(3:2) Part Three: The Great Migration

In the middle of the night the Lord struck down all the first- born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sat on the throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle.

Exodus 12:29.
The Jewish Study Bible. Tanakh Translation. Oxford University Press 1985.

Exit Visas and the Departure.

With the tenth plague, the Israelites are pressed to leave Egypt in order to restore Ma’at. As the prevailing chaos was seen to come from the desert, it is understandable that the Egyptians would have encouraged the Hebrews to enter the chaotic desert in order to appease the storm god in his own habitat. In pharaoh’s eyes, the Hebrews had embraced the worship of the god Seth, who embodied chaos and disorder, and so the Exodus text (12:31) has pharaoh granting Moses no more than the three days he had originally requested (5:1). The whole of Egypt eagerly encourages Israel to go and undertake this rebalance, lending silver, gold and clothing for the journey. Pharaoh makes a supplication, “May you bring a blessing upon me also!” The departure of Israel is necessary to bring about a restoration of order and the cessation of Yahweh’s chaos. The plea indicates pharaoh’s complete capitulation to Yahweh, and also suggests that he is unaware that Israel means to leave for good.

We started our exploration at the tomb of Khnumhotep II, where the register of 37 colourfully robed Asiatics were depicted, presenting their credentials to the governor, Khnumhotep, around 1890 B.C.E. The evidence that this type of visa document was still being employed 700 years later, comes in the form of a series of texts, Papyrus Anastasi. The texts were principally used for the training of scribes during the Ramesside period, but their contents report on the movement of Egyptian frontier officials stationed along Egypt’s Sinai border. They also highlight the tight ‘Iron Curtain’ form of control that these Egyptian authorities held, as each and every group or individual, whether Egyptian or foreign, could not enter or leave Egypt without a special permit. This increases our understanding of Aaron and Moses persistent pleas to pharaoh, “Let my people go”. They were requesting permission from pharaoh to pass through The Walls of the Ruler.

This proposal for the exit route out of Egypt is set in the time of the New Kingdom.

Papyrus Anastasi.

Of the papyrus; Anastasi III records the daily passage of individuals in either direction in the time of Merneptah, while Anastasi VI illustrates the entry of an entire tribe coming from Edom into the Wadi Tumilat during a drought. But the most revealing document for the purpose of confirming Israel’s exit route, reports on the escape of two slaves from the royal residence at Pi-Ramesses, Anastasi IV. [55]

The author, a high ranking military commander, has been tasked with the capture and return of these two fugitives. This undertaking is similar to the one pharaoh’s chariot force had been tasked with in the Exodus story. The route taken by these two escapees has several striking parallels to the Exodus account. Both points of departure, for the two slaves and Israel, was Ramesses. Their time of departure is also roughly identical, with the two slaves first leaving under the cover of darkness and heading on to Tjeku (Pithom) and the Wadi Tumilat. Similarly, the Israelites departed at midnight and traveled on to Succoth (Pithom and the Wadi Tumilat region). We then hear of the escapees north of the fortress Migdol, beyond the present day city of Qantara and the Suez Canal. Again, the Israelites camped before Migdol, the point at which the ensuing chariots of pharaoh are first sighted. [56] Papyrus Anastasi IV therefore supports the geographical information that can be extracted from the Exodus account and also supports a hypothesis for a Ramesside period departure date (c.1295-1069 B.C.E.).

The ongoing excavations at Qantir (Pi-Ramesses) has revealed that the royal stables were capable of housing 460 horses and are the largest known stables in the ancient world. This suggests a chariot force in excess of 200 chariots were located at Pi-Ramesses during the Ramesside era. The normal ratio was fifty chariots for every five thousand infantry. While this ratio is for a fighting force on campaign and may not reflect the army at rest, the chariots had to be maintained and the horses had to be fed, indicating that the military presence in and around the region would have been very substantial and aids us in confirming our Iron Curtain image for the region. [57]