Amenhotep II and The Historicity of The Exodus Pharaoh

TMSJ 17/1 (Spring 2006) 81-110
AMENHOTEP II AND THE HISTORICITY

OF THE EXODUS-PHARAOH
Douglas Petrovich *
A belief in biblical inerrancy necessitates an accompanying belief in the

Bible’s historical accuracy. Biblical history can be harmonized with Egyptian
history, claim s to the contrary notwithstanding. Israel’s exodus from Egypt in 1446
B.C. fits with the chronology of the 18th Dynasty pharaohs in Egyptian records. The
tenth biblical plague against Egypt fits with what is known about the death of
Amenho tep II’s firstborn son. If this Amenhotep was the exodus pharaoh, biblical
data abo ut the perish ing o f his army in the Red Sea should not be understood as an
account of his death. His second Asiatic campaign very possibly came as an effort
to recoup his reputation as a great warrior and recover Egypt’s slave-base after the
loss of two million Israelite slaves throu gh th e exo dus. The record of 3 ,600 Apiru
on the booty list for his second Asiatic campaign appears to be a small number of
the escaped Hebrews whom he recaptured and brought back to Egypt. If Hatshepsut
is identified with the biblical M oses’ ad optive m other, attem pts to erase her mem ory
from Egyptian records may have come from efforts of Amenhotep II because of her
part in rescuing Mo ses when he wa s a bab y and becom ing his ad optive m other.
Such scenarios show the plausibility of harmonizing the biblical account of the
exodus with secular history and supporting the position of biblical inerrancy.
*****
I. Introduction
Historical accuracy has been and is a major issue in attacks on the inerrancy
of the Bible. Ladd’s words revea l his yielding to such an attack: “[T]he authority of
the W ord of God is not dependent upon infallible certainty in all matters of history
and criticism.” 1 A recent revisionistic version of Israel’s history has questioned the
Bible’s account of that history. 2 A prime example is the words of Finkelstein, who
speaks of “the rise of the true natio nal state in Juda h [in the eighth century B C]. . . .
That national state produced a historical saga so powerful that it led biblical
historians and archaeologists alike to recreate its mythical past—from stones and
*
Douglas Petrovich, a TMS alumnus, serves on the faculty of Novosibirsk Biblical Theological
Seminary, Novosibirsk, Russia.
1
George Ladd, The New Testament and Criticism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967) 16.
2
William G. Dever, What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001) 4.
81
82 The Master’s Seminary Journal
potsherds.” 3 Such attacks o n biblical inerra ncy nec essitate a reasoned defense of the
Bib le’s historical accuracy. L indsell writes, “W hen inerrancy is lost, it is palpably
easy to drift into a m ood in which the historicity of Scripture along with inerrancy
is lost.” 4
The following discussion examines the trustworthiness of biblical history
by using the Hebrew exodus from Egypt (hereafter, simply “exodus”) as a test case.
Mo re specifically, an examination of the exodus-pharaoh’s life will show whether
biblical history can be harmonized and synchronized with Egyptian history and
whether biblical chronology is clear and trustworthy in light of a literal interpretation
of relevant passages.
The need for examining the former issue is that many Egyptologists are
denying the veracity of the exodus, attempting to show that the exodus never
occurred. Renowned E gyptologist Donald R edford concludes, “The alm ost
insurmountable difficulties in interpreting the exodus-narrative as history have led
some to dub it ‘mythology rather than . . . a detailed reporting of the historical facts’
and therefore imp ossible to locate geo graphically.” 5 Redford then allies himself with
this view when he states, “[D]espite the lateness and unreliability of the story in
exodus, no one can deny that the tradition of Israel’s coming out of Egypt was one
of long standing.” 6
The need for discussing the latter premise is that many biblical scholars
who affirm the historicity of the exo dus no w date it to the thirteenth century B .C.,
questioning concrete numbers in the Bible that taken literally would place the exodus
in the fifteenth century B.C. The eminent Egyp tologist and b iblical scholar Kenneth
Kitchen is foremost among them: “Thus, if all factors are give n their due weight, a
13th-century exodus remains— at present— the least objectionable dating, on a
combination of all the data (biblical and otherw ise) when those data are rightly
evaluated and understood in their co ntext.” 7 Though Kitchen is a no ted sch olar in
OT history and chronology, the accuracy of his conclusion is disputed.
Wood rejects the 13 th-century-exodus theory by a reevaluation of the
archaeological evidence pertinent to key Pa lestinian cities.8 Yo ung also opp oses this
trend:
A date for the exodus in the mid-fifteenth century BC has been much maligned because
of favorite theories that identified various pharaohs of a later date with the pharaohs of
the oppression and exodus. . . . It is hoped that the present study has strengthened the
case for the accuracy of the chronological numbers as preserved in the Masoretic text,
and at the same time has helped to discredit theories which put the exodus anywhere but
in the middle of the Fifteenth Century BC.9
3
Israel Finkelstein, “City-States to States,” in Symbiosis, Symbolism, and the Power of the Past,
eds. William G. Dever and Seymour Gitin (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2003) 81.
4
Harold Lindsell, The Battle for the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976) 206.
5
Donald B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University, 1992) 408-9.
6
Ibid., 412.
7
Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003)
310.
8
Bryant G. Wood, “The Rise and Fall of the 13th-Century Exodus-Conquest Theory,” JETS 48/3
(Sep 2005):476.
9
Rodger C. Young, “When Did Solomon Die?,” JETS 46/4 (Dec 2003):603.
Amenhotep II and the Historicity of the Exodus-Pharaoh 83
Young established a fifteenth-century date for the exodus through chronological

evidence, but this article see ks to accom plish it through historical evidence, evidence
from the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep II (ca. 1455-1418 B.C.). 10 That reign
coincides with the one of the exodus-pharaoh accord ing to conventional views of
biblica l and E gyptian chronology.
Answers to the following questions will show whether A menho tep II is a
viable candidate for the exodus-pharaoh and whether biblical history synchronizes
with Egyptian history. Could the eldest son of Amenhotep II have died during the
tenth plague as the exodus-pharaoh’s son did? Did Amenhotep II die in the Red Sea
as the exodus-pharaoh allegedly did ? 11 Can any of Amenhotep II’s military
campaigns be related to the e xodus events? Can the loss of over two million Hebrew
slaves be accounted for in the records of Amenhotep II’s reign? Is there evidenc e to
confirm that Amenhotep II interacted with the Hebrews after they left Egypt? If
Amenhotep II is the exodus-pharaoh, could the obliteration of Hatshepsut’s image
from many Egyptian monume nts and inscriptions be a backlash from the exodu s?
II. Two Background M atters
Biblical Chronology: Dating the Exodus

The central text for establishing the exact date of the exodus, 1 Kgs 6 :1,
connects it to later Israelite history by noting that Solomon be gan constructing the
Temple in the 480th year a fter the exodus, signifying an elapsed time of 479 years. 12
All but the minimalists agree that the 479 years begin with M ay of 967 o r 966 B .C.,
depending on whether o ne accepts Yo ung’s or T hiele’s version of Solomon’s regnal
dates. 13 Thus the 479 years be gan in either 14 46 o r 1445 B .C., either of which can
be substantiated by the biblical text and agree with the conclusions of this article.
Case for dating the exodus in 1446 B.C. A compelling argument for
choosing 1446 is that the Jubilee cycles agree exactly with that date, yet are
com pletely independent of the 479 years of 1 Kgs 6:1. The Jubilee dates are precise
only if the priests began counting years when they entered the land in 1406 B.C. (cf.
Lev 25:2-10). The Talmud (‘Ara kin 12b) lists seventeen cycles from Israel’s entry
until the last Jubilee in 5 74 B .C., fourteen yea rs after Jerusalem ’s destruction , a
10
Both here and throughout the present work, any dating that follows the formula, “ca. xxxx-yyyy
B.C.,” signifies the regnal years of a given monarch, unless otherwise noted. The reason for settling on
these dates will be discussed subsequently.
11
It is probably more accurate to refer to the Red Sea as the “Sea of Reeds,” but the traditional
designation will be used here. For an excellent study on this topic, see Hoffmeier’s chap. 9, “The Problem
of the Re(e)d Sea” (James K. Hoffmeier, Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the
Exodus Tradition [New York: Oxford University, 1996] 199).
12
Young, “When Did Solomon Die?,” 602. A textual variant has arisen in 1 Kgs 6:1, with the
original text reading either “480th year” (MT and Vg) or “440th year” (LXX). Though the antiquity of
the LXX renders its text important for determining the originality of any variant in the Hebrew Bible,
the MT possesses greater authority than any ancient translation, including the LXX (cf. Ernst Würthwein,
Text of the Old Testament, 2d ed., trans. Erroll Rhodes [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995] 116; Edwin R.
Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings [reprint, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1994] 90-94). The
“480th year” is taken to be original.
13
Young, “When Did Solomon Die?” 601-2; Thiele, Mysterious Numbers, 80. Kitchen also prefers
967 B.C. (Kitchen, Reliability of the OT 203).
statement also found in chap . 11 o f The Seder ‘Olam, which predates the Talmud.14
Consequently, 1446 is preferred over 1445.15
Case for dating the exodus to 1267 B.C. Some prefer dating the exodus
late, in 1267 B .C., interpreting “480th” figuratively. Actually, “Dating the period of
the opp ression and exodus to the fifteenth century B.C . has large ly been replaced in
favor of a thirteenth-century date.” 16 One reason for this change is an alleged
superior correspondence with the historical and archaeological record, since (1) the
earliest extra-biblical attestation to Israel’s presence in Canaan is the M ernep tah
Stele of ca. 1219 B.C., and (2) no evidence of the Israelites in Canaan from ca.
1400-1200 B.C. exists. However, late-exodus proponents should remembe r the
“invisibility of the Isra elites in the archae ology of Canaan betwe en ca. 1200 and
1000” B.C ., so the extension of their invisibility by two more centuries sho uld cre ate
no additional problem.17 Mo reover, Millard notes by analogy that the Amorites are
absent from the archaeology of Babylonia, as only the texts attest to their presence,
yet no scholar doubts their impact on M esopotamia’s history in the early second
millennium B.C.18
A second reason for this change is that Raamses, the store-city that the
Israelites built (Exod 1:11), is usually identified with Pi-Ramesses, which flourished
from ca. 1270-1100 B.C. and was comparable to the largest cities of the Ancient
Near East (hereafter, “ANE”), but was built only during the reign of Ramses II (ca.
1290-1223 B.C.). 19 W hether or no t Exo d 1:1 1 is pro phetic, that Pi-Ram esses is
biblical Raamses, is not guaranteed. Scolnic warns, “The truth is that there are very
few sites indeed that yield the kind of evidence required to make the site identifica-
14
Young, “When Did Solomon Die?” 599-603. Advocates of a thirteenth-century-B.C. exodus have
yet to explain the remarkable coincidence of the Jubilee cycles, which align perfectly with the date of
1446 B.C. for the exodus.
15
Moreover, an exact month and day for the exodus can be deduced, as God both established for
Israel a lunar calendar that began with the month of Nisan (originally “Abib,” per Exod 13:4) and
precisely predicted the day of the exodus. The new moon that began Nisan of 1446 B.C. reportedly
occurred at 19:48 UT (Universal Time) on 8 April (Fred Espenak, “Phases of the Moon: -1499 to -1400,”
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/phase/phases-1499.html, accessed on 02/20/06), assuming there
were no significant variations in the earth’s rotation, apart from the roughly 25 seconds per century that
NASA allows for the tidal retardation of the earth’s rotational velocity. However, factoring in variations
caused by differences in points of observation and by the “long day” of Josh 10:13 and the reversed
shadow of 2 Kgs 20:10, one can estimate that the first day of Nisan in Egypt fell on Friday, 10 April,
1446 B.C. From here, the biblical text can extrapolate the exodus date. The Lord said that on the tenth
day of the month (19 April), each Jewish family was to slaughter an unblemished lamb and eat the
Passover Feast (Exod 12:3). On the fifteenth day of the month (before sunset on 25 April), the morning
after the Death Angel came at about midnight and struck down all of the firstborn of Egypt (Exod 12:12,
29), the Israelites began their exodus (Exod 12:33, 34, 39; Num 33:3). Since they counted their days
from dusk to dusk, the fifteenth day of the month included both the Friday night in which the Death
Angel passed over them and Saturday’s daytime hours, during which they departed. Therefore, the
exodus may be dated with relative confidence to 25 April 1446 B.C.
16
Hoffmeier, Israel in Egypt 124.
17
Alan Millard, “Amorites and Israelites: Invisible Invaders—Modern Expectation and Ancient
Reality,” in The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions, eds.
James K. Hoffmeier and Alan Millard (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004) 152-53.
18
Ibid., 152.
19
Hoffmeier, Israel in Egypt 119, 125; Wood, “The Rise and Fall” 478; Kitchen, Reliability of the
OT 255.
tions that we, especially we who are openly interested in religion, yearn to make.” 20
Yet presumptuous external arguments have prompted many to advance the date of
the exo dus forward by two centuries, and have taken 1 Kgs 6:1as symbolical.
Scholars have proposed two explanations to explain “the 480th” year
allegorically, one based on calculating a generation as being twenty years 21 and
another based o n equal and non-equa l components. 22 One weakness with any
allegorical interpretation is that in 1 Kgs 6:1, Moses used an ordinal numb er, not a
cardinal, making a figurative use even more inexplicable. Another weakness is that
the exodus-pharaoh followed an exc eedingly lengthy reign, no t boasted of one, as
does Ramses II. Moses fled from pharaoh, who sought to execute him for killing an
Egyptian (Exod 2:15), departing from Egypt when he “was approaching the age of
forty” (Acts 7:23). Only “after forty years had passed” did the angel speak to him at
the burning bush (Acts 7:30), which immediately follows the statement that “in the
cou rse of those many days, the king of Egypt died” (Exod 2:23). Thus the pharaoh
who preceded the exodus-pharaoh m ust have ruled beyond forty years, a criterion not
met by the modest reign of Seti I (ca. 1305-1290 B.C.), Ramses II’s predecessor.23
Additiona lly, if “480th” merely represents a collection of equally or non-
equally divisible compo nents, what is to prevent the subjective periodization of other
numbers within Scripture? In Exodus 12:40-41, Moses notes that “at the end of 430
years— to the very day—all the hosts of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt.”
Does 430 also represent a compilation of time periods? If so, are they divid ed into
10-year spans, since the number is indivisible by 20? Is the inclusion of the qualifier,
“to the very day,” sim ply to be dismissed as a later scribal gloss? Mo reover, who can
allegorize the number enshrouded in mystery correctly? Even opponents of biblical
inerrancy recognize the folly of such allegorization, one calling it the devising of
“ingenious solutions. The most common trick has been to reduce time spans to
generations: thus the 480 figure must really rep resent twelve genera tions.”
The preference must be for understanding 1 K gs 6:1 literally. Cassuto
studied ascending and descending H ebrew nu mbers. 24 As Wood notes from this
study, a numb er written in ascen ding o rder— as with “eightieth and four-hundredth”
in 1 Kgs 6:1—is always “intended to be a technically precise figure .” 25 Besides, no
allegorical use of “480th” adequately replaces its natural use. Since the advocates of
20
Benjamin Edidin Scolnic, “A New Working Hypothesis for the Identification of Migdol,” in
Future of Biblical Archaeology 91.
21
22
Kitchen, Reliability of the OT 308-9. The nine, 40-year periods include, (1) Egypt to Sinai to
Jordan (Num 11:33); (2) Othniel’s rule (Judg 3:11); (3-4) Eighty years of peace after Ehud (Judg 3:30);
(5) Peace after Deborah (Judg 5:31); (6) Gideon (Judg 8:28); (7) Eli (1 Sam 4:18); (8) Samson’s
judgeship and Samuel’s floruit (Judg 15:20; 1 Sam 7:2); and (9) David’s reign (1 Kgs 2:11). The five
aggregate periods include, (1) Forty-eight years for Abimelek, Tola, and Jair; (2) Thirty-one years for
Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon; (3) Thirty-two years for Saul’s reign, (4) four years for Solomon’s
reign; and (5) five theoretical years for the rule of Joshua and the elders of his era.
23
In contrast, Thutmose III, the father and predecessor of Amenhotep II who ruled just under fifty-
four years, is the only other pharaoh of the Eighteenth or Nineteenth Dynasty to rule over forty years.
This factor, combined with all of the other evidence, causes one writer to declare, “Thutmose III must
be the ruler whose death is recorded in Exodus 2:23” (John Rea, “The Time of the Oppression and
Exodus,” Grace Journal 2/1 [Winter 1961]:11).
24
Umberto Cassuto, The Documentary Hypothesis and the Composition of the Pentateuch
(Jerusalem: Magnes, 1961) 52.
25
Wood, “The Rise and Fall” 482.
a late exodus are more driven by arguments from silence that the Israelites could not
have inhabited Canaan before the thirteenth century B.C. than by textual evidence,
this numb er should be taken literally, reinforcing 1446 B.C. as the year of the
exodus.
Egyptian Chronology: Dating the Pharaonic Reigns

