Chronology check . . . Pharaoh who?

The fact that Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Jewish historians all noted the Exodus begs one to take a closer look at the Pharaoh(s) involved. The story of Israel's release from Egyptian bondage is one that would have left its mark on the Egyptian rulers and people. Who was this God of Israel compared to the stronghold of Egypt?

"Awesome God" by Glad

Some parallels of Scripture and Egyptian history:

• Reverse chronology from "Pharaoh Necho" back to Exodus:
• Reign of King Josiah of Judah -  31 years (II Kings 22:1)--Josiah killed by Pharaoh Necho
• Reign of King Amon of Judah - 2 years (II Kings 21:19)
• Reign of King Manasseh of Judah - 55 years (II Kings 21:1) 
• Reign of King Hezekiah of Judah - 29 years (II Kings 18:2)  
• Reign of King Ahaz of Judah - 16 years (II Kings 16:2) 
• Reign of King Jotham of Judah - 16 years (II Kings 15:33)  
• Reign of King Azariah/Uzziah of Judah - 52 years (II Kings 15:2)
• Reign of King Amaziah of Judah - 29 years (II Kings 14:2)
• Reign of King Joash/Jehoash of Judah - 40 years (II Kings 12:1)
• Reign of Queen Athaliah of Judah - 6 years (II Kings 11:3)
• Reign of King Ahaziah of Judah - 1 year (II Kings 8:26)
• Reign of King Jehoram/Joram of Judah - 8 years (II Kings 8:17)
• Reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah - 25 years (I Kings 22:42)
• Reign of King Asa of Judah - 41 years (I Kings 15:10)
• Reign of King Abijam of Judah - 3 years (I Kings 15:2)
• Reign of King Rehoboam of Judah - 17 years (I Kings 14:21)--Pharaoh Shishak plunders the Temple and palace during Rehoboam's 5th year.
• Reign of King Solomon - 40 years (I Kings 11:42)--Pharaoh Shishak ruling Egypt
• Time from Exodus to Solomon's 4th year of reign - 480 years (I Kings 6:1)
• Total from Exodus to Pharaoh Necho: 480 years + (36 + 17 + 3 + 41 + 25 + 8 + 1 + 6 + 40 + 29 + 52 + 16 + 16 + 29 + 55 + 2 + 31) years = 887 years
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - Pharaoh Necho, who killed King Josiah, is identified with Pharaoh Necho II. Accordingly, King Josiah was slain ~608 B.C. when he went to Megiddo to oppose Pharaoh Necho II. This places the Exodus at ~1495 B.C. (608 B.C. + 887 years from Pharaoh Necho to Exodus).
• Livius.org - Pharaoh Necho in II Kings is identified with Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt, who reigned from 610 B.C. until his death in 595 B.C. Pharaoh Necho II slew King Josiah in ~609 B.C. at Megiddo. This places the Exodus at 1496 B.C. (609 B.C. + 887 years from Pharaoh Necho to Exodus).
• Tour Egypt Site - Pharaoh Shishak, the ruler of Egypt during the days of King Solomon and King Rehoboam, is identified with Pharaoh Shoshenq I, who founded the 22nd Eygptian dynasty in 945 B.C. Solomon by comparison died in 930 B.C., placing the Exodus in 1450 B.C. (930 B.C. + 40 year reign of Solomon + 480 years to Exodus).
• Oriental Institute Publications at the University of Chicago - Pharaoh Shishak is identified with Pharaoh Shoshenq I, by aid of the Bubastite Portal inscriptions at Karnak in Egypt. Pharaoh Shoshenq I made the inscriptions in ~925 B.C., after completing his Palestinian campaign. This would place the Exodus at 1450 B.C. (925 B.C. + 5 years of peace under Rehoboam + 40 year reign of Solomon + 480 years to Exodus).
• Therefore, it does indeed appear that the Exodus Pharaoh ruled no later than 1450 B.C., and at least as early as 1500 B.C. from combined Scriptural and Egyptian records.
• Egyptian Pharaohs during 1650-1450 B.C.:
• Upper and Lower Egypt disambiguation - Lower Egypt corresponded to the fertile Nile delta region (i.e. Hebrew Goshen), while Upper Egypt consisted of inland setttlements primarily along the Nile valley.
• c. 1630-1603 B.C.--Pharaoh "who did not know Joseph":
• Hyksos foreign kings - Ruled Lower Egypt during the period of c. 1630-1523 B.C. The Hyksos came from an influx of foreigners and Palestinians into Egypt (which I have previously linked to Joseph's famine). Then the Hyksos dynasty arose to usurp rule from the Egyptians in Lower Egypt, possibly through a famine in the delta region. Therefore, the Hyksos dynasty would fit the pharaoh who did not know Joseph and subjected the Hebrew people to forced labor. Interestingly, the Hyksos brought the compound bow, the horse and chariot, and better metal weaponry to Egypt.
• Death of infants -  Pre or early Hyksos period excavation layer with 65% of graves belonging to infants 2 years or younger found at Avaris Hyksos capital in Lower Egypt.
• Exodus1:8-10, 22, "Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, 'Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land' . . . Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.'"
• c. 1603 B.C.--Naming of Moses:
• List of Pharaohs - Scroll down to the 16th dynasty (c. 1650-1580 B.C.) which was a native Egyptian dynasty ruling Upper Egypt at Thebes. The suffix "-mose" begins to appear with the names of Dedumose I & II, and continues in usage up to Pharaoh Thutmose IV (1400-1390 B.C.) of the 18th dynasty.
