The Bible tells us that Joseph was chosen as viceroy of Egypt by Pharaoh in order to manage the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine that he had prophesied following the ruler's dreams. According to the biblical chronology, Joseph received this role in the year 2229 from Adam, or the year 1531 BCE. He was then 30 years old.
When we compare the biblical chronology to that of ancient Egypt, the year 1531 BCE falls under the reign of Pharaoh Ahmose I, who had successfully driven out the Hyksos from Lower Egypt and united it with Upper Egypt. He was also the founder of the 18th dynasty, of this unified Egypt, one of the most important in Pharaonic history. His name means "born from the Moon (deity)" because the word "born" is the word "mosis" in ancient Egyptian: note that the leader of the Hebrews will be called Moses, a name given to him by an Egyptian princess, daughter of Pharaoh, to say that he was "born from the waters". The name Ramses (Ra-mesis) also comes from the same use of the word and means "born from Ra".
Let's look at the continuation of the biblical chronology (refer to previous articles since Adam):
year 2187 (1573 BCE): death of Eber, ancestor of the Hebrews, then known as the Hapiru
year 2205 (1555 BCE): return of Jacob, and his entire family clan, to Canaan
year 2210 (1550 BCE): in Egypt, beginning of the 18th dynasty with Pharaoh Ahmose I
year 2228 (1532 BCE): Ahmose expels the Hyksos and unifies Lower and Upper Egypt
year 2229 (1531 BCE): Joseph becomes viceroy of Egypt, start of 7 years of abundance
year 2235 (1525 BCE): death of Ahmose, his widow Nefertari becomes regent
year 2236 (1524 BCE): start of 7 years of famine
Was Joseph a historical figure? It seems so because he had been named by Pharaoh as Zaphenath-Paneah (Genesis 41:45). This is a biblical detail that sounds true because all the dignitaries of Ancient Egypt had an usual official name, so as not to use their private name. What does Joseph's name mean? The Bible does not say but there is in the British Museum in London a statue of an official who had "Panehsy" as his official name. This character, himself, dated from the 19th dynasty but his role, and therefore the meaning of his name, was to "supervise the treasury". The names Paneah and Panehsy are close enough to show that Joseph also had a supervisory role. Furthermore, this name is also the origin of the Hebrew name "Pinhas", who was the ancestor of the future tribe of priests with a role "supervisors" of the future service in the Tabernacle. So, Joseph had been named by Ahmose to give him the role, among others, of supervising Egypt and the grain silos in the years to come.
What did Joseph do? During the 7 years of plenty, he established the first system of taxation in the ancient world based on 20%:
And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth [20%]; only the land of the priests alone became not Pharaoh's. (Genesis 47:26)
Historians agree that a first tax system began in Egypt during the 18th Dynasty, in the time of Ahmose I.
During this dynasty, the most important official was someone called "Ineni", which means "Here I am" in Hebrew. This term was generally used by the Patriarchs in response to a call from God. The role of this Ineni was as follows, very similar to the most powerful dignitary below the Pharaoh:
Hereditary prince, count, head of all works at Karnak; the double house of silver was under his supervision; the double house of gold was on his seal; signatory to all contracts of the House of Amun; Excellency, Supervisor of the Double Grain Granary of Amun. (Boussac, Hypolite, French Archaeological Mission in Cairo, Volume XVIII, 1895, cited in Breasted, James Henry, Ancient Records of Egypt, Volume 2)
Now, hardly incredible, this Ineni served six successive pharaohs! Namely: Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Hatshepsut (wife of the previous one) and Thutmose III. Longevity not being characteristic of these ancient times, who other than Joseph, a biblical character who lived 110 years according to the Bible, could have occupied such an important position in Egypt and for so long?
After the 7 years of abundance came the 7 years of famine (Genesis 41:57). This began in the biblical year 2236, or 1524 BCE. Ahmose had just died. Around 1950, archaeologists discovered a stele at Karnak that contains the story of a catastrophic storm that hit Egypt just as Ahmose mentioned it. It is called the Stele of the Tempest, or the Stele of Ahmose. It is interesting to note some details of the text (discover its full text by clicking here):
Ahmose is described as living forever; this suggests that this powerful pharaoh had recently died at the time of the catastrophe; indeed, famine struck in 1524 BCE and Ahmose had died the previous year, in 1525 BCE; as his heir Amenhotep I was too young to reign, his wife Nefertari became regent; this would explain why the stele mentions Ahmose (and not his son) as the reigning pharaoh at the time of the catastrophe as long as his son was not yet officially reigning.
It mentions that His Majesty [Ahmose] is living in the city of Sedjefatawy [in the district just] south of Dendera: this is a strange comment because Ahmose, during his lifetime, lived in his new palace in Thebes, so why would the stele mention that he lived elsewhere? As for the south of Dendera, the word most certainly designates the downstream Nile, therefore at a place to the geographic north relative to Dendera; this place points to the place known as the pyramid of Ahmose, near Abydos, the ancient capital of Egypt; therefore this burial place was indeed the "residence" of the pharaoh at the time of the catastrophe.
The text indicates precisely that Ahmose was dead: his body was installed in [literally "united with"] this temple [the said pyramid?] while his members were in joy.
The text mentions that the catastrophe started by a strong storm that caused a flood; this is compatible with the biblical description of the two dreams of Pharaoh, one with the cows coming up from the river and the other with the wind carrying away the crops; like in these dreams, water and wind are the two components of the disaster described in the Stele of the Tempest and in the biblical text.
There is no doubt that a disaster of this nature would have destroyed livestock and crops (as described in Pharaoh's dreams) and thus caused the onset of a great famine remarkable enough to be the subject of such record carved in stone.
I hope that this article on the theme "the Bible is true" was of interest to you. Do not hesitate to send me your comments, while waiting for a next biblical episode proven by history and archaeology.
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Albert Benhamou
Private tour guide in Israel
February 2025