Before determining whether Amenhotep II is a viable candidate for the
exodus-pharaoh, one must synchronize the date of the exo dus with Egyp tian history.
Though inspiration does not extend to extra-biblical literature or ancient inscriptions,
some extan t writings are trustworthy. Several factors are relevant.
First, the Ebers Papyrus, an ancient Egyptian manuscript that dates the
heliacal rising of Sothis in Year 9, Month 3, Season 3, Day 9 (ca. 15 Ma y) of Amen-
hotep I’s reign, record s this astron omical even t that assigns its composition to an
identifiab le time in the Eighteenth Dyn asty.26 Since astronome rs can p inpoint this
event by charting the positions of stars in antiquity, the papyrus can be dated to ca.
1541 B.C., making the initial regnal year ca. 1550 B.C.. This widely accepted dating
is based on the ancient capital of Memphis as the point of observation, despite the
Theban provenance o f the pap yrus. A T heban po int of ob servation, which is
accepted by other Egyptologists, dates the papyrus to ca. 1523 B.C.27 Though the
Egyptians never stated where they observed the Sothic rising, Olympiodorus noted
in A.D. 6 that it was celebrated at Alexandria , after being observed at M emphis.28
Therefore, M emphis is the probable correct point of observation for the rising.
Second, even without astronomical dating, the chronology of Egypt in the
mid-1400s B.C. rem ains sure. W ard notes that “New Kingdom chronology can be
fairly well established on the basis of the monuments and synchronisms, without
recourse to the astrono mical material.” 29 As for the Eighteenth Dyna sty, he adds that
the 25-year gap separating current theories on its starting date narrows to a scant
three or four years by the middle of the dynasty, meaning that most mainstream
Egyp tologists consider the dating of Egypt’s exo dus-era history to be fixed and
reliable.30
Last, regnal dates of Eighteenth-Dynasty pharaohs from the Ebers Pap yrus
to the exodus are fixed with relative certainty. With firm regnal dates for Amenhotep
I, the reigns of the subsequent Eighteenth-Dynasty pharaohs down to Amenho tep II
26
The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (ca. 1560-1307 B.C.) saw the reunification of Egypt after an
era of foreign rule under the Hyksos and initiated a radically new era. The northward thrusts of Theban
dynasts continued until Thutmose I crossed the Euphrates River in ca. 1524 B.C.. Egypt also expanded
into Sudan, building many temples at Gebel Barkal, about 1,280 mi south of Memphis. The state accrued
vast riches through foreign expeditions that changed Egyptian society. The nation no longer functioned
in isolation, but Egypt interacted with Mitanni, the Hittites, Assyria, Babylonia, and a host of
principalities in Syria and Palestine (William W. Hallo and William Kelly Simpson, The Ancient Near
East: A History, 2d ed. [Fort Worth, Tex.: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998] 253).
27
William A. Ward, “The Present Status of Egyptian Chronology,” BASOR 288 (Nov 1992):58-59.
Not all scholars are convinced that astronomical evidence provides “benchmark dates” for the reigns of
given pharaohs (ibid., 53, 54). Uncertainty about dates, however, does not characterize all regnal dating,
but rather only that of selected rulers. Therefore, if direct evidence of an absolute date that is fixed to a
time in the reign of a pharaoh is connected to a series of predecessors or successors whose regnal lengths
are certain, benchmark dates can be assigned to their reigns.
28
Ibid., 59.
29
Ibid., 56. Egypt’s New Kingdom (ca. 1560-1069 B.C.) consists of Dynasties 18-20.
30
Ibid.
are as follows: Thutmose I (ca. 1529 -1516 B.C.), T hutmose II (ca. 1516-1506 B.C.),
Queen Hatshepsut (ca. 1504 -1484 B .C.), Thutmose III (ca. 1506-1452 B.C.), and
Amenhotep II (ca. 1455-1418 B.C.). 31 W ith these reigns chronologically ordered, a
positive evaluation of Amenhotep II’s candidacy for the exodus-pharaoh is possible.
III. The Tenth P lague a nd the Firstborn So n of A menh otep II
God told Moses that he would harden pharaoh’s heart and that pharaoh
would refuse to free the Israelites (Exod 4:21 ). Go d then instructed Moses to tell
pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is my son, my firstborn. And I said to you, “Let
my son go, that he may serve me.” But you have refused to let him go. B ehold, I will
kill your son, your firstborn’” (Exod 4:22b-23). After the ninth plague, God repeated
this pred iction: “[A ]ll the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn
of the pharaoh who sits on his throne” (Exod 11:5). The challenge is to identify the
eldest son of Amenhotep II. Several candidates are possible.
W as it Thutmose IV? For the exodus-pharaoh, the worst p art of G od’s
prediction of judgment was that his own firstborn son would die. If Amenhotep II
was the exodus-pharaoh, his firstborn son had to die before ruling, which the
historical record should confirm. The son who succeeded Amenhotep II was
Thutmose IV (ca. 1418 -1408 B.C.), who se Dream Stele— which is located between
the paws of the Great Sphinx—reveals that he was not the original heir to the
throne.32 Moreover, inscriptional and papyritious evidence confirms that Thutmo se
IV was not the eldest son of Amenhotep II.
W as it Prince Amenhotep? The papyrus British Museum 10056 (hereinafter
BM 10056) speaks of “P rince A menhotep .” The only title used of him, apart from
“king’s son,” is “sm-priest.” 33 To which Amenhotep is the scribe referring? Although
the year is completely lost from the regnal date on this manuscript, the surviving
mon th (4) and day (1) mark precisely the date of Amenhotep II’s accession, implying
that Prince Amenhotep was his son. 34 This prince almost certainly resided in or near
Memphis,35 due to his office being connected to the high priesthood of Ptah. 36
31
Egyptologists disagree over the year of Thutmose III’s accession, with three views predominant:
ca. 1504 B.C., ca. 1490 B.C., and ca. 1479 B.C. (Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel 104). The year
1504 is preferred because of its exclusive agreement with the Ebers Papyrus when assuming a Memphite
point of observation for the rising of Sothis. Shea agrees (William Shea, “Amenhotep II as Pharaoh,”
Bible and Spade 16/2 [2003]:43). The date used here dates back two years from the standard number,
in order to harmonize with the second Palestinian campaign of Amenhotep II to be discussed later. This
alteration is justifiable either by the uncertain regnal length of Thutmose II, whose reign lasted no less
than four years or more than twelve years (Amélie Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East ca. 3000-330 B.C., vol.
1 [London: Routledge, 1995] 1:191), or by the existence of a variable of ±6 years after calculating the
date for the rising of Sothis (W. S. LaSor, “Egypt,” in ISBE, vol. 2 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982] 40).
32
Peter Der Manuelian, Studies in the Reign of Amenophis II (Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1987) 40.
33
Donald B. Redford, “The Coregency of Tuthmosis III and Amenophis II,” JEA 51 (Dec
1965):111.
34
Ibid., 110.
35
Upon Amenhotep I’s death, Thebes was the most prominent city of the native Egyptians, but
Thutmose I, who did not descend from his predecessor, moved the chief residence of the Egyptian court
from Thebes to Memphis, where he constructed a royal palace that was used until the reign of Akhenaten
(ca. 1369-1352 B.C.). Memphis was also the headquarters of the pharaonic braintrust, where great
military campaigns were planned, and Egyptian soldiers were “armed before pharaoh.” In fact, all of the
Asiatic military campaigns of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II were launched from Memphis, the
residence for pharaonic successors who were coregents (Kuhrt, Ancient Near East 191; Sir Alan
The late Eighteenth Dynasty attests to numerous high priests of Ptah. T heir
order and tenures in no way prohibit counting the Prince Amenhotep of BM 10056
among them. Actually, a significant gap occurs in the sm-priest list between the end
of Thutm ose III’s reign and the b eginning of T hutmose IV’s reign. This gap, which
encompasses the reign of Amenhotep II, can partially be filled with the service of
Prince Amenhotep. Red ford confidently identifies this prince with another royal
personage: the king’s son whom Selim Hassan dubbed “P rince B ,” who erected the
wall-carved stele in the Sphinx temple of Amenhotep II.37 Three factors support the
identification of Prince B with Prince Amenhotep: (1) both were the son of a king;
(2) Amenhotep II was the father of bo th; and (3) they b oth resided at Memphis,
function ing in the ro le of sm-priest.
Prince B/Amenhotep undoubtedly was an important figure, as he was called
the “one who enters before his father without being announced, providing protection
for the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,” and “comm ander of the horses.” 38 Since
his name was enclosed in a cartouche, he was the heir apparent when the stele was
carved, meaning that he stood in line for the throne ahead of Thutmose IV , who
obviously was his younger brother. Therefore, some conclusions about this prince
may be drawn: (1) he was the royal son of Amenhotep II; (2) he was never called
“the king’s eldest son”; (3) he served as the sm-priest and lived in the royal palace
at Memphis; (4) he was once the heir to the throne; (5) he lived approxim ately until
Year 30 or 35 of his father’s reign; and (6) he never ascended to the throne.39 If this
prince was the heir to the throne without being firstborn, who was the eldest son?
Another cand idate for the eldest son of Amenhotep II is an unattested
“Thutmose.” Redford, who considers the exodus as mythical, may supply the answer:
“The fact that he (Prince B/Amenhotep) was named Amenhotep like his father might
Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs [New York: Oxford University, 1976] 177). Regarding Amenhotep II’s
youth, Grimal notes, “That the young prince should have been active at Memphis is no surprise, for it
was there that all young heirs to the throne had been brought up since the time of Thutmose I” (Nicolas
Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, trans. Ian Shaw [Oxford: Blackwell, 1992] 220). Thus Thutmose
I was an excellent candidate for the pharaoh who instructed the chief Hebrew midwives, requesting the
execution of the newborn Israelite boys (Exod 1:15). Numerous summonings of these midwives, whose
authoritative rank necessitated their proximity to national Israel in Goshen, implies their proximity to
pharaoh, a requirement easily satisfied if pharaoh was in Memphis, but not in Thebes. “The journey from
Memphis to Thebes [alone] would have been a slow one of perhaps two to three weeks” (Joyce Tyldesley,
Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh [London: Viking, 1996] 36). A slow pace from Goshen to Memphis,
which did not require the same upward walk as did a trip to Thebes, required a mere 1½ to 2½ days.
Pharaoh’s messengers probably traveled to Goshen on horseback with even a shorter travel time. Wood
identifies Ezbet Helmi, located just over one mile southwest of Pi-Ramesses, as the royal residence of
the exodus-pharaoh during the Israelites’ stay in Goshen (Wood, “The Rise and Fall” 482). Though this
may have been the site of two palace structures (ibid., 483), no epigraphical evidence confirms that
Amenhotep II ever resided there. The discovery of a scarab with his royal cartouche at Ezbet Helmi no
more proves his personal occupation of the city (ibid., 484) than the discovery of a scarab with his
cartouche at Gibeon proves he resided on the Central Benjamin Plateau (James B. Pritchard, Gibeon:
Where the Sun Stood Still [Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1962] 156). Memphis, a known
royal residence of Amenhotep II, is a far better candidate for the Delta site where the exodus-pharaoh
interacted with Moses.
36
Other New-Kingdom princes who were sm-priests also functioned as chief pontiffs at Memphis,
such as “the king’s son and sm-priest, Thutmose,” who appears with his father, Amenhotep III, at his
burial in the Serapeum (Redford, “Coregency of Tuthmosis III” 111).
37
Ibid., 112, 114.
38
Ibid., 114.
39
Ibid., 110, 114.
be taken to indicate that he was not the firstborn, that an older so n named Thutm ose
had been born to Am enho tep II. It would be necessary to assume, ho wever, that this
Thutmose had p assed away in childhood without leaving a trace.” 40 Red ford su ggests
that the practice of these pharaohs was not to name their firstborn sons after
themselves, but to use the alternate birth-name. If Prince Amenhotep was not the
eldest son of Amenhotep II, who by custom would have named his first son
“Thutmose,” then the Thutmose sitting on the lap of Hekreshu, the royal tutor, on the
wall of Tomb 64 in Thebes may be “the eldest son” of the king.41 Therefore, if
Amenhotep II was the exodus-pharaoh, perhaps his eldest son Thutmose died early
in the reign without leaving a trace, thus satisfying both the historical and biblical
records (Exod 1 2:29).
IV. Theory of the Exodus-Pharaoh Dying in the Red Sea
Although the Christian comm unity historically has accepted that the
exodu s-pharaoh died in the Red Sea when his army drowned, Exodus has no such
statement, nor is it stated anywhere else in Scripture.42 One of the most important
principles that seminary studies taught the present writer is, “Say everything the text
says; say no more, and say no less!” Saying more than what is written is eisegesis,
i.e., reading into the text what the interp reter presup poses it to say. Regarding the
fate of this pharaoh, Moses states that the Lord would “be hono red through pharaoh”
by the destruction of his army (Exod 14:4), but he never speaks of pharaoh’s death.
Ps 106:11 as Proof of the Exodus-Pharaoh’s Death in the Red Sea