• Reshafim - Hyksos ruler Khyan finally conquered Thebes (see Fifteenth Dynasty section) c. 1610-1580 B.C., bringing Hyksos Lower Egypt into direct contact with the culture, rulers, and names in Upper Egypt.
• Exodus 2:5-6, 10, "The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, 'This is one of the Hebrews’ children' . . . The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, 'Because I drew him out of the water.'"
• c. 1523 B.C.--Death of [Hyksos] Pharaoh seeking Moses' life: 
• Pharaoh Ahmose - Re-united Upper and Lower Egypt by the conquest and expulsion of the Hyksos dynasty from Lower Egypt. Pharaoh Ahomose ruled during c. 1550-1525 B.C.
• Exodus 2:11-12, 15, 23-24, "Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand . . . When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian . . . Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
• Exodus 7:1-2, 7, "Then the LORD said to Moses . . . 'You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land' . . . Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh."
• c. 1526-1500 B.C.--"Exodus" Pharaoh:
• Pharaoh Amenhotep I - Ruled Upper and Lower Egypt beginning his rule in ~1526 B.C., according to the apparent heliacal rising of Sirius during Amenhotep's 9th year, and reigned ~25 years. Amenhotep I and his mother were both deified to the rare status of patron gods of Thebes (capital of Upper Egypt) upon Amenhotep's death. Pharaoh Amenhotep I's tomb has not been discovered, only his mortuary temple. In break with tradition, his mummy was not buried in the mortuary temple.
• An Egyptologist's summary - Little is known about Pharaoh Amenhotep I. His mummy was found in a royal mummy cache at Deir el-Bahri. Although the mummy was rewrapped by Egyptian priests in the 21st dynasty, it remains the only mummy yet unwrapped in modernity.
• Exodus 14:8, 27-28, 30, "The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly . . . Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained . . . Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore."
• c. 1526-1500 B.C.--Plagues and upheaval of Egypt:
• Admonition of Ipuwer (unabridged) - Describes overturning of societal ranks and  power in both Upper and Lower Egypt. The discovered Ipuwer papyrus appears to be a copy made during the New Kingdom (c. 1543-1064 B.C.), with the date of the original remaining uncertain.
• Roman Historian Tacitus - See section 3. Tacitus named the Exodus Pharaoh Bocchoris, who saw the Egyptian people afflicted with disfiguring disease during his reign. Bocchoris expelled the Hebrews from the land to cleanse his land.
• Greek Historian Diodorus - Described that the Jews were expelled from Egypt in a general expulsion of foreigners from the land to please the gods and remove a great plague.
• Exodus 12:30-36, "Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians . . . he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, 'Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go . . . Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.' The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, 'We will all be dead' . . . Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians."
• c. 1500 B.C.--Death of Egyptian firstborn:
• Amenhotep I (1526-1506 B.C.) - Amenhotep's only heir died in his youth, resulting in appointment of his brother-in-law to inherit the throne.
• Thutmose I (1493-1982 B.C.) - Thutmose I held half-royal sonship right to Pharaoh Amenhotep's throne, likely ruled as co-regent for some time with Amenhotep I, pursued the expelled Hyksos rulers, renovated the Thebes temple of Amon, suffered loss of two crown princes (one led his armies), and expanded the Dayr al-Madīnah workers village.
• Exodus 12:29-30, "Now it came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive [excluding the Hebrew people who observed their first Passover--see Exodus 12:21-23] who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead."
• c. 1500 B.C. (see first part of post)--Red Sea crossing:
• Egyptian account: the Egyptians who pursued the Israelites are said to have all perished in the Red Sea and thus could not write an account of this event.
• Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews - See Chap. 16, section 2. When the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground and the Egyptians pursued after them into the Red Sea, the waters fell back on the Egyptians, drowning the entire army, accompanied by wind, rain, thunder, and lightening. No Egyptian survived to return with the tale to Egypt.
• Psalm 77:16-20, "The waters saw You, O God;
              The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
              The deeps also trembled.
        The clouds poured out water;
              The skies gave forth a sound;
              Your arrows flashed here and there.
        The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
              The lightnings lit up the world;
              The earth trembled and shook.
        Your way was in the sea
              And Your paths in the mighty waters,
              And Your footprints may not be known.
        You led Your people like a flock
              By the hand of Moses and Aaron."

