officials and scribes directly responsible to the vizier. Additionally, the vizier possessed a ministry, and countrywide departments of the treasury, agriculture, war, and labour resources were created. These assumed governmental functions and kept strict accounts of income and disbursement. So effective were the reforms that in the following dynasty, in spite of weak rulers, the central government under the viziers continued to function effectively for over a century. Sesostris III's second great achievement was his overhaul and extension of Egypt's Nubian possessions. Probably responding to raids by the tribes of western Nubia, which were endangering trade with the African hinterland, the king conducted four campaigns in which he quelled the nomads and extended the frontier to between the Second and Third Nile cataracts. Next he rebuilt several forts of the series erected by his predecessors in Lower Nubia, and added three in the freshly acquired territory. These, plus four others, either completely rebuilt or newly founded, formed a network within signalling distance of one another, extending from the new frontier to the central fort at Buhen at the Second Nile Cataract. The new forts displayed advanced construction techniques and were admirably suited to the terrain. The king left orders that no southerners should pass the outermost forts, except for trade or as emissaries, and then to pass only to the first fort above Buhen, where a trade depot existed. Dispatches from the next reign show that the orders were strictly followed, and both river traffic and nomads in the desert were screened and observed. Nile inundation heights also were recorded at the forts, giving valuable advance notice to Egypt proper. In Egypt, it was partly the exploits of Sesostris III, partly those of his two like-named predecessors, and also the deeds of Ramses II of the 19th dynasty to come, which came to figure in the legend of Sesostris III that Herodotus recorded. The name Sesostris, derived from Senwosret, presents no linguistic difficulties; moreover, Sesostris III's memory long outlived him, for he became the patron deity of Egyptian Nubia. Ramses II accounted for the Asiatic conquests of the legend, and the rest was heroic elaboration.

2158 AM

1842 BC

Noah's son Shem died, aged 600 years. This was 500 years after his son Arphaxad was born (Genesis 11.11). History records that AMENEMHET III began his reign in Egypt in the same year that Noah's son Shem died. Amenemhet III brought Middle Egypt (comprising the 11th and 12th dynasties) to a peak of economic prosperity by completing a system to regulate the inflow of water into Lake Moeris, in the Al-Fayyum depression southwest of Cairo. To celebrate the reclamation of 153,600 acres (62,200 hectares) of land for agricultural use, he erected two colossi of himself nearby, later described by the Greek historian Herodotus. Amenhemhet III also excavated an outflow canal from the lake, thereby utilizing its water for irrigation. The resulting stabilization of the water level also drained some of the marshes that had surrounded the old lake. As part of this great work, the labyrinth described by Herodotus was probably built nearby. It was probably a multifunctional building - palace, temple, town, and administrative centre; ruins of the structure exist south of Amenemhet's pyramid at Hawara, in al-Fayyum. With the country's administration firmly under control, Amenemhet III worked the copper mines at Sinai with unprecedented intensity. Permanent quarters were erected for the miners, with wells nearby and fortifications to repel Bedouin raiders. Quarries throughout Egypt and Nubia likewise witnessed much activity to support the King's building enterprises. Except for minor punitive raids, his reign was peaceful. In Nubia (modern Sudan), Amenemhet III retained the empire won by his predecessors. Artifacts of his reign have been found from beyond the Third Cataract of the Nile to Byblos, an important seaport in Lebanon, an indication of the extent of the territory under his control. His was the last long and successful reign (ending in 1797 BC) of the 12th Dynasty, followed only in this Dynasty by Pharaoh Amenhemhet IV till 1790 BC.

During the reign of Amenemhet reign, Jacob aged 78 (about 1813 BC) visited his uncle, Laban (Genesis 28.1-5), fell in love with Laban's daughter Rachael, and served Laban a long period of 14 years so that he could take Rachael to wife. Mid-way during this time, after the first agreed seven years of service, Laban tricked Jacob by substituting his older daughter, Leah, for Rachael on the wedding night. Hence Jacob's second seven years of service in order to wed Rachael. During the 14 years, Jacob and Leah have seven children (Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Asher, Isaachar, a daughter named Dinah); Jacob and Leah's handmaid have two children (Gad, Asher); and Jacob and Rachael's handmaid have two children (Napthali, Dan )- a total of eleven children, i.e. 10 sons and one daughter. When eventually Jacob can take Rachael to wife, he and Rachael have a son, who they name Joseph - the eleventh son for Jacob. Laban, however, talks Jacob into another six or seven years service before Jacob can return home with his wives and children. It's during this six years service that Amenemhet IV begins his eight or nine year reign in Egypt.

