(1:2) Part One: Ancient Voices

Far from home, separated from his father, betrayed by his brothers, kidnapped by slave traders, surrounded by strangers, the writer says,

“The Lord was with Joseph.”

But Joseph, even though a slave, worked hard to please both master and Lord. [1]

John Ortberg: If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat. c.2001 Zondervan.

The Ancient Road Network.
The major trade networks of the southern Levant.

The Ancient Road Network

By the Early Bronze Age, a string of Levantine urban centres from Aleppo and Damascus in the north, to Amman and Ma’an in the south, had begun to prosper. Connected by The King’s Highway, these centres formed a link between the eastern Mediterranean and western Asiatic exchange systems. The northern end was further enlarged due to its relationship with Mesopotamia while the southern end stretched out to Egypt and Arabia. [7]

A western parallel route, ‘The Way of the Sea,’ echoed its eastern neighbour. Shadowing the Mediterranean coast, it passed through Ugarit, Byblos, Sidon, Tyros and on to Jafa and Gaza. Passing through these major ports, it also linked the Near East with the principal copper provider for the region, Cyprus.

Pella benefited from both of these two major arteries, being located at the eastern end of the east west Jezreel Valley corridor and close to the fording points of the River Jordan. The site for Joseph’s abduction is located on Samaria’s northern hills which form the southern slopes of this Jezreel highway. A perfect place to meet a travelling caravan.

Joseph’s fourth change of clothes.

Against this background of city state trade and commerce, the story of young Joseph being sold off to work in service fits well into an Egyptian Middle Kingdom context. A late 12th Dynasty text, Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446, highlights one household in Thebes employed 45 Asiatics out of a complement of 79 servants. Under the ownership of a Theban noblewoman named Senebtisi, these Asiatics along with their Egyptian counterparts were failing to undertake the services assigned to them. Several have their occupation listed as “he who is over the house” which can be interpreted as servant. [8]

Joseph’s rise through the household may have been fuelled by the increasing numbers of Semites coming into Egypt in order to work. Having had his selfishness and pride knocked out of him, his experience in the “dry well” so to speak, together with being a native born Asiatic, Joseph would have been well placed to rise to a position of manager of other Asiatic migrants on behalf of his master. A promotion to that of “Overseer of the House”. [9]

Clearly, the story indicates Potiphar had given Joseph a position of trust. The breakdown of that trust - the attempt by Potiphar’s wife to get Joseph to lie with her - resulted in a period of rehabilitation for Joseph under the watchful eye of the Overseer of ‘the great prison’.

What is of interest in the Brooklyn text is that these individuals appear to have absconded without completing services required of them by the state. The names of these fugitives are listed along with additional information relating to the individuals. After this comes a summary of the directives to be undertaken by the “Great Prison” at Thebes against these absconders. A number of entries are followed by black tick marks and notations in red having to do with the capture and prosecution of the fugitives. To the left are added endorsements by the scribes of the vizier, confirming that the actions had been carried out and the case against them closed. Here then is added depth and some confirmation that the Egyptian judicial system is in line with the Joseph account. [10]

Canaanites in Egypt and the Entry of Jacob.

Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people.

All Joseph’s best days - his rise in Egypt, his service to a nation, his impact as a leader and his reunion with his father and brothers all lay ahead.

John Ortberg: If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat. c.2001 Zondervan.

The Egyptian eastern Delta region had always been an attraction to the people living in nearby Canaan during most periods of history, but the scale of entry varied throughout the centuries. Excavations at Tell el-Dab’a (12th Dynasty Ro- Waty or Avaris of Manetho) have revealed that Western Asiatics were part of the community from the late 12th Dynasty through to the end of the 15th Dynasty Hyksos Period. The intermingling of Egyptian and Asiatic finds in the excavations at Tell el-Dab’a has made it a point of discussion regarding the Asiatics’ eventual rise to kingship during the Hyksos period.