Supporters of the view that pharaoh died in the Red Sea often appeal to Ps
106:11. The setting is the Red-Sea rebellion that was instigated by “the (Israelite)
fathers [who were] in Egypt” (Ps 106:7). God parted the waters “that he might make
his power known” (Ps 106:8). After describing the parting (Ps 1 06:9), the psalmist
adds, “And he saved them from the hand of the one who hated them and redeemed
them from the hand of the enemy; the waters covered their adversaries; not one of
them was left” (Ps 106:10-11 ). The adversaries are obviously the Egyptian soldiers,
the enemies who were haters of the Jews.
Allege dly, pharaoh—the chief adversary— was among the smitten
Egyptians. If Amenhotep II actually was the exodus-pharaoh, then his reign ended
abruptly during the year of the exodus, or ca. 1446 B.C.. Since he ruled at least 26
years, which will be shown belo w, if he was the exo dus-pharao h, his reign had to
begin by ca. 147 1 B .C. T he weakness with the R ed-Sea-de ath theory, though, is that
it cannot be synchronized with the reigns of the previous five pharaohs, whose regnal
dates are known, and fixed by the Ebers Papyrus. Since they are known—except for
that of Thutmo se II, whose rule lasted between four and twelve years—A menhotep
II’s ninth year could not have begun in or before ca. 1471 B .C. Even if Thutmose II
ruled for a minimum of four years, the reign of Amenhotep II had to begin in ca.
1462 B.C. or later, leaving nine years too few for the reigns of all of the intervening
monarchs. Therefore, due to the limitations that represent fixed points in biblical and
40
Ibid., 114.
41
Ibid., 114-15.
42
Wood, “The Rise and Fall,” 478. Shea correctly notes that “Ex 14-15 is not directly explicit upon
this point,” though he subsequently takes an unjustified logical leap by extrapolating, “but it is the logical
inference there [that pharaoh also drowned]” (Shea, “Amenhotep II as Pharaoh” 46).
Egyptian chronologies, if he was the exodus-pharaoh, Amenhotep II could not have

died in the Red-Sea incid ent.
If the exodus-pharaoh lived through the Red-Sea massacre, Ps 106:11
rema ins unco mpromise d. T he text never sp ecifically mentions pharaoh, so there is
no reason to conclude that he died by d rowning. The hater and enem y of Israel is
Egypt as a co llective wh ole, and certainly not every Egyptian drowned in the Red
Sea when “the water covered their adversaries,” so God delivered his people from
Egypt itself. Only tho se Egyptian adversaries— as national representatives— who
chased the Israelites into the sea were consumed by water, and since they were the
taskforce dispatched on this m ission, their defea t signals the d emise of the entire
nation. Moreover, not one of these representatives, who comprised the bulk of
pharaoh’s vast imp erial arm y, survived after the divid ing walls of the sea collapsed.
This is confirmed by the Mo saic text that probably provided the basis for the
psalm ist’s words: “The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen,
even in Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of
them remained” (Exod 1 4:28).
Ps 136:15 as Proof of the Exodus-Pharaoh’s Death in the Red Sea

The text most frequently used to p rove that pha raoh died with his army is
Ps 136:15: “But H e overthrew pharaoh and His army in the Red Sea. . . .” A cursory
reading of the text leads most to believe that because God “overthrew” pharaoh and
his army, both parties must have died.43 However, the Hebrew verb 931 (n‘ r, “he
shook off”) shows that God actually “shook off” the p owerful pharaoh and his army,
who were bothersome pests that God—whose might is far greater than theirs—mere-
ly brushed aw ay. The sam e Hebrew verb is used in Ps 1 09:23 , where David laments,
“I am gone like a shad ow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like the locust.” Here,
he describes the sad co ndition of his suffering and being cast away. The verb
indicates that David has become as a locust that is casually flicked away from a
garment. David was not describing his own death. The context of Psalm 136, which
states that God “brought Israel out from their midst . . . with a strong hand and an
outstretched arm” (Ps 136:11-12), confirms that the unequalled might of God is the
thrust of the passage , accentuating the ease with which He shoo k off Israe l’s
adversary, p harao h and the migh ty Egyp tian arm y.
Another argument against the view that Ps 136:15 signals the death of
pharaoh is that the verse probably alludes to Exod 14:27, which uses the same verb
for “shake off,” but omits pharaoh from among those whom the Lord shook off.
Instead, the text clearly states, “I [God] will be honored through pharaoh and all his
army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord” (Exod 14:4; cf. 14:17). God
was hono red through pharao h in the mass destruction of his arm y, but pharaoh did
not have to d ie for this to occur. 44 In Ps 136:15 , the psalm writer was not rejoicing
over the death of anyone, but that almighty God shook off the Egyptians by freeing
Israel from their enem y’s clutches.
43
44
Shea disagrees: “Yahweh says that he will get glory over pharaoh. While some of that glory could
be maintained by his loss of troops in the Sea of Reeds, if he escaped with his own life, some of that
glory could have been diminished” (Shea, “Amenhotep II as Pharaoh” 46). This is not true. God
displayed his glory by decimating Sennacherib’s army when the Assyrians marched against Judah and
Sennacherib escaped (2 Kgs 19:35), but it was not diminished when Sennacherib returned unscathed.
The D eath a nd R egna l Length of A menh otep II

Under what circumstances did Amenhotep II die? Fo rtunately, his
mummified corpse has been preserved.45 Victor Loret, fresh from his discovery of
the tomb o f Thutmo se III in the Valley of the K ings, discovered the royal tomb of
Amenhotep II on March 9, 1898. Confirmation that this burial cham ber b elonged to
Amenhotep II came when Loret identified his nomen and praenomen on the painted,
quartzite sarcophagus. This magnificent sepulcher represented a first for the
excavations in the Valley of the Kings, as the king actually was found in place in his
own sarcophagus, albeit lying in a replacement cartonnage coffin.46
The length of the reign and the date of death of Amenhotep II is open to
question. Though Thutmose III is documented to have died in Year 54, no evidence
exists to date explicitly the regnal year of Amenhotep II’s death. The highest known
regnal date among the indisputable evidence, Year 26, is inscribed on a wine juglet
from the king’s Theban funerary temple.47 Red ford, using questiona ble logic, asserts
that since the juglet was found in the king’s funerary temple, Year 26 rep resents the
end of his reign. 48 Wente and Van Siclen dispute this assertion, though, showing
evidence of the long-term storage of wine, and the active functioning of Egyptian
mortuary temples long before the deaths of the pharaohs for whom they were built. 49
Another possible length of his reign is 30 or 35 years. One source
contributing to the argument that Amenhotep II reigned over 26 years is BM 10056.
One scholar dates a fragme ntary regnal year in v. 9,8 of this papyrus to “Year 30 ,”
though he adm its that the numbe r also could be read differently, such as “Year 35 .” 50
If one of these readings is correct, Amenhotep II’s reign lasted at least thirty years,
maybe thirty-five. Many scholars have postulated that he reigned beyond thirty years
because he observed a regnal jubilee called a sed festival, a celebration that
historica lly marked the thirtieth year of a pharaoh’s reign. Though the sed festival
was used for centuries to honor this regnal anniversary, 51 Der M anuelian warns
against concluding too much about the regnal length of Amenhotep II just because
he celebrated one: “No dates accompany the jubilee monuments (of Amenhotep II),
and our understanding of the jubilee institution is too imperfect to allow us to assign
45
No doubt exists among Egyptologists that this mummy is the corpse of Amenhotep II. His
physical features bear a marked resemblance to his father and his son (James E. Harris and Kent R.
Weeks, X-Raying the Pharaohs [New York: Scribners, 1973] 138).
46
Nicholas Reeves, Ancient Egypt: The Great Discoveries (London: Thames & Hudson, 2000) 103.
47
The king’s praenomen is inscribed on one side of the jar, while the other side is inscribed with
“Year 26” and “Panehsy,” the name of the king’s vintner (Der Manuelian, Amenophis II 42).
48
Redford’s assumes that wine had to be consumed not long after the bottling process (Donald B.
Redford, “On the Chronology of the Egyptian Eighteenth Dynasty,” JNES 25 [1966]:119).
49
E. F. Wente and C. C. Van Siclen III, “A Chronology of the New Kingdom,” in Studies in Honor
of George R. Hughes, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 39 (Chicago: University of Chicago,
1976) 228.
50
Redford, “Coregency of Tuthmosis III” 110.
51
The Twelfth-Dynasty pharaoh Sesostris I (ca. 1960-1916 B.C.) erected two obelisks in front of
the temple pylon at Heliopolis on the occasion of his first sed festival, commemorating his thirtieth
regnal year (Grimal, History of Ancient Egypt 164). During the Eighteenth Dynasty, Thutmose III
seemingly celebrated a sed festival in his thirtieth year as well; Redford suggests that the year of rest from
Asiatic campaigning between Thutmose III’s sixth and seventh campaigns, which corresponds precisely
to his Year 30, signifies a “holiday year” used to celebrate this landmark anniversary (Redford, Egypt,
Canaan, and Israel 158).
an automatic ‘30th year’ at every mention of a hb-sed festival.” 52