2202 AM

1798 BC

AMENEMHET IV begins his reign in Egypt till 1790 BC. His reign was an uneventful continuation of prosperity.

It was three or four years before the end of Amenhemhet IV's reign that Jacob and his family returned home - to Jacob's birthplace in Canaan. He built a home in Succoth and remained there one and a half years. Then he went to Bethel with his sons for six months. It's now about 1791 BC in this chronology. God blesses Jacob while he is Hebron at this time, and changes Jacob's name to "Israel". The land covenant that was originally made with Abraham is confirmed with Isaac. Jacob then goes to Hebron.

2210 AM

1790 BC

History records that AMENEMHET IV's reign in Egypt ends. He was the last king and second-last ruler of the 12th Dynasty. At the end of the twelfth dynasty in Egypt, the central control of government collapsed, and with it the whole fabric of Egyptian life. During the twelfth dynasty, the Hyksos power started to evolve from a confederation of small tribal groups of Asiatic and Western Semitic origins, which settled in the Delta (north Egypt).

2211 AM

1789 BC

SEBEKNEFERURA (also known as SEBEKNEFRU) now reigns in Egypt. She was the last ruler of the twelfth dynasty till 1786 BC. The end of the long reign of Sebeknefru's father, Amenemhet III, brought her half brother to the throne late in life. When her brother died, however, the absence of a male heir made Sebeknefru the closest in line of succession; she thus took the royal titles and ruled as king. Hers was not a precedent-setting reign, however, for a similar succession had occurred at the end of the 6th dynasty, and tradition records that officials in the 2nd dynasty decided that a woman could hold the royal title. Sebekneferu reigned as a full pharaoh; her statues from the northeastern Nile Delta show her with full royal (king's) regalia and in traditional royal (king's) poses. Nonetheless, she made no attempt to depict herself as a man, as did Queen Hatshepsut of the later 18th Dynasty. Sebeknefru continued normal 12th-dynasty policies. Her highest regnal year date - three - is indicated at the Second Nile Cataract, where the annual inundation level was recorded. With her death the 12th dynasty came to an end.

Rachael, the wife of Jacob, died when giving birth to Jacob's 12th son - BENJAMIN. This chronology places this event during the same year that Sebekneferura began her reign as the last pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty in Egypt.

2214 AM

1786 BC

Dynasty 13 begins? The Delta - near Memphis May have begun c. 1843 BC. Continues till about 1257 AM or 1633 BC.

Dynasty 14 begins Xois - Avaris Continues through to about 1397 AM or 1603 BC.

Under the new system of internal government of the Thirteenth Dynasty, the greater power of the land rested in the hands of the vizier, the king's principal Officer of State. It is believed this dynasty had sixty kings, who may have been appointed for short terms of office. The vizier provided the continuity of the kingdom over a period of approximately 156 years, and also the power for ruling. They controlled most of Egypt. Vizier Ankhu served two of the sixty kings of this Dynasty. These were SEBEKEMSAF I and SEBEKHOTEP III. Toward the end of the Thirteenth Dynasty, Egypt lost control of Lower Nubia.

This Dynasty had 76 kings and it lasted approximately 186 years. The existence of this line is not confirmed by much evidence, and it was possibly only of local importance. The western Delta (north-west Egypt) was disintegrating. A small tenacious regime centred on a place called XOIS and it was from here that these 76 kings came. In the eastern Delta the Asiatics were controlling their affairs without, or with little reference to the central government of the Thirteenth Dynasty. The chiefs of these Asiatics were known in Egypt as the "heqau khasut" or "princes of foreign uplands". It is probably from this term that the name Hyksos is derived.

In this chronology, it was during the first few years of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties that Joseph was sold into Egypt by his jealous brothers. He was imprisoned, but because he could interpret Pharaoh's troublesome dreams, he was released from prison twelve years later. At this time his brother Levi went eastwards - he married and later had three sons born in Canaan. Because Joseph pleased Pharaoh, he was appointed a vizier in Egypt. There were "Seven years of plenty", only to be followed by seven "years of famine". Because of the drought in Egypt and surrounding areas, Jacob and his family enter Egypt. In this chronology this was about 1761 BC. Jacob died when he was 147 years old, during his 17th year in Egypt (1745 BC). The Book of Jasher says that during the 32nd year of the Israelites in Egypt, Joseph was 71 years old. It says that Pharaoh died at that time and MAGRON acceded and ruled under the supervision of Joseph for the next forty years. So Magron could have been one of the kings of the little known Fourteenth Dynasty in the north-west Egyptian Delta, or the king could have been one of the chiefs of the Asiatics from the eastern Delta at that time. (When Joseph died in 1690 BC, both these dynasties were still operating. It was shortly after Joseph died that the Sixteenth Dynasty emerged - a minor line of Hyksos kings in the north Egyptian Delta; and the Fifteenth Dynasty took over the reign of Pharaoh Dudimose (Tutimaos) of the failing Thirteenth Dynasty. So it was into either the Fifteenth or Sixteenth Dynasties that Moses will later be adopted and raised by a Pharaoh "who knew not Joseph").