A Nation Redeemed. (Part II)

The next installment on the Exodus follows. Since this is a highly contested account in both Christian and secular circles, it seems important to examine it in detail. Might it be contested due to failure to carefully read the Exodus account and parallel accounts in Scripture? Or is it being contested because it portrays supernatural events?


Facts, customs, and widespread beliefs:

• Hebrew language links to Ancient Egyptian:
• Egyptologists' Electronic Forum - Ancient Egyptian words are denoted AE. Scroll down and see entries: [A] 2, 11, 12, 14, 18.
• Menachem Mendel - Blog written by Michael Pitkowsky, who is the Rabbinics Curriculum Coordinator at the Academy for Jewish Religion. Pitkowsky presents recent scholarship associating many Hebrew words with Egyptian roots.
• Genesis 15:12-16 (NIV), "As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, 'Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here [Four generations certainly allows time to become fluent in Egyptian and begin adopting words into Hebrew] . . .'"
• Genesis 41:46-52, "Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh [likely requiring understanding of Egyptian] king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt . . . Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On [Joseph must have spoken Egyptian with his wife]."
• Genesis 42:18-23, "On the third day, Joseph said to them, 'Do this and you will live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.' This they proceeded to do. They said to one another, 'Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.' Reuben replied, 'Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.' They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter [implying that Joseph now fluently spoke Egyptian, as he spoke Egyptian to the interpreter]."

• Chariots in Egypt around B.C. 1550:
• Egyptian tourist site - Introduction of chariot technology in Egypt dated to Asiatic Hyksos arrival.
• Ancient History Encyclopedia - Hyksos charioteers introduced the chariot to Egypt around 1650 B.C., when their dynasty in Northern Egypt was established.
• Exodus 14:5-9, "When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, 'What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?' So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon."

• Story and name of Moses:
• An Islamic website - Names Moses as Musa, and relates a story closely paralleling Scripture.
• Another Islamic website - Again names Moses as Musa, and relates a story paralleling Scripture.
• Roman Historian Tacitus - Named Moses as Moyses in his 5th book of Historiae. See third section in linked page. Some parallels to Scripture are evident in Tacitus' story.
• Torah.org - Names Moses as Moshe under Judaism and affirms the historicity of Moshe's life.
• Greek Historian Diodorus Siculus - Identified Moses as the leader of the people who left Egypt to settle in Judaea, as well as the one who gave this people their laws and priesthood.
• Egyptologists' Electronic Forum - Scroll down to entry [A] 11 to see Egyptian origin of the name "Moses".
• Egyptian Historian Manetho:
• According to Josephus, Manetho declares that the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt during the time of Pharaoh Tuthmosis, of the 18th Dynasty. 
• According to George Syncellus, who was commenting on Julius Africanus' preservation of Manetho's Aegyptiaca, Moses and Israel's departure from Egypt should be placed during the reign of Pharaoh Amos, the first king of the 18th Dynasty.
• Compare to Exodus 1-14