Caution must be exercised before automatically assigning a thirty-year reign
to every pharaoh who celebrated this event, but the sed festival of Amenhotep II may
just signify that his reign exceeded thirty years. More conclusive than the sed-festival
evidence is th at o n T hutmose IV’s Lateran Obelisk, which was erected thirty-five
years after the death of Thutmose III, to whom it was dedicated. Wente and Van
Siclen suggest that the thirty-five years marks the length of the interceding reign of
Amenhotep II minus the coregency with his father, which is known to be 2 1/3
years. 53 If their argumentation is correc t, Amenho tep II reigned 3 7 1/3 years, and was
fifty-five at death.54
If this last regnal-year estimate is accurate, a lifespan of fifty-five years for
Amenhotep II is deduced by adding his 37 1/3-year reign to the eighteen years he
lived before his co ronation, a number taken from the larger of the two Sphinx Stelae
of Amenhotep II: “Now his majesty appeared as king as a fine youth . . . having
completed 18 years in his strength . . . ; now after these things, his majesty appeared
as king.” 55 An X -ray investigation o f the royal mummies m ay assist in dating his
regnal length. The mum my of Amenhotep II is estimated to have been forty-five at
death, 56 meaning that a fifty-five-year lifespan exceeds the projections of the X-ray
evidence, and thus is “an impo ssibly high result according to the medical
evide nce.” 57 Robins, however, is convinced that when identifying a pharaoh’s age
at death, there is good reason to cast doubt on X-ray evidence as a whole.58 Support
52
Der Manuelian, Amenophis II 43.
53
Wente and Van Siclen III, “Chronology of the New Kingdom” 227-28. The occurrence of a
coregency under Thutmose III and Amenhotep II is essentially undisputed among conservative
Egyptologists, as supporting evidence for it is plentiful. See Redford, “Coregency of Tuthmosis III” 116;
Der Manuelian, Amenophis II 24; and Richard A. Parker, “Once Again the Coregency of Thutmose III
and Amenhotep II,” in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 35
(Chicago: University of Chicago, 1969) 228.
54
Shea disputes the notion of a coregency under Thutmose III and Amenhotep II, though he formerly
advocated one. He builds his position on the presupposition that Amenhotep II died in the Red Sea. The
proof Shea presents is that Amenhotep II reportedly launched two “first campaigns.” According to Shea’s
theory, a successor (Amenhotep IIB) was secretly and deceitfully placed on the throne after Amenhotep
IIA drowned in the Red Sea, but with the caveat that the later pharaoh used the same birth name and
throne name as his deceased predecessor, thus completing the reign of “Amenhotep II” as an imposter
(Shea, “Amenhotep II as Pharaoh” 44-46). This theory is weak, however, because it is based on the
presupposition that the exodus-pharaoh died in the Red Sea, a presumption already shown to be
inaccurate. If the two “first campaigns” of Amenhotep II were only one campaign, which will be proven
subsequently, Shea loses all impetus for his fantastic claim. Moreover, he provides no precedent for two
pharaohs ruling under the same name.
55
56
Vandersleyen notes that in spite of the good physical development of Amenhotep II, an
examination of his mummy reveals that he was of average height and died at about forty-four years of
age (Claude Vandersleyen, L’Egypte et la Vallée du Nil, vol. 2 [Paris: Presses Universitaires de France,
1995] 336). Harris and Weeks, adding that his wavy hair was brown with gray at the temple, suggest that
he was forty-five at death (Harris and Weeks, X-Raying 138).
57
58
G. Robins, “The Value of the Estimated Ages of the Royal Mummies at Death as Historical
Evidence,” Göttinger Miszellen 45 (1981):63-68.
for this criticism is found in the discrepancy related to Thutmose III’s lifespan.59
Though he lived at least until ag e fifty-five, his mum my rep orted ly displays skeletal
features of a 40-45 year-old man, meaning that with X-ray evidence his mummy
appears no less than 10 -15 years younger tha n his actual age at death.60 Thus the 10-
year discrepancy for Amenhotep II is not problematic, and a reign of 37 1/3 years
appears realistic.
V. The Second Asiatic Campaign as a Result of the Exodus
Grea t Red uction in Cam paign ing and Exp ansion ism
The renowned conqueror, Thutmose III, led seventeen military campaigns
into the Levant, but his son—in stark contrast—led only two or three. Though many
scholars have attempted to determine the exact number, a virtual dearth of discussion
deals with this sharp decline. Aharoni attributes it to an underlying diminishment of
Egyptian pow er: “Alre ady in the days o f Amenhotep II, the son of Thutmose III,
cracks began to appear in the structure of the Egyp tian Em pire.” 61 Vandersleyen
hints at the dissipation of Egypt’s might by the end of Amenhotep II’s reign: “It
seems possible to consider this reign as unsuccessful, a time of decline: a few
exploits abroad, a few preserved mem orials, an almost com plete absence of sources
after the ninth year of the reign.” 62 Yet the intervening years featured neither Eg ypt’s
engagem ent/loss in war no r a significant change in the political climate. Der
Manuelian writes, “Despite Thutmose III’s military success, Mitanni remained
Egyp t’s primary adversary in Dynasty 18, and there is no reason to doubt her
continued aggressive policy in the reign of the young king A menhotep II.” 63
Although this may be true, A menhotep II’s Year-9 campaign was the last
to pit Egypt against M itanni. D uring the reign of Thutmose IV, M itanni— under
threat from the Hittite King Tudhaliyas II— attempted to forge an alliance with its
Egyptian arch enemy, demonstrating a comp lete reversal in relations between these
formerly incompatible superpowers. EA (Amarna Letter) 109 reveals that by the
mid-fourteenth century B.C ., Egyp t held only nominal control of Palestine, as they
no longer struck fear into the Canaanite rulers.64 One author notes that “this relative
military inertness lasted until Horemhe b’s coming to power” in ca. 1335 B.C.65 How
does one explain this great disparity in Egypt’s campaigning, the un chara cteristic
change in political policy toward their bitter enemy to the north, and Egypt’s general
59
Though Thutmose III’s exact age at his accession is unknown, his reign lasted into his fifty-fourth
regnal year. According to Brugsch-Bey, he reigned 53 years, 11 months, and 1 day (Heinrich Brugsch-
Bey, Egypt Under the Pharaohs [London: Bracken Books, 1902] 193), and Tyldesley claims that he
reigned 53 years, 10 months, and 26 days (Tyldesley, Hatchepsut 96, 215).
60
Harris and Weeks, X-Raying 138.
61
Yohanan Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan,
1977) 34.
62
Vandersleyen, L’Egypte 2:341.
63
64
“Previously, on seeing a man from Egypt, the kings of Canaan fled bef[ore him, but] now the sons
of Abdi-Ashirta make men from Egypt prowl about [like do]gs” (The Amarna Letters, ed. and trans.
William L. Moran [Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1992] 183).
65
Vandersleyen, L’Egypte 2:333. This and all subsequent quotes by Vandersleyen are translated into
English from the original French by Lydia Polyakova and Inna Kumpyak. Horemheb reigned from ca.
1335-1307 B.C.
loss of power and imperialistic dominance?

Shortage of records of Amenhotep II’s relative military inertness cannot be
accounted for by his modesty. He recorded his military excursions into Asia in The
Annals of Amen hotep II, which contain not a complete, daily record of each stop on
the routes, but only a selection of the events that accentuate his courage and present
him in a positive light. 66 Pritchard adds, “Amenho tep II gloried in his reputation for
personal strength a nd prowe ss. His record s, therefore, contrast with tho se of his
predecessor and father, T hutmo se III, in em phasizing ind ividual achievement.” 67
Amenho tep II’s exploits were m otivated by a thirst for universal fam e and glory.
The Number of Amenhotep II’s Asiatic Campaigns

Prior to the discovery of the Memphis Stele, most scholars assumed that
both Amenhotep II’s Asiatic campaign recounted on the fragme ntary K arnak Stele
and the operations against Takhsi mentioned in the Amada and Elephantine Stelae
describe one event. W ith the Memp his Stele’s discovery, it is still possible that the
Karnak, Amada, and E lepha ntine Stelae refer to a common campaign, but the notion
of only one campaign was proven false, since the Memphis Stele clearly delineates
two distinct, separately numbered campaigns.68 However, its text presents a dilemma:
“The translator finds it impossible to reconcile the dates in these several stelae.” 69
The available evidence allows for two views: (1) Amenhotep II conducted three
Asiatic campaigns; (2) Amenhotep II conducted two Asiatic campaigns. Relevant
ancient evidence solves this dispu te, which is critical to this p harao h’s biography.
Two sources record multiple Asiatic campaigns under Amenhotep II, the
Memp his and Karnak Stelae—partial duplicates in content. Both stelae are attributed
to him, as they begin with his comp lete titulary. The Memphis Stele, later reused by
a Twenty-First-Dynasty prince as part of the ceiling of his burial chamber (ca. 875
B.C.), offers the more extensive text. It presents both an earlier campaign in central
and northern Syria, and a later one in Palestine, dating “his first victorious cam-
paign” to Year 7, Month 1, Season 3, Day 25 (ca. 15 May) and “his second
victorious campaign” to Year 9, Month 3, Season 1, Day 25 (ca. 15 Novem ber). 70
Another source, the K arnak Stele, which lies to the south of the E ighth
Pylon at Karnak, is more damaged than the Memphis Stele. It consists of a two-part
relief, each displaying a pharaoh who is presenting an offering to Amun-Re. Between
the two parts is a vertical line of text that records the restoration of the monument by
Seti I.71 W hether this stele originally bo re the same d ates as the Memp his Stele is
unknown, but that the Karnak Stele describes the same two campaigns as the
Memp his Stele is clear. In fact, Hoffmeier refers to them as “two nearly identical
stelae,” though the Karnak Stele devotes much less space to the second campaign
66
Yohanan Aharoni, “Some Geographical Remarks Concerning the Campaigns of Amenhotep II,”
in JNES 19/3 (July 1960):177.
67
James B. Pritchard, ANET (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University, 1950) 245.
68
69
Pritchard, ANET 245.
70
Ibid., 245-46; Redford, “Coregency of Tuthmosis III” 119.
71
Henry Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, vol. 2 (Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois, 2001)
305.
than does the Memphis Stele.72 Both stelae were hacked-up during the Amarna
Revolution and restored during the Nineteenth Dynasty, with poorer restoration on
the Karnak Stele.73 Its postscript names Thutmose as the erector, assumed to be
Thutmose IV , who apparently erected the stele after his accession. 74
The Amada and E lepha ntine Stelae also offer evidence regarding the
number of campaigns. They speak of a “first victorious campaign” of Amenhotep II,
during which seven Syrian chiefs were captured in the region of Tak hsi. Bo th texts
state that they were erected “after his majesty returned from Upper Retenu, having
felled all those who had rebelled against him while he was extending the borders of
Egyp t.75 His majesty came joyously to his father Amun, having slain with his own
bludgeon the seven chiefs who were in the district of T akhsi.” 76 Both stelae
commence with this date: Year 3, Month 3, Season 3, Day 15 (ca. 4 July), which
coincides with a celebration after the Egyptians returned from the first campaign. 77
This date demonstrates that the “first victorious campaign” transpired no later than
Year 3 of Amenhotep II. How can the Year-3 date on these stelae be resolved with
the Year-7 date on the Mem phis Stele when both describe his first campaign?
Through use of these sources one can evaluate the two theories of how
many campaigns. (1) Many scholars believe that Amenhotep II campaigned three
times into Asia, with two options offered to resolve the conflicting information on
the stelae. Option one: The numbe ring of campaigns is particular to individual stelae.
Drioton and Vandier suggest that Amenhotep II undertook Asiatic campaigns in
Years 3, 7, and 9, and that the “first victorious campaign” on the M emp his Stele is
the first of two campaigns described on that particular stele.78 Thus the scribe
mere ly used “first” and “second” to distinguish from one another the two campaigns
on the stele. T he problem with this theory is tha t within Eg yptian historiography, this
method of dating military campaigns is unparalleled. The practice would be strange
indeed among Eighteenth-Dynasty pharaohs, since the expression consistently refers
not to successively numbered campaigns in one record, but to chronologically tallied
campaigns that occurred over the course of a king’s reign.79 The 17 campaigns of
Thutmose III, for example, are numbered successively throughout his reign.
72
James K. Hoffmeier, “The Memphis and Karnak Stelae of Amenhotep II,” in The Context of
Scripture: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World, vol. 2, ed. William W. Hallo (Leiden: Brill,
2000) 19.
73
Pritchard, ANET 245; Redford, “Coregency of Tuthmosis III” 119.
74
Breasted, Ancient Records 2:309.
75
The word “Retenu,” an Egyptian term used of Syro-Palestine, is found in the account of Thutmose
III’s first Asiatic campaign, during which the Egyptians besieged Megiddo for seven months. When the
city fell in December of Year 22, all of the Canaanite leaders—with the exception of the king of Kadesh,
who had fled—fell in one stroke. Once these petty kings were in Egyptian hands, they were required to
take this vow: “The lands of Retenu will not rebel again on another occasion,” and, “We will never again
act evilly against Men-kheper-Re (Thutmose III)—who lives forever, our good lord—in our lifetime”
(Pritchard, ANET 238; Hoffmeier, “Memphis and Karnak Stelae,” in Context of Scripture 2:16). Since
city-states throughout Syro-Palestine were involved in this rebellion, the territory of the kings of Retenu
who pledged perpetual loyalty to Thutmose III must have comprised both Syria and Palestine.
76
77
78
Eitienne Drioton and Jacques Vandier, L’Egypte (Paris: Les Presses Universitaires de France,
1938) 406, 663.
79
Option two: The numbering of campaigns d iffers from coregent status to