2280 AM

1720 BC

Authority of the Thirteenth Dynasty started to diminish about 1720 BC, when the Asiatics (from whom the Hyksos power developed) occupied the town of AVARIS in the Eastern Delta (north-eastern Egypt). They began to foster the worship of Seth. Egypt, the nation that for so long stood alone beside its neighbours, now endured the humiliation of a foreign rule growing in the north. The growth of the Hyksos power was gradual, and it increased significantly as central control of the Thirteenth Dynasty weakened. The country was now separated into Upper and Lower Egypt, divided by its natural geographic parts. Civil wars occurred. Each half was internally set by squabbling. The THEBAN rule in the south was threatened by the foreign Asiatic rule in the north - the Hyksos probably mostly Semites (descendants of Noah's son Shem) from Palestine who filtered in across the desert, settled near the Eastern border of Egypt, and extended their control over much of the Delta. The Egyptians were not advanced in the arts of war, whereas the Hyksos introduced advanced new weapons from Asia, as well as horse drawn chariots.

2310 AM

1690 AM

The correlation of Biblical and other Scriptural history appears to be falling into place here with the dates as given in the history of the Egyptian Pharaohs in the fifteenth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Perhaps we should not be too ready to accept the new theories of present-day chronologists (1999 AD), without re-considering the Biblical and Scriptural records. JOSEPH died, aged 110 years old - during the 71st year of Israel entering Egypt. He lived in Egypt for 93 years (according to this chronology during the time when both the thirteenth and fourteenth Dynasties were operating in northern Egypt, from Memphis in the Delta, and Xois in Avaris). He reigned 80 years, 40 of these as king or vizier of the king. The Book of Jasher says that during Magron's subsequent sole rule, the people of Egypt began to rule over Magron and the children of Israel. This seems to support the records of a period of instability in Egypt, when the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties begin to decline, and within another two decades, two new dynasties will emerge - the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties. So four Dynasties (of Asiatic Western-Semitic Hyksos leadership) will be operating concurrently from Thebes, Memphis, and Avaris. The Hyksos seem to enjoy a short period of apparently absolute power for a couple of decades till the Egyptian 17th Dynasty emerges in Thebes around 1650 BC. It takes the 17th Dynasty another 70 to 80 years before they expel the Hyksos influence from northern Egypt by 1570 BC. From now on, Jacob's other sons die within quick succession of each other. I can find records of the deaths of eleven of Jacob's sons, but can find no record to date, of the death of Jacob's favourite youngest son, Benjamin.

2316 AM

1684 BC

A minor line of Hyksos kings emerged in the Delta (north Egypt) about this time, soon to become known as the Sixteenth Dynasty. Scarcely anything is known of the kings who made up this dynasty. In November 1994 AD, an important archaeological find was made about 120 kms north-east of Cairo, of a king named SCHENKOR of the Sixteenth Dynasty. Little is known about these kings. Another recent archaeological find has produced the name of YAKOB-AAM. (There is an uncanny likeness in the names "Yakob" and "Jacob". Could Yakob-aam have belonged to the house or family of Jacob/Israel? Could this man have been Jacob's eleventh son Joseph, who became a vizier in Egypt? This chronology, however, places Joseph's death in 1690 BC, six years before the beginning of the 16th dynasty in 1684 BC.)