The most recent analysis suggests that from the outset the Asiatics who settled here during the late 12th Dynasty period, were acculturated individuals who likely served the Egyptian king as soldiers, craftsmen and labourers connected to the harbour. Scholars have traditionally looked to southern Palestine as the homeland and origin of the Hyksos. But the argument has been presented for a Syrian origin for the Canaanites at Tell el-Dab’a, based on architectural and cultural parallels with sites such as Ugarit, Ebla and Mari. [11]

The presence of Asiatics throughout the central, local and military administration of the Middle Kingdom highlights that positions akin to that held by Joseph could be obtained. It also highlights that the Asiatics who later came to power understood the Egyptian government structure.

During the 14th Canaanite and 15th Hyksos Dynasties some of the Egyptian practices of the late 13th Dynasty government continued to be used, while others seem to have been abandoned. This suggests that the foreign kings used Egyptian administrative practices that were familiar to them and replaced others with practices of their own design.

In particular, the office of ‘overseer of sealed things’ and his subordinates represent the most well known office during the 14th and 15th Dynasties and indicates that the foreign kings continued to utilise the Egyptian administrative system already in place. However, the position of vizier and his subordinates is not attested for the 14th and 15th Dynasties at all. While some Bibles state Joseph’s position in pharaoh’s court was that of vizier, those who believe that this was his rank would have to look to the Middle Kingdom for this story’s setting. [12]

The evidence from the excavations at Tell el-Dab’a, from the increase in wealth of the multi-cultural burials and the construction of a palatial residence for officials, suggests that the Asiatics began to increasingly form part of the elite population of the site.

Following the initial influx of Canaanites in the late 12th Dynasty, excavators are suggesting that there was not a second influx of people from the Near East during the 13th Dynasty, but a movement of Semites who were already resident in Egypt relocating to the Delta region. This is now seen as reflecting the changing socio-political climate of the late 13th through to the early 15th Dynasties. At the end of the Middle Kingdom the inhabitants of Tell el-Dab’a became increasingly independent from the authority of the weakening Egyptian 13th Dynasty. This allowed the 14th Dynasty to establish itself outside Egyptian control and to take over Delta towns which had formerly formed part of the Egyptian state. The rise of the Hyksos should therefore be understood as a local political process centred in the eastern Delta, and not one that relied on the notion of foreign or other ethnic groups coming in from other regions. [11]

The Sojourn of the Hebrews.

The form and causes for such a polarisation of power is difficult to ascertain. But with the sudden end to the 12th Dynasty coming with the death of Queen Sobekneferu around 1802 B.C.E., it was succeeded by the much weaker 13th Dynasty. The 13th Dynasty is notable for the accession of the first formally recognised Semitic-speaking king, Userkare Khendjer, but it is also notable for having a large number of pharaohs over its 154 year period. With 31 of its pharaohs being attested to at Itj-tawy, before their withdrawal to Thebes, the later 13th Dynasty kings’ power progressively waned.

The 14th dynasty is thought to have emerged around 1720 B.C.E. and existed concurrently with the second half of the 13th Dynasty. Its rulers are commonly identified by Egyptologists as being of Canaanite or West Semitic descent, owing to the distinct origins of the names of some of their kings.

A contemporary example for what may have happened in the 13th Dynasty could be in the form of devolution of power for Scotland from the U.K. parliament. While the motivators for Scotland’s independence are driven by regional social, economic and political considerations, Egypt’s division would have been fuelled by what we would call religious beliefs too. One should note that the ancient Egyptians did not have a word for ‘religion’. If Scotland should become independent, there is no reason to believe it would be acquired other than by peaceful means. In a similar way, the 13th/14th Dynasty transition period may have been more peaceful than was once thought since the central government in Itj-tawy near the Faiyum was sustained during most of the dynasty and the country remained relatively stable. In this light, the period of the Israelites sojourn should be considered.