sole-ruler status. This variation dates one victorious campaign to his co regency with
Thutmose III, and the other to his sole rule. Lik e Drioton and V andier, Badawy,
Edel, and A lt also sep arate the Takhsi campaign from those described on the
Memp his Stele, postulating Asiatic camp aigns in Years 3, 7, and 9. Alt asserts that
“first victorious campaign” is used correctly on the Amada, Elephantine, and
Memp his Stelae. The earlier “first victorious campaign” occurred in Year 3, during
the coregency, while the latter one transpired in Year 7, on his first military
excursion as an independent monarch. To accent his own achievement, Amenhotep
II simply restarted his numbering once he stepped out of his father’s shadow.80 Once
again, though, no precedent exists for pharaohs dating their military campaigns
separately: first as a coregent, then as a sole ruler. This theory would be far more
tenab le if an inscription were found that dubbed the initial campaign described on
the Mem phis Stele as “the first victorious campaign of Amenhotep II’s sole rule.”
Mo reover, a crippling weakness is that Amenhotep II launched his Year-3 campaign
as sole ruler, in response to the Syro-P alestinian revolt waged after his father’s death.
Insurm ountable obstacles plague both versions of the three-campaign
theory. The greatest problem is the lack of precedent for any such dual numbering
of military campa igns by N ew-K ingdo m pharaohs. Redford rightly notes, “[T]hat
two separate systems of year-numbering were employed by Am enophis (II) is
without other foundation and is a priori unlikely.” 81 Moreover, a comparison of lines
2-3 on the Memphis Stele with lines 16-19 on the Amada Stele—b oth of which
describe his “first victorious cam paign”— reveals some strong similarities,
particularly in the choice o f words and the parallel actions depicted, so all of the
various “first campaigns” of Amenhotep II must refer to a single Asiatic campaign.82
(2) The inadequacies of the three-campaign theory have caused many
scholars to propose that Amenhotep II launched only two Asiatic camp aigns, despite
the victory stelae attributing campaigns to Years 3, 7, and 9. This theory also has two
options. Option one: The Y ear-3 campaign is synonymous with the Year-7 campaign
due to differing regnal counting systems. Its p roponents assert that the Amada and
Elephantine Stelae record the same campaign as the M emp his Stele’s first campaign,
but with the stipulation that the latter stele counts regnal years from the beginning
of the coregency, while the former stelae count them from the outset of the sole rule.
As Pritchard calculates, “A possible reconciliation would be that the 7th year after
the coregency began was the 3rd year of the so le reign.” 83 One problem with this
variation is the lack of precedent for dating pharaonic regnal years using two
differing methods: sometimes coregent numbering, and other times sole-regent
numbering. Another problem is that the co regency lasted a mere 2 1/3 years, making
it mathematically impossible to equate the two campaigns, since the coregency
would have to last for a m inimum o f three years and one day for Pritchard to be
correct.
Op tion two: The Year-3 campaign is synonymous with the Year-7 campaign
due to an inaccurate date displayed on the Memphis Stele. This version also assumes
that the first campaign on the Karnak Stele, the campa igns described on the
80
Ibid.
81
Ibid., 121.
82
Anson F. Rainey, “Amenhotep II’s Campaign to Takhsi,” JARCE 10 (1973):71.
83
Elephantine and Amada Stelae, and the first campaign on the Memphis Stele, all
refer to the same event. However, it purports that the Amada and Elephantine Stelae
correctly date the “first victorious campaign” to Year 3, while the M emp his Stele
displays a wrongly-reconstructed date etched onto it by a Nineteenth-Dynasty stelae-
restoration crew that attempted to repair the damage the stelel suffered during the
Amarna Age. Van dersle yen observes that “the Memp his date is on the part of the
memorial that was seriously damaged in the Amarna Age; the date that we read today
is the result of Ram eside restora tion.” 84 He co ncludes, “Thus the initial date of Year
7 on the M emp his Stele is a[n inaccurate] restoration made by the R amesides.” 85
Both variations of the three-campaign theory are indefensible. Vandersleyen
perceptively notes, “The simplest and most logical solution is that there was only one
‘first campaign,’ . . . more p lausibly in Y ear 3 than in Y ear 7.” 86 Therefore, based on
the likelihood of a singular error on the Memphis Stele— due to inaccurate
restoration by Ramesside craftsmen—as the best explanation to harmonize the
conflicting evidence on the stelae, the two-campaign theory is preferred. The
Elephantine Stele, whose events are set in Takhsi, 87 even provides a terminus ad
quem for the first campa ign, as line twenty-six da tes the stele to Year 4. “It is only
reaso nable to conclud e that the events including the T akhsi campaign recounted in
the text before this postscript are earlier than Year 4. Thus there is no reason to deny
the clear implication of the text that the expedition against Takhsi transpired before
[the end o f] Year 3.” 88 Also supporting the view that the M emphis Stele’s first
campaign was waged in Year 3, and not in Year 7, is the evidence from Amenhotep
II’s cupbearer. During Year 4, the cup bearer M inmès remarks that a stele was b uilt
for pharaoh in Naharin, to the east of the Euphrates River, the inscription of which
confirms that the first Asiatic campaign occurred before Year 4 ended.89
84
Vandersleyen, L’Egypte 2:324. Rainey affirms the activity of later restoration on the Memphis
Stele, remarking that its opening lines are difficult to read due to faulty restoration by a later scribe
(Rainey, “Amenhotep II’s Campaign to Takhsi” 72).
85
Vandersleyen, L’Egypte 2:325. Shea correctly asserts that “the identification of the campaign of
Year 7 is not a scribal error because the campaign of Year 9 is identified as ‘his second campaign of
victory’ in the same text” (Shea, “Amenhotep II as Pharaoh” 46), but he fails to account for the
possibility that while the original scribe etched the year of the pharaoh’s first campaign onto the stele
correctly, it was subject to intentional alteration and potentially faulty reparation.
86
Vandersleyen, L’Egypte 2:323-24.
87
Critics of the two-campaign theory argue that “Takhsi,” a region in Syria already known as such
at the time of Thutmose III, does not appear on the Memphis and Karnak Stelae, where another “first
campaign” is discussed, thus suggesting a variance in destinations. Shea objects that while the Year-3
campaign identifies Takhsi as the region of the campaigning, this term is never mentioned in the account
of the Year-7 campaign, thus implying that these two accounts cannot describe the same campaign
(Shea, “Amenhotep II as Pharaoh” 46), despite both accounts documenting a campaign that was waged
in Syria. This objection is weak, however, since the purpose of the Amada Stele was not to boast of
military exploits, but rather to commemorate the work completed on the Amada temple in Nubia. The
Memphis and Karnak Stelae had only one goal in mind: to boast of pharaoh’s military victories in Asia
(Vandersleyen, L’Egypte 2:323-24; Hallo and Simpson, Ancient Near East 261-62). Since the
commissioner of these stelae had no need to mention the capture of the rulers of Takhsi, only one of the
regions on the campaign’s itinerary, they simply chose not to use the term.
88
Redford, “Coregency of Tuthmosis III” 119-20.
89
K. Sethe and W. Helck, eds., Urk. Urkunden des ägyptischen Altertums: Urkunden der 18
Dynastie, vol. 4 (Berlin: Leipzig, 1906-1958) 1448; Vandersleyen, L’Egypte 2:324.
The F irst Asiatic C ampaign o f Ame nhote p II

For bre vity, the first campaign of Am enho tep II will be referred to as A1,
while his second campaign will be called A2. As indicated, he launched A1 in Year
3, and the dating of events related to this campaign is as follows: (1) Thutmose III
died on ca. 22 March 1452 B .C.; (2) Amenhotep II presided over the funeral and
was confirmed as sole ruler; (3) the Syro-Palestinian city-states rebelled after hearing
of Thutmose III’s death; (4) Amenhotep II assembled his army from throughout
Egypt and nearby garrisoned cities; and (5) Amenhotep II launched A1, arriving at
his first destination on ca. 15 M ay 1452 B .C..
The death of Thutmose III led to a massive revolt in his Syro-Palestinian
territories, prompting the launching of A1.90 Amenho tep II o fficiated at his father’s
funeral as the “new Horus,” as Thutmose III was buried on the west bank of the N ile
River at W aset, in his elevated , cliff-cut “mansion o f eternity.” 91 Amenho tep II’s
presence at the funeral, combined with the nearly two-mo nth gap betwe en his
father’s death and the army’s arrival at their first destination, dispels the notion that
he was already engaged in A1 when his father d ied. T he ene rgetic so n of Egypt’s
greatest imperialist wasted no time, as he probably left Egypt in April of ca. 1452
B.C ., just as his father had done on his first Asiatic ca mpa ign, exactly thirty-two
years prior. The undisputed epicenter of the rebellion was the coastal cities of Syria,
the focal point of the discussion in The Anna ls of Amenho tep II, though perhaps
Palestine also rebelled. T he young pharaoh pro ceed ed by land to quell this revolt.92
The S econd Asiatic Cam paign of Am enho tep II

Amenhotep II indisputably launched A2 in Year 9. If his reign began in ca.
145 5 B .C., which harmonizes with the Ebers Papyrus and the regnal lengths of the
intervening pharaohs, his ninth year lasted from ca. 22 November 1447 – 22
November 1446 B.C. Therefore, the exodus date of ca. 25 April 1446 B.C . should
be place d within this particular regnal year, unless the Year-9 reading on the
Memp his Stele is ever proven to be an inaccurate reconstruction. Both ancient
sources and modern commentators are far quieter about A2 than they are about A1.
Clearly, A1 was launched to squelch a rebellion, but why did Amenhotep II embark
on a second trip into Asia six years later? Two principal theories have been proposed
to identify the occasion.
The first theory for the motive of A2 is that it was launched to correct the
shortcomings of A1. According to Aharo ni, “The failure of the first campaign may
be inferred by Amenhotep II’s setting out two years later on a seco nd ca mpa ign in
order to put d own revolts in the Sharon and in the Jez reel V alley.” 93 Aharoni sees in
A1 an excursion that never accomplished its primary mission: the conquest of
Mitanni. Grimal concurs: “[T]hese two campaigns were the last to pit Egypt against
Mitanni.” 94
90
The view that A1 was launched in response to an Asiatic revolt is held by Breasted and most
modern Egyptologists (e.g., Breasted, Ancient Records, 2:304; Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel 163;
Grimal, History of Ancient Egypt 218).
91
Dennis Forbes, “Menkheperre Djehutymes: Thutmose III, A Pharaoh’s Pharaoh,” KMT 9/4
(Winter 1998-1999):65.
92
Breasted, Ancient Records, 2:304.
93
Aharoni and Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Atlas 34.
94
Grimal, History of Ancient Egypt 219.
The first problem with this view is its dependence o n the three-campaign
theory, since A haroni assum es that a Year-7 campaign was fought two years prior
to the Year-9 campaign. However, there was no Year-7 camp aign, as the “first
campaign” of the Memphis Stele actually occurred in Year 3. Given the six-year gap
between the two campaigns, the theory that A2 was launched to rectify the failures
of A1 is invalid. O f even greater weight, the failure of A1 would have resulted in
another campaign directed principally into Syria, if not into Mitannian territory
farther to the north, not a brief raid into southern Palestine to accomplish little more
than the acqu isition of slav es and boo ty.
The second theory for the motive of A2 is that it was launched to rep lenish
the Egyptian slave b ase and many of the valuable commodities that were lost when
the Israelites plundered and fled Egypt. According to this theory, pharaoh’s motive
relates to the exodus. If the exodus and A menhotep II’s Year-9 campaign transpired
in the same year, which is possible given the chronological coincidences, a brief
campaign into southern Palestine to recover some of his losses would be both logical
and expe cted. T he feasibility of this po ssibility will be evaluated in light of the
details related to A2.
Pre-Winter Launching of the Second Asiatic Campaign