2326 AM

1674 BC

SALATIS or SILITIS - In 1674 Dudimose was the Theban King of the now weakened line of the Thirteenth Dynasty. He was defeated by Salatis. Memphis (in middle Egypt) also fell to the first Hyksos King Salatis. He is also thought to have been known as Mayebre Sheshi. He was the first king of the Fifteenth Dynasty. At this time, the influence of Egypt was still recognised in Syria and Nubia. NOTE: In Egypt at this time, there are four dynasties of kings - the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th dynasties. The Fifteenth Dynasty is emerging as the major new power, whilst the Sixteenth Dynasty, to this day, there is little known about it. The steps by which the power under the Hyksos king Salatis developed are now known. Salatis is taken to be the founder of the Fifteenth dynasty, and the Hyksos may have been in control of northern Egypt. They had established relationships with the Theban kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty, which allowed much freedom for travel and trade between the north, middle Egypt, and Nubia in the south. Under the Fifteenth Dynasty Hyksos kings no attempt was made to suppress Egyptian religion or culture; in fact evidence suggests that Egyptian culture flourished more in the Hyksos half of the country than in Thebes at this time. However, the Hyksos did not succeed in taking over the whole of the country. Their actual rule probably did not extend beyond Middle Egypt, while the rest of Egypt consisted of Salatis' vassals. His seals probably reached the Sudan through trade. Salatis fortified Avaris in the north-eastern Delta, making it the chief Hyksos garrison in Egypt. From the time of Salatis (Mayebre Sheshi) founded the Fifteenth Dynasty in Egypt in 1674 BC to 1580 BC when APOPI in the south, quarrelled with SEQENENRE TAO II the Seventeenth Dynasty king in Thebes, was a total of 94 years. The Book of Jasher gives a reign of 94 years for the Pharaoh or King "Melol", who according to the Book of Jasher, was the Pharaoh of the Israelite oppression. Could this "Melol" have been "Mayebre Sheshi", i.e. Salatis of the Fifteenth Dynasty? Could "Melol" have been a king of the little known Sixteenth Dynasty? The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties ran parallel in time (give or take a few years) from about 1680 BC, through to the emergence of the Eighteenth Dynasty which united Egypt again around 1567 BC.

APOPI and KHAYAN

2350 AM

1650 BC

Dynasty 17 of Egypt begins at Thebes (probably descended from kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty under Dudimose) after the fall of Thebes to Salatis.

2420 AM

1580 BC

SEQENENRE TAO II - By 1580 BC, the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt's kings had been under way for some seventy years in Thebes (Middle Egypt). The Seventeenth Dynasty, and the Hyksos Fifteenth Dynasty from the north, had co-existed peacefully for some time, as the Thebans grazed their cattle in the Delta (northern Egypt) which was ruled by the Hyksos. In 1580 BC, or thereabouts, APOPI (from the south) quarrelled with SEQENENRE TAO II, the Seventeenth Dynasty king in Thebes, and war may have erupted between them. Again our attention may be drawn to the fact that "Melol", the Pharaoh or king who oppressed the Israelites according to the Book of Jasher, lived for 94 years, then he caught a plague for ten years and died. Seqenenre Tao II, also died a terrible death after his quarrel with APOPI; and Seqenenre's son Kamose did not take his throne till about ten years after that quarrel. Again one may ask another question - Was "Melol" actually Seqenenre Tao II? The Thebans were the vassals of the Hyksos, and Seqenenre Tao II faced unreasonable demands from the Hyksos. Apopi called on his ally the Cushite Prince (Cush at the southern end of Egypt) to attack the Thebans in the rear, but his plan was thwarted by KAMOSE, son of Seqenenre Tao II. Soon after the raid, Apopi died (Apopi had many collaborators in Middle and Northern Egypt). According to the Book of Jasher, and as chronicled above, Moses would have been acting as King of Cush at this time! Seqenenre Tao II's mummy shows terrible head wounds: a crushing blow, three axe wounds, and a sword thrust. He have died in his sleep or during a battle.

2430 AM

1570 AM

KAMOSE - About 1570 BC, KAMOSE son of Seqenenre Tao II, acceded the throne. He carried on the war and drove the Hyksos to Memphis (northern Egypt, near Cairo). One of his fleets sailed by AVARIS, Apopi's Delta capital. He ruled the southernmost third of Egypt. With troops from Nubia in the south he made a surprise attack on the Hyksos southern stronghold. He continued north to the eastern Delta and taunted the Hyksos king of the Fifteenth Dynasty (Khayan was running the affairs of northern egypt at this time, while Apopi was running the affairs in the south - I do not know whether these two men were viziers, or Pharaohs. If neither of them was a Pharaoh, then who was Pharaoh at that time? Was Salatis still reigning on the throne in northern Egypt?). His brother AHMOSE completed the task of liberation, thus beginning the Eighteenth Dynasty. Kamose and Ahmose had a sister whose name was Nefretari