The date of Year 9, Month 3, Season 1, Day 25 (or ca. 16 November 1446
B.C .) recorded on the Memphis Stele represents either the Egyptian army’s
launching date from Mem phis or the arrival date at their first destination, more likely
the latter. Either way, in antiquity a November date for a military campaign was
extrem ely rare. “The presen t date would fall in the early part of November, an
unusual season for an Egyptian cam paign in Asia.” 95 It was unusual because the
campaign would be fought throughout the cold, rainy winter, when ancient monarchs
typically remained within their borders, dealt with internal affairs, and planned for
springtime military campaigns. 96 The biblical text confirms the normalcy of
springtime launchings: “Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go
out to battle, that Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the sons of Ammo n,
and he came and b esieged Rabbah” (1 C hr 20:1).
Der Manuelian comm ents on A1: “Hardly one to break with the blossoming
military tradition of the early New Kingdom, Ameno phis set out in April of his
seventh year, the p referred season for emb arking on suc h ventures.” 97 Vandersleyen
contrasts this with the unprecedented timing of A2: “The second A siatic campaign
began on the 25th day of the 3rd month (akhet) of the 9th year, during an unusual
season for military campaigns. It was probably induced by the necessity of urgent
intervention.” Amenhotep II’s decision to lead an attack force into Palestine in
November was extremely unorthodox, so obviously the situation required urgent
Egyptian intervention. But in what did he need to intervene? Unlike A1, which was
launched to quell a rebellion, A2 had no obvious occa sion.
95
96
Examples of campaigns launched in spring are plentiful. Thutmose III’s first Asiatic campaign,
as he arrived at his first destination (the border fortress of Tjel) on ca. 20 April 1484 B.C.; Amenhotep
II’s first Asiatic campaign, as he arrived at his first destination; Raamses II departure for Kadesh in late
April, ca. 1274 (Shamash-Edom) on ca. 15 May 1452 B.C. are examples (Kenneth A. Kitchen, Pharaoh
Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II [Warminster, Eng.: Aris & Phillips. 1982] 53).
97
Der Manuelian, Amenophis II 59. As shown above, “seventh” should be corrected to “third.”
Contrast between the Two Asiatic Campaigns

Marked differences exist between A1 and A2. The nam es of the geograph-
ical sites on A1 are mostly unknown, and those that are considered known are too
far apart to belong to one region. In contrast, the sites mentioned on A2 are located
only in Central Palestine, between Aphek and Anaharath. W hen comparing the
courses of both campaigns, the disproportionate nature of the two routes is striking,
as the locations on A1 are distant and scattered, while the sites on A2 are nearby and
closely positioned.98 M oreover, every early campa ign of T hutmo se III thro ugh his
illustrious eighth campaign into Mesopotamia, which represents the maximum extent
of Egypt’s exp ansionism, pushed further into foreign territory. In contra st, A1 and
A2 followe d exa ctly the op posite trend, going fro m an itinerary further away from
to one closer to Egyp t.
Change in Foreign-Policy after the Second Asiatic Campaign

Another oddity of A2 is that after its conclusion, the Egyptian army—estab-
lished by Thutmose III as the fifteenth-century-B.C.’s most elite fighting
force—w ent into virtual hibernation. Its previous policy of aggressiveness toward
Mitanni became one of passivity and the signing of peace treaties. The reason for
this new policy is missing from the historical record, but Amenhotep II evidently was
the pharaoh who first signed a treaty with Mitanni, subsequent to A2.99 Redford
connects this event to “the arrival (after year 10, we may be sure) of a Mitannian
emba ssy sent by [M itanni’s K ing] Saussatar with pro posals of ‘brotherhood’ (i.e.,
a fraternal alliance and renunciation of hostilities).” 100 Redford adds that “Ameno-
phis II seemed susceptible to negotiations”and that he “was apparently charmed and
disarmed by the embassy from ‘Naharin,’ and perhaps even signed a treaty.” 101 Yet
such a treaty is completely out of character for imperial Egypt and this prideful
monarch, especially since “the pharaonic state of the Eighteenth Dynasty could, more
easily than Mitanni, sustain the expense of periodic military incursio ns 80 0 km into
Asia.” 102 Support for Amenhotep II being the first to sign a pact with Mitanni is
found in the actions of Thutmose IV: “Only by postulating a change of reign can we
explain a situation in which the new pharaoh, Thutmose IV, can feel free to attack
Mitannian holdings with impunity.” 103 W hy would Amenhotep II do the unthinkable,
and opt to make a treaty with Mitanni?
This mysterio us reversal in fore ign policy would rem ain inexplicab le if not
for the possibility of a single, cataclysmic event. If the Egyp tians lost virtually their
entire army in the springtime d isaster at the Red Sea in Year 9, a desperate
reconnaissance campaign designed to “save face” with the rest of the ancient world
and to replenish the Israelite slave-base would be paramount. Certainly the Egyptians
needed time to rally their rem aining forces together, howe ver small and/or in
shambles their army may have been, and it would explain a November campaign that
was nothing more than a slave-raid into Palestine as a show of force. The Egyptians
could not afford to live through the winter without the production that was provided
98
Vandersleyen, L’Egypte 2:324-25.
99
Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel 163.
100
Ibid., 164.
101
Ibid.
102
Ibid., 165.
103
Ibid., 164.
by the Hebrew workforce, and they could not allow Mitanni or any other ancient
power to consider using the winter to plan an attack on Egyptian territories, which
seemed vulnerable. If this scenario represents what actually transpired in ANE
history, ho wever, tangible pro of is needed to verify its veracity.
VI. Lo ss of the Egyptian Slav e-base
According to Num 1:45-4 6, the Israelites’ post-exodus male population

over 20 years old totaled 603,550, not including the 22,000 Levite males of Num
3:39. W hen women and children are added, they would have well exceeded
2,000,000. 104 That many Israelites probably provided the backbone of the Egyptian
slave-force, considering their rigorous labors (Exod 1:11-14 ). To most Egyptology
students, howe ver, the e xodus-narra tive is little more than a fanciful folktale
designed to impress Jewish children w ith grand illusions of a glorio us ethnic past.
The virtual absence of historical and archaeological evidenc e to verify the Israe lite
occupation and mass exodus from E gypt b olsters this skepticism. One prominent
Egyptologist suggests,
[T]o the historian, [the exodus] remains the most elusive of all the salient events of
Israelite history. The event is supposed to have taken place in Egypt, yet Egyptian sources
know it not. . . . The effect on Egypt must have been cataclysmic—loss of a servile
population, pillaging of gold and silver (Exod. 3:21-22, 12:31-36), destruction of an
army—yet at no point in the history of the country during the New Kingdom is there the
slightest hint of the traumatic impact such an event would have had on economics or
society.105
But is there truly no hint of a traumatic impa ct on E gypt?
Absence of an Exodus-Account in Egyptian Records

Redford alludes to the most popular reason for rejecting the veracity of the
exodus, namely that nowhere in Egypt’s vast records is there any documentation of
it. Ho wever, this dearth can be explained by the lack of Egyptian censuses and the
tendency to write compa ratively little about foreigne rs, especially slaves. 106
Nonetheless, the Hebrew slaves not only exited Egyp t en m asse, but they were
respo nsible for the extermination of p harao h’s vast army, which—at the time— was
the mightiest military force on earth. Yet the proud Egyptians would not be expected
to document their own humiliating defeat, which would smear their records and
tarnish the glorious legacy left be hind b y Thutmose III. K itchen articulates this
principle with an example from a later pharao h: “No pharaoh ever celebrates a
defeat! So, if Osorkon [I] had ever sent out a Zerah [the Cushite], with resulting
defea t, no Egyptian source would ever report on such an incid ent, particularly
publicly. The lack (to date) of external corroboration in such a ca se is itself worth
104
John MacArthur, gen. ed., The MacArthur Study Bible (Nashville: Word, 1997) 198, note on
Num 1:46.
105
106
A notable exception to this rule is the Hyksos, the western Asiatics who overtook Egypt and
controlled her commerce. The Royal Turin Canon, a papyrus that derives from Ramesside times and
reflects a king list that was begun during the Middle Kingdom, fixes a 108-year rule (ca. 1668 to 1560
B.C.) for the Hyksos (ibid., 107), who were driven out by the native Egyptians of the Seventeenth
Dynasty. Yet such documentation is warranted as they played a prominant role in Egyptian history.
nothing, in terms of judging histo ry.” 107

Such a non-reporting of personal defeat would be standard practice for
Amenhotep II. Aharoni observes, “Amenhotep [II]—mo re than any other
pharaoh—set up monuments to glorify his personal valor, passing over, however,
some of the major but less complementary events of his ca mpa igns, especially his
defea ts.” 108 Amenhotep II spared no effort to portray him self as a great warrior who
could pierce metal targets with his bow and arrow during shoo ting practice.109 He
combined strength with a cruelty intended to demoralize his enemies,110 which the
Amada Stele affirms: “His strength is so much greater than (that of) any king who
has ever existed, raging like a panther when he courses through the battlefield; there
is none fighting be fore him , . . . trampling down those who rebel against him,
instantly prevailing aga inst all the barbarians with p eop le and horses.” 111 A king with
such enormous p ride canno t be expected to have comm issioned his scribes to
preserve the exodus-tragedy in the annals of Egyptian history for subsequent
generations to read and memorialize.
Booty L ists from A siatic Campaigns of A menh otep II and Thutmo se III
Redford declares that “at no point in the history of the country during the
New Kingdom is there the slightest hint of the traumatic impact [that] such an event”
as the “loss of a servile population” m ust have had upon Egyp t.112 This bold
dec laration must be strongly contested. At the conclusion of both campaign
narratives recorded on the Me mphis Stele, the scribe meticulously listed the spoils,
with their quantities, that were taken as plunder. By comp aring the boo ty lists
recorded after the conquests of Amenhotep II and Thutmose III, it will be seen
whether A2 is distinguished am ong these campaigns, and if it might attest to the
exodus or the post-exodus events.
The focus of A2 was upon sp oils that Amenho tep II reape d. “A record of
the plunder that his majesty carried off: 127 princes of Retenu; 179 brothers of
princes; 3,60 0 Ap iru; 15,200 Shasu ; 36,3 00 K haru; 1 5,07 0 N agasuites/Neges;
30,652 of their family membe rs; total: 89 ,600 people, and their endless property
likewise; all their cattle and endless herds; 60 chariots of silver and gold; 1,0 32
painted chariots of wood; 13,500 weap ons for warfare.” 113 Regarding the “89,600”
total prisoners, the sum is actually 101,128 if the individual numbers are added
together.114 The error may be nothing more than a mistake in add ition, as the
individual numb ers are probab ly more reliable than the recorded sum.115 Therefore,
the numb er 10 1,12 8 is pre ferred over 89,6 00. B efore contra sting A2 with its
107
Kitchen, Reliability of the OT 11. The biblical text to which Kitchen alludes is 2 Chron 14:9-15.
108
109
Hallo and Simpson, Ancient Near East 262.
110
111
Breasted, Ancient Records 2:310.
112
113
Hoffmeier, “Memphis and Karnak Stelae” 2:22; Pritchard, ANET 247.
114
Pritchard laments, “Even though two of the figures give questionable readings, no clear
alternatives will supply the total given on the stele” (ANET 247).
115
“The total given, 89,600, is actually wrong, the correct total being 101,128!” (Hoffmeier,
“Memphis and Karnak Stelae” 2:22).
predecessors, attention must be drawn to the confiscation of 1,092 chariots, which,

along with the 13,500 weapons, would be critical for replacing the “600 select
chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt” lost in the Red Sea (E xod 14:7).
The military campaigns of Thutmose III, which are described in The Annals
of Thutmo se III, also will be abbreviated: his first Asiatic campaign (T1), sixth (T6),
and seventh (T7). The prisoners taken on the various campaigns are compiled as
follows: A1 = 2,214 captives; A2 = 101,128 captives; T1 = 5,903 captives; T6 = 217
captives; and T7 = 494 captives. 116 The m ost glaring d etail is obviously the disparity
between the number of captives taken during A2 versus the other four campa igns,
which together averaged 2,207 prisoners, or 2.2% of the prisoners taken during A2.
Put differently, A2 yielded forty-six times more prisoners than all of the other
campaigns combined! W hy this tremendous disparity? Is it merely coincidental that
such a vast number of prisoners was taken during the last Asiatic campaign of the
Eighteenth Dynasty? If the exodus and A2 occurred in the same year, Amenhotep II
would have had just cause to launc h a N ovembe r campaign, as he desperately would
need to fill the enormous void left behind by the evacuation of the Heb rew slaves. 117
Goal of Impressing the Kings of Egypt’s Rival Empires

Othe r inform ation o n the booty lists may attest to the connection between
the exodus events and A2.
Now when the Prince of Naharin, the Prince of Hatti, and the Prince of Shanhar heard
of the great victories that I had made, each one tried to outdo his competitor in offering
gifts, from every foreign land. They thought on account of their grandfathers to beg his
majesty for the breath of life to be given to them: ‘We will carry our taxes to your palace,
son of Re, Amenhotep (II), divine ruler of Heliopolis, ruler of rulers, a panther who rages
in every foreign land and in this land forever.’118
Amenhotep II makes the fasc inating statement that the K ing of M itanni, the King of
the Hittites, and the King of Babylon all “heard of the victories” that he had
acco mplished in southern Palestine. This reference to the effect of a military
campaign upon kings of distant nations, all of whom ruled e mpires in their own right,
is unique amo ng contem porary E gyptian boo ty lists and annals.
W hy was Amenhotep II so co ncerned with how these kings viewed his
Year-9 conquests? Not many prop ositions suffice, especially considering the
exceedingly limited scope of A2. Y et if he needed to save face after the devastating
loss of his army, a victorio us cam paign could convince them of his continued ability
to wage war successfully. Joshua notes that the Lord “dried up the waters” of the Red
Sea expressly so that “all the peo ples of the earth may know that the hand of the
Lord is mighty” (Josh 4:23, 24). This goal was realized even 40 years after the
exodus, as Rahab of Jericho testified that “all the inhabitants of the land . . . have
heard how the Lo rd dried up the water of the R ed Sea ” (Josh 2:9-10), and the Hivites
of Gibeon told Israel of “the fame of the Lord your God,” since they “heard the
report of Him and all that He did in Egypt” (Josh 9:9).
116
Ibid., 21; Pritchard, ANET 239, 246; Hoffmeier, “The Annals of Thutmose III” 2:12.
117
As Shea notes, “While some have questioned the very high number given here, if one looks at
the needs for state labor right after the exodus, the number does not look so high after all” (Shea,
“Amenhotep II as Pharaoh” 47).
118
Ibid.; Hoffmeier, “Memphis and Karnak Stelae” 2:22. The Prince of Shanhar, or biblical Shinar,
is equated with the King of Babylon (Pritchard, ANET 247).
Summary of Egypt’s Losses after the Exodus

Thus Amenho tep II’s b oasting to his rival kings, the weapons and chariots
taken as booty, and the disproportion of slaves taken during A2 together argue
strongly in favor of a co nnection be tween A2 a nd E gypt’s losses after the exodus.
This circum stantial evidenc e obviously will not satisfy critics whose presuppositions
militate against tying the exo dus to A2. F or objec tive onlookers, though, one
important question is whether the booty-list reveals an Israelite connection to A2 and
its material acquisitions: Is there tangible evidence that links the Israelites to A2?
VII. Appea rance of 3,60 0 Ap iru on th e Bo oty L ist
Among the conquered peop les listed on A2 were 3,600 “Apiru,” the
Egyptian equivalent of the Akkadian “Habiru,” a word that also appears in the
Amarna Letters. 119 Who are the Apiru whom Amenhotep II captured during A2?
Earlier biblical scholars unashamedly equated the Apiru/Habiru with the Hebrew
word *9E"3A E (‘ bri, “Hebrew”).
Subsequently, many have rejected equating the Ap iru with the Hebre ws,
often arguing that “Apiru” has more of a sociological than an ethnic connotation.
Beitzel advo cates the “impo ssibility of (the) equation o f Hab iru and Hebrew s in
Biblical studies.” 120 The fashionable scholarly opinion is that the Amarna Letters
portray the Apiru as marauding brigan ds who seize , loot, burn tow ns, and generally
ravage the landscape. Moreover, since the Habiru are found at different locations and
times around the AN E, the term alleged ly cannot refer to the H ebrews. 121
Yet scholars have not completely abandoned the association of the Habiru
with the Heb rews. M any who eq uate them say that perhaps “Habiru” originally
designated groups of outlaws or was a derogatory expression, and only later it was
used of the Hebrews as a distinct ethnic group.122 But should one concede that the
designation of outlaw-marauders actually preceded that of the ethnically distinct
Heb rews? Though the present work cannot identify the limitations of the term
“Habiru,” whether or not the Apiru of A2 might be Hebrews must be addressed.
Either way, the appearance of the Ap iru on a forma l list of Asiatic captives is quite
unusual. 123
Bryant Wo od notes that “the [Amarna] Letters are taken up with . . . the
hostilities of the Habiru in the hill country. The references to the Habiru in the
Amarna Letters appe ar to be allusions to the mopping-up operations of the Israelites
119
Hoffmeier, “Memphis and Karnak Stelae” 2:22.
120
Barry J. Beitzel, “Habiru,” in ISBE, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982) 588-89.
121
Hoffmeier, “Memphis and Karnak Stelae” 2:22. SA.GAZ, the Sumerian logographic equivalent
of Habiru, and its variants are found in cuneiform texts from ca. 2,500 B.C. to the eleventh century B.C..
In light of this, many are unwilling to associate the Apiru of the fifteenth century B.C. with the Hebrews.
However, Abram was known as a Hebrew in the twenty-first century B.C. (Gen 14:13), so the solution
to the dilemma is that the two non-guttural consonants found in the tri-consonantal root of ‘bri, the exact
consonants that appear in Akkadian and Ugaritic (br, possibly meaning “cross over, go beyond”), are
also used in “Eber” (Gen 10:21), the ancestor of Abram from whom the word undoubtedly derives. Thus
Abram is one of numerous Eberite peoples, all of whom are known as Habiru due to their retention of
Eber’s ancient namesake (R. F. Youngblood, “Amarna Tablets,” in ISBE, vol. 1 [Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1979] 108; Beitzel, “Hebrew (People),” in ISBE 2:657).
122
Ibid.
123
at this time, but no individual Habiru is mentio ned by nam e.” 124 At least one
Egyptologist also considers that the Apiru “are synonymous with the Hebrews
mentioned in the Amarna correspondence; by Amenhotep II’s time, they seem to
have become integrated into the societies to which they had emigrated, playing
marginal roles as merce naries or servants, as in the events described in The Taking
of Joppa. In Egypt, they appear during the reign of Thutmose III as wine-makers in
the Theban tombs of the Second Prophet of Amun Puyemre (TT 39) and the herald
Intef (T T 1 55).” 125 While Apiru served in Egypt as winemakers during the d ays of
Thutmose III, there is no record of Egyptians having captured any as slaves before
A2, which is consistent with the biblical record. In his discussion of A2, Aharoni
conclude s, “Apiru-Ha biru = Hebrew s.” 126
The popular designation of the Habiru as a band of marauding brigands
faces a major obstacle in that 3,600 Apiru were captured on A2. Ho ffmeier, calling
this numb er “a rather large figure,” 127 elsewhere notes, “If the large numbers are to
be believed, Apiru/Habiru were not just sm all bands of m araud ers in Amenhotep ’s
day.” 128 This number far exceeds that of a loosely-organized gang of bandits. Wood
correctly concludes that “[t]he ‘apiru of the highlands of Canaan described in the
Amarna L etters of the mid-14th century B.C . confo rm to the biblical Israelites.” 129
Beitzel, who zealously oppo ses the association of the Apiru with the
Heb rews, states, “[T]he Amarna Hapiru seems to be com posed of diverse ethnic
elements from various localities.” 130 Yet the dispersion of the Apiru throughout
Canaan is expected if they are the 2,000,000+ Israelite settlers (Josh 11:23).
Beitzel’s claim is unfounded, because nothing in the Amarna Letters requires that the
Apiru be ethnically diverse. Hoffmeier underscores the certainty of the Apiru’s
ethnic homogeneity: “It is clear from the occurrence in the [Memphis] stele of
Amenhotep II that they were identified as a specific group like the othe r ethnic
groups take n as prisoners by the king.” 131 Two items supp ort this ho mog eneity.
First, they were listed among the ethnic groups o n the booty list of A2.
“Listing the habiru alongside of other ethnic groups from Hurru, Retenu, and the
Shasu suggests that the Egyptians may have view ed the hab iru as a distinguishable
ethnic group.” 132 The Ap iru appear third on the list, preceded by princes and brothers
of the princes, and followed by three names with geographic connotation: the Shasu,
who were Bedo uin to the south of Pales tine; the K haru, who we re “H orites,”
residents of Syro -Palestine; and the Nagasuites/Neges, who dwelled in Upper
Retenu, near Aleppo.133 The An nals of Thutmose III confirm the Kharu’s ethnicity.
Since the Kharu are listed among peoples with armies and horses, along with Mitanni
1 24
Bryant G. Wood, “One Thousand Years Missing from Biblical History? A Review of a New
Theory,” Bible and Spade 6/4 (Autumn 1993):98.
125
126
127
128
129
130
Beitzel, “Habiru” 2:588.
131
132
133
(Naharin), their distinct ethnicity—and thus that of the Apiru—cannot be doubted.134

Second, their prominent position amo ng the ethnic group s on the booty list
of A2. The 3,600 Apiru are notably more numerous than the princes and brothers of
the princes who appear before them, and notably fewer than the three people-groups
listed after them.135 The scribe of the M emp his Stele attributes the initial po sition to
royalty, and then he names distinct ethnic gro ups, among which the Apiru appear
first, desp ite their number being far fewer than that of the subsequent ethnic gro ups.
This initial, prom inent position amo ng non-royal captive s is easily exp lainable if
these were Hebrews, and the exodus had occurred not seven months before A2.
How does the Bible account for the Egyptians’ capture of 3,600 Hebrews
when the main body of Israelites was wandering in the wilderness in the distant Sinai
Pen insula under Mo ses’ leadership (Num 14:3 3)? The date for A2 in November of
the exodus year coincides with a silent period in biblical history. Exodus concludes
with Israel near Mo unt Sinai, though Moses parenthetically adds a retrospective
summary of how the Lord guided them during their subsequent journeys (Exod
40:36-38). Me anwhile, Num bers beg ins in the fourteenth month after the exodus
(Num 1:1), about five months after A2 concluded. Therefore, A2 fits into this silent
period, with no inherent conflict between the capture of the 3,600 Israelites—who
probab ly left the Israelite camp and journeyed toward southern Palestine, near the
travel route of A2 — and the bib lical events that transpired after the exod us. 136
VIII. Amenhotep II and the Desecration of Hatshepsut’s Image
Egyptian history itself may confirm Amenhotep II as the exodus-pharaoh.

At the death of Thutmose II, the throne was given first to his son, Thutmose III, and
later also assumed by his widow, Hatshep sut. He r rise to p ower came from her role
as the child-king’s regent; given his youthfulness, her self-appointment to the rank
of coregent probably met little or no opp osition within the ro yal court. 137 Sometime
between Year 2 and Year 4 o f Thutmose III, Hatshepsut assum ed full ro yal titulary,
making herself a female pharaoh of equal rank. 138
Identifying M oses’ Adoptive Mother

Moses evidently was born during the reign of Thutmose I, whose daughter,
Hatshepsut, qualifies as a legitimate candidate for the pharaoh’s daughter who drew
Moses from the N ile River (Exod 2:5). 139 W as she o ld eno ugh during he r father’s
second regnal year, when Moses was probab ly born (ca. 152 7 B .C.) to qua lify as his
Egyptian stepmother?
One scenario may preclude Hatshepsut from being the princess who drew
134
Hoffmeier, “The Annals of Thutmose III” 2:9.
135
136
Such periods of silence are not unusual. “The book of Numbers concentrates on events that take
place in the second and fortieth years after the exodus. All incidents recorded in 1:1–14:45 occur in 1444
B.C., the year after the exodus. Everything referred to after 20:1 is dated ca. 1406/1405 B.C.,” while
there is a complete “lack of material devoted to this 37 year period” that intervenes between the second
and fortieth years after the exodus (MacArthur, Study Bible 195).
137
Hallo and Simpson, Ancient Near East 259.
138
William Petty, “Redating the Reign of Hatshepsut,” KMT 13/4 (Winter 2002-2003):51, 53.
139
Rea, “Oppression and Exodus” 10.
Moses from the Nile. The chief wife of Thutmose I, Queen Ahmose, was called “the
King ’s Sister,” but never “the King’s D aughter,” a title given only to a princess,
meaning that she may have been the sister or half-sister of Thutmose I. If this were
true, a brother-sister marria ge proba bly occu rred after T hutmo se I was promoted to
heir apparent, as such political matches that consolidated a wo uld-b e successor’s
claim to the thro ne were stand ard p rocedure in ancient Egypt.140 Perhaps, then,
Hatshepsut was born after Thutmose I was coronated (ca. 1529 B.C.), and thus was
a little over twelve years old when she m arried her (half-) brother (ca. 1516 B .C.).
This would make her under three years old at Moses’ birth, at which age she cou ld
hardly venture dow n to the N ile, let alone draw out an infant-bearing reed basket.
There is no proof that Hatshepsut was born after her father’s accession,
though, and she could have been the daughter of Amenhotep I. In addition, the
uncertainty about when Th utmose II’s reign began means that he may have served
as co-regent with his father, Thutmose I, for severa l years. H atshep sut thus wo uld
have been old enough to draw Mo ses out of the Nile during her father’s second
regnal year, so she is a legitimate candidate for Mo ses’ Egyptian adoptive-mother,
since her father was already over 35 years old when he assumed the throne.
All the evidence points to Hatshepsut as the mo st likely candidate for
Moses’ stepmother, because her blood-sister, Princess Akhbetneferu, d ied in infancy,
because Lady Mutnofret— acco rding to existing records— never bore a daughter to
Thutmose I,141 and because Exod 2:10 states that after “the child [Moses] grew, she
[his mother] brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.” Therefore,
Moses’ Egyptian stepmother lived long enough after she retrieved him from the Nile,
increasing the likelihood that an account of this “daughter of Pharaoh” (Exod 2:5)
would be docume nted somewhere in the Egyptians’ detailed records, a qualification
held by Hatshepsut alone.
The Defacer of Hatshepsut’s Image