2433 AM

1567 BC

AHMOSE I - (1567 BC to 1546 BC) - Seqenenre Tao II's second son - he crushed the Hyksos allies in middle Egypt thus ending the Fifteenth Hyksos Dynasty. He captured Memphis. The Sixteenth Dynasty also finished about this time. With Ahmose starting the new Eighteenth Dynasty, and taking over from his brother Kamose, the Seventeenth Dynasty also finished. Ahmose' mother ran the government in Thebes in middle Egypt, while he undertook a waterborne operation against AVARIS, the Hyksos capital in the north-eastern Delta. He captured AVARIS and pursued the enemy as far back to Palestine. As well as this, he had advanced into Nubia in the south, and set up a governor there. There were rich gold mines in the south. He re-activated copper mines at Sinai and resumed trade along the Syrian coast. He married his full blooded sister Nefretari, and he was the first King to re-unify Egypt under a native ruler and restored to Egypt the boundaries it held in the Old Kingdom period of 2686-2160 BC. His wife, Queen Ahmose Nefretari, was given the title "God's Wife of Amon". They had a son who acceded Ahmose - Amenhotep I - in 1546 BC. This gave a renewed emphasis on divine kingship. Ahmose' officers were rewarded with the spoil and captives who became personal slaves. This created an influential military class. An overseer of southern foreign lands was appointed, and the encumbent was accorded the honorific title of "king's son", indicating that he was directly responsible to the king as deputy. By the end of the sixteenth century, there was a vizier in Upper (southern) Egypt, and one in Lower (northern) Egypt. This follows the practice of Viziers as used in the Thirteenth Dynasty.

2454 AM

1546 BC

AMENHOTEP I - The son and successor of Ahmose I. Amenhotep I ruled from from 1546 BC to 1526 BC. He pushed south beyond the Middle Egyptian boundaries. The emerging kingdom of Mitanni beyond Syria and the River Euphrates perhaps threatened Egyptian security in the north. Foreign wars increased Egypt's wealth. Amenhotep had no surviving heir so in 1525, he appointed one of his generals - THUTMOSE I - who married Amenhotep's mother, Ahmose Nefretari, i.e. God's Wife (and heiress) Ahmose. Nefretari was the daughter of Seqenenre Tao II of the Seventeenth Dynasty, and sister of Kamose and Ahmose I. There was a Heliacal rising of Sothis at Memphis, Egypt, on the 9th day of the 11th month, year 9 of Amenhotep I of Egypt.

2475 AM

1525 BC

THUTMOSE I of Egypt reigned 1525 BC to 1512 BC. He was the appointed general of Amenhotep I who had no surviving heir. Thutmose I married Amenhotep's mother, heiress and God's Wife Ahmost Nefretari. He maintained military dominion in the south, and executed a brilliant campaign and victory in Syria and across to the River Euphrates. His "minor wife" was HATSHEPSUT who bore him a son who would become his heir - THUTMOSE II.

2482 AM

1518 BC

There was a Heliacal Rising of Sothis at Thebes in Egypt during the reign of Thutmose I in 1518 BC. This was 20 years after the rising of Sothis at Memphis in 1538 BC.

2488 AM

1512 BC

THUTMOSE II of Egypt begins his reign (1512 BC to 1504 BC). Son of Thutmose I and his minor wife Hatshepsut, he validated his throne by marrying his mother Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut therefore became heiress and God's Wife of Thutmose II (her son). He launched an attack against rebels in the south. At his death Hatshepsut had only a daughter. However, Thutmose II had a son to a minor wife. The son was born about 1514-1513 BC, and aged nearly ten years when Thutmose II died. This son served as a priest in the Temple of Amon, and on his father's death he became Thutmose III.

2496 AM

1504 BC

THUTMOSE III and HATSHEPSAT of Egypt reign (1504 BC to 1482 BC), then the sole reign of Thutmose III (1482 BC to 1450 BC). There was a heliacal rising of Sothis during the reign of Thutmose II (lasted for 54 years to 2550 AM or 1450 BC) on 28th day of the 11th month. Son of Thutmose II, and born of Thutmose II's minor wife, he acceded his father's throne when he was ten years old. Till then he was serving as a priest in the Temple of Amon. He created the Egyptian Asiatic Empire and became Egypt's greatest ruler. During his first two years as Thutmose III he theoretically controlled the land, but actually it was the mature Hatshepsut (his stepmother) who governed as regent. In Thutmose second year of his reign, she boldly assumed the kingship herself. She was at some time crowned "king" at Karnak. Her famous temple, and its reliefs assert that her father, Thutmose I, announced her accession. Her joint rule lasted until her death in 1482 BC. In less formal documents she was referred to as "King's Great Wife", while Thutmose III was referred to as Pharaoh.

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