Some indeterminable time after Hatshepsut’s death, someone attempted to
obliterate any historical record of her. Many inscribed cartouches of her were erased,
while her busts were smashed or broken into pieces, perhaps by workmen dispatched
to various sites throughout Egypt. In some cases, the culprits carefully and
com pletely hacked out the silhouette of her image from carvings, often leaving a
distinct, Hatshepsut-shaped lacuna in the middle of a scene, often as a preliminary
step to replacing it with a different image or royal cartouche, such as that of
Thutmose I or II.142 At Karnak, her obelisks were walled-up and incorp orated into
the vestibule in front of Pylon V, while at Djeser-Djeseru her statues and sphinxes
were removed, smashed, and cast into trash dump s.143
According to most Egyptologists, this massive effort to destroy all records
of Hatshepsut was launched by Thutmose III, with a predictable motive: out of sexist
pride, he attempted to eliminate every trace of this dreaded female pharaoh’s rule,
intending to rewrite Egyptian history to portray a smooth succession of male rulers
140
Tyldesley, Hatchepsut 65, 77.
141
Ibid.
142
Ibid., 79. For pictures of Hatshepsut’s image and cartouches hacked-out of various monuments
and statutes, see http://w ww.nbts-ru.org/EN/DPet/HatPic.html, accessed 02/27/06.
143
Tyldesley, Hatchepsut 114-15, 216.
from Thutmose I to himself. 144 “Wounded male pride may also have played a part in
his dec ision to act; the mighty warrior king may have balked at being recorded for
posterity as the man who ruled for 20 years under the thum b of a mere wom an.” 145
But several factors weaken the theory that Thutmose III was the perpetrator.
First, that Thutmose III defaced her image is inconsistent with how he
otherwise related to her memory. A scene on the dismantled Chapelle Rouge at
Djeser-Djeseru portrays Hatshep sut, and the inscrip tion identifies her: “The Good
God, Lady of the Two Lands, Daughter of Ra, H atshep sut.” 146 Thutmose III, who is
pictured steering his barque toward D eir el-Bahri, actually com pleted the Chapelle
Rouge, added the topmost register of decorations in his own name, then claimed the
shrine as his own. Also, Hatshepsut’s name is still preserved in her M onthu temple
at Armant, which Thutmose III enlarged. Furthermore, Thutmose III planned the
construction of his ow n temp le to Amun, which wa s to be built Deir el-Bahri, a site
that Hatshepsut built up greatly, including massive terraces and here own temple next
to the one that he subsequently built.147
Second, if he did it, Thutmose III waited at least 20 years after her d eath
before desecrating her image. That he would wait until over 20 years after she had
departed to initiate an anti-feminism campaign out of hatred seems impossible.
“W hile it is possible to imagine and even empathize with T hutmose III indulging in
a sudden whim o f hatred against his stepm other immediately after her d eath, it is far
harder to imagine him overcome b y such a whim so me 2 0 years later.” 148
Third, if Thutmose III was the culprit, as proven by his construction project
at Karnak, he must have had sufficient mo tive to attempt to prevent her from living
eternally. According to Egyptian religion, removing the name or image of a deceased
person was a direct assault on his/her spirit and amounted to a total obliteration from
which there was no return. This act against Hatshepsut was an attempt to “condemn
her to oblivion—a fate worse than death for an Egyptian.” 149 Thus the extermination
of Hatshepsut’s image from the earth was indeed a drastic step: the removal of her
spirit from its perpetual existence in the afterlife.150 Such seems far too severe to fit
the motive of mere sexism.
Fourth, if Thutmose III was the culprit, why were there also attacks against
the name and m onum ents of S enenmut, the foreign chief-advisor of Hatshepsut who
disappeared from the record in or after Hatshepsut’s nineteenth regnal year (ca.
148 8/7 B.C.)? Occasionally his name was violated while his image remained intact,
but some of his statues were smashed and physically thrown out of temples. 151 This
144
Hallo and Simpson, Ancient Near East, 259, 261; Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel, 156;
Tyldesley, Hatchepsut, 216.
145
Tyldesley, Hatchepsut, 225.
146
Ibid., 219.
147
Ibid., 219-20; Grimal, History of Ancient Egypt 216.
148
Tyldesley, Hatchepsut 220, 224-25. Bryan asserts that the dishonoring of Hatshepsut began ca.
Year 46 or 47, and that this event may have paved the way for the joint rule with Amenhotep II, but she
provides no support for her conclusions (Betsy M. Bryan, “The Eighteenth Dynasty Before the Amarna
Period,” in The Oxford History of Ancient History, ed. Ian Shaw [New York: Oxford University, 2000]
248).
149
150
Tyldesley, Hatchepsut 216.
151
Ibid., 206, 222.
attack upon her ma le chief-ad visor’s image can hardly be justified if Thutmose III
was motivated purely by anti-feminist hatred.
Several optio ns are o ffered to justify this extreme act com mitted by
Thutmose III. (1) He wa nted to atone for the offense of a female p haraoh against
maat (“justice, truth”), a word used to describe the continuity in the universe that
derived from the approval of the gods. 152 (2) The unorthodox coregency might have
cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of his own right to rule, so he wanted to ensure
both the legitimacy of his reign and his legacy. Neither option, however, addresses
why Thutmose III would wait to start his anti-Hatshepsut camp aign until at least
twenty years after his sole rule began. Certainly he did not learn of the comp romise
that Hatshepsut’s reign was to the state o f maat only after he was an aged king;
likewise, after twenty years of sole rule, his reign was secure, and his successful
campaigning alrea dy had solidified for him a lasting legacy.
No Egyptologist has answered satisfactorily the nagging question of who
was responsible for the widespread campaign to obliterate Hatshepsut’s image from
Egypt’s annals and what was the motive for such a severe act. Whoever was
respo nsible carried out the act only after Year 42 of Thutmose III, meaning that the
desecration occurred no earlier than ca. 146 4 B .C. Also , to envisio n that the culprit
lived long after both Hatshepsut and her memo ry disappeared from the earth is
difficult, since elapsed time would tend to diminish motive. A ccordingly, two
possible scenarios could incriminate Amenhotep II as culpable.
First, Amenhotep II contributed to the campaign to destroy H atshep sut’s
image, but he was not the initial perpetrator. Tyldesley observes, “It is perhaps not
too fanciful a leap of the imagination to suggest that Thutmo se III, having started the
persecution relatively late in the reign, may have d ied before it was concluded. H is
son and successor, Amenhotep II, with no personal involvement in the campaign,
may have been content to allow the vendetta to lapse.” 153 Tyldesley does not explain
why Amenhotep II would continue this campaign without personal involvement.
Bryan agrees that “Amenhotep II himself completed the desecration of the female
king’s monuments,” adding that “when [he] had finished his programme of erasures
on the monuments of Hatshepsut at Karnak, he was able to concentrate on
prep arations for the royal jubilee at this temple.” 154
Second, Amenhotep II was the sole culprit in the campaign to destroy
Hatshepsut’s image. The respo nsible individual likely possessed p harao nic authority,
and one legitimate m otive for Amenho tep II to have c omm itted this act is Hatshep-
sut’s rearing of Moses as her own son in the royal court (Acts 7:21). After the Red
Sea incident, Amenhotep II would have returned to Egypt seething with anger, bo th
at the loss of his firstborn son and virtually his entire army (Exod 14:28), and he
would have just cause to erase her memory from Egypt and remove her spirit from
the afterlife. The Egyptian people would have supported this edict, since their rage
undo ubted ly rivaled pharaoh’s beca use of their mo urning over dece ased family
members and friends. The nationwide experience of loss also would account for the
unified effort throughout Egypt to fulfill this defeated pharaoh’s commission
vigorously. A precedent exists for Amenhotep II’s destruction of her m onum ents
early in his reign: “At Karnak Hatshepsut left . . . the Eighth Pylon, a new southern
gateway to the tem ple precinct. . . . Ironically, evidenc e of H atshep sut’s building
152
Ibid., 8, 225.
153
Ibid., 224.
154
Bryan, “Eighteenth Dynasty” 250-51.
effort is today invisible, since the face of the pylon was erased and redecorated in the
first years of Amenhotep II.” 155 Perhaps Yea r 9 was when it all began.
IX. Conclusion
No w it is possible to answer the questions posed earlier. Could the eldest

son of Amenhotep II have died during the tenth plague, which must be true of the
exodus-pharao h’s son? The answer is yes. In fact, none of Amenhotep II’s sons
claimed to be his firstborn, and one Egyptologist theorizes that the eldest son died
inexplicably during childhood. D id Amenho tep II d ie in the R ed Sea, as the Bible
alleged ly indicates regarding the exodus-pharaoh? No, he died in usual fashion, and
his mummified body is still preserved. Yet this does not conflict with the Bible, since
no biblical text explicitly states that the ex odus-pharaoh died there with his army.
Can any of Amenhotep II’s military campaigns be related to the exodus
events? Yes, his second Asiatic campaign coincides extremely well with the exodus
events, and m any of the details related to it and Egypt’s post-exodus future cannot
be explained without these connections. Can the loss of over two million Hebrew
slaves, certainly Egypt’s “slave-base” at the time, be accounted for in the records of
Amenhotep II’s reign? Yes, the loss of the Israelite slaves can be accounted for by
Amenhotep II’s acquisition of 101,128 slaves in Canaan during his second Asiatic
campaign, the only such campaign of its era that was launched in late fall and took
many captives. Is there any evidence to confirm that Ame nhotep II interacted with
the Hebrew s after they left Egypt? Yes, Amenho tep II captured 3,600 “Apiru”
(Heb rews) during his second campaign, which was launched just unde r seven months
after the exodus. Despite attempts to disprove the association of the Hebrews with
the Apiru of the New Kingdom , more evidence favors their being the same people.
If Amenhotep II is the exodus-pharaoh, could the obliteration of Hatshep-
sut’s image from many Egyptian monuments and inscriptions be attributed to
backlash from the exo dus events? Yes, Amenho tep II surfaces as the most logical
cand idate for the pharaoh who ordered this nationwide campaign of desecration. If
Hatshepsut indeed was M oses’ E gyptian stepmother— and she is the mo st legitimate
candidate—A menhotep II and all of Egypt had adequate motive to remove her image
from Egypt and her spirit from the afterlife. These answers identify Amenhotep II
as the mo st legitimate cand idate for the exodus-pharaoh, but that biblical chronology
of that era functions as a canon with which Egyptian history may be synchronized.
Ho pefully, the principal p urpo se of this article has not bee n lost in the
extensive historical detail in it. In this analysis of the exodus-pharaoh and ancient
Egyptian history, the arguments of those who compromise biblical historicity proved
unab le to undermine biblical inerrancy. Compromising the Bible’s inspired historical
framework will invariably lead to the demise of its reliability as an accurate source
for determining doctrine and enhancing spiritual growth. Conversely, “to connect the
book more directly with anc ient history can only enhance its theological meaning.” 156
Though the strongest argumentation cannot remove negative presuppositions of
those with doubts about biblical inerrancy, such argumentation can strengthen the
faith of those with a high view of the B ible’s accurac y.
155
Ibid., 240.
156
Shea, “Amenhotep II as Pharaoh” 42.

Amenhotep II and The Historicity of The Exodus Pharaoh

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Amenhotep II and The Historicity of The Exodus Pharaoh

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TMSJ 17/1 (Spring 2006) 81-110

AMENHOTEP II AND THE HISTORICITY

A belief in biblical inerrancy necessitates an accompanying belief in the

Young established a fifteenth-century date for the exodus through chronological

II. Two Background M atters

Biblical Chronology: Dating the Exodus

Egyptian Chronology: Dating the Pharaonic Reigns

III. The Tenth P lague a nd the Firstborn So n of A menh otep II

IV. Theory of the Exodus-Pharaoh Dying in the Red Sea

Ps 106:11 as Proof of the Exodus-Pharaoh’s Death in the Red Sea

Egyptian chronologies, if he was the exodus-pharaoh, Amenhotep II could not have

Ps 136:15 as Proof of the Exodus-Pharaoh’s Death in the Red Sea

The D eath a nd R egna l Length of A menh otep II

an automatic ‘30th year’ at every mention of a hb-sed festival.” 52

V. The Second Asiatic Campaign as a Result of the Exodus

loss of power and imperialistic dominance?

The Number of Amenhotep II’s Asiatic Campaigns

Option two: The numbering of campaigns d iffers from coregent status to

The F irst Asiatic C ampaign o f Ame nhote p II

The S econd Asiatic Cam paign of Am enho tep II

Pre-Winter Launching of the Second Asiatic Campaign

Contrast between the Two Asiatic Campaigns

Change in Foreign-Policy after the Second Asiatic Campaign

VI. Lo ss of the Egyptian Slav e-base

According to Num 1:45-4 6, the Israelites’ post-exodus male population

But is there truly no hint of a traumatic impa ct on E gypt?

Absence of an Exodus-Account in Egyptian Records

nothing, in terms of judging histo ry.” 107

predecessors, attention must be drawn to the confiscation of 1,092 chariots, which,

Goal of Impressing the Kings of Egypt’s Rival Empires

Summary of Egypt’s Losses after the Exodus

VII. Appea rance of 3,60 0 Ap iru on th e Bo oty L ist

(Naharin), their distinct ethnicity—and thus that of the Apiru—cannot be doubted.134

VIII. Amenhotep II and the Desecration of Hatshepsut’s Image

Egyptian history itself may confirm Amenhotep II as the exodus-pharaoh.

Identifying M oses’ Adoptive Mother

The Defacer of Hatshepsut’s Image

No w it is possible to answer the questions posed earlier. Could the eldest

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