• Hebrew Passover:
• Judaism 101 - Provides extensive details on the Passover meal, noting that the Passover is still observed in some form by 67% of Jews to this day.
• Reform Judaism - Similar description of the Passover meal, noting that the first Passover was associated with the Exodus from Egypt. The Passover was also one of the three feasts for which the Israelite people congregated, and yet seek to congregate, in Jerusalem.
• Exodus 12:1-13, "Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 'This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, "On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household . . . You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the LORD’S Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance."'" 

• Hebrew calendar beginning with Passover month:
• Reform Judaism - According to the Jewish calendar, Passover is observed in the month of Nissan, the first month.
• General Source - Scroll down to months section. Nissan is the first month and is the month of Passover.
• Exodus 12:1-3, "Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 'This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, "On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves . . ."'"

• Enmity between Israel and Egypt enduring into modern times:
• The Middle East Quarterly - Modern-day wars and tensions between Egypt and Israel.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - Egyptian-Isreali conflict example in six-day war between Israel and its Egyptian-led Arab coalition in 1967. 
• Jerusalem Post - Egyptian study showed that the Egyptian people view Israel as the most hostile nation toward them (Egyptian public opinion research site - poll referenced in Jerusalem Post article is 3rd from top on web page).
• Exodus 1:8-11, "Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, 'Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.' So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses."
• Exodus 14:28-30, "The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore." 

• Red Sea and the Sinai wilderness relative to Goshen, Egypt:
• Red Sea:
• Islamic viewpoint - Scroll down to Part 9. The Red Sea is considered to be an actual portion of the Red Sea, with deep water, and not marshland.
• Jewish viewpoint -  Jewish interpretation of the Torah holds the Red Sea to name a body of deep water also, not merely marshland or a flood-plain.
• Exodus 13:17-18, "Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, 'The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.' Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt."
• Exodus 14:26-29, "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.' So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left."

• Mount Sinai/Horeb:
• Islamic viewpoint - Both the Islamic Quran and the Old Testament require that Horeb be located in or near the land of Midian (the people of Moses' father-in-law), which corresponds to modern-day Saudi Arabia. Jabal al Lawz is one suggested candidate mountain in Saudi Arabia.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - The Midianites were nomadic people believed to have lived east of the Gulf of Aqaba in modern-day Saudi Arabia.
• Jabal al Lawz - A mountain with a visibly darkened peak, as seen below:

• Exodus 3:1-2, "Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed."
• Exodus 19:17-20, "And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up."
• II Chron. 5:10, "There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt."
• Psalm 106:19-22, "They made a calf in Horeb
              And worshiped a molten image.
        Thus they exchanged their glory
              For the image of an ox that eats grass.
        They forgot God their Savior,
              Who had done great things in Egypt,
        Wonders in the land of Ham
              And awesome things by the Red Sea."           

• Split rock in the wilderness:
• Al Naslaa, Tayma petroglyph - Lone rock in Saudi Arabia at Tayma with very uniform split running through middle, visibly eroded base, and clear trace of nomadic presence. 
• Geography of modern day route from Cairo to Tayma (see split rock Al Naslaa above):

Google Maps modern day route from Cairo, Egypt to split rock at Tayma, Saudi Arabia

• Psalm 78:13-18, "He divided the sea and caused them to
        pass through,
              And He made the waters stand up like a heap.
        Then He led them with the cloud by day
              And all the night with a light of fire.
        He split the rocks in the wilderness
              And gave them abundant drink like the ocean
              depths.
        He brought forth streams also from the rock
              And caused waters to run down like rivers.
        Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
              To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
        And in their heart they put God to the test
              By asking food according to their desire."

• Rock Art in Saudi Arabia:
• Cattle petroglyphs - Artistic work is very similar to that seen in ancient Egypt. The Saudi petroglyphs may date to sometime in the 2nd millenium B.C.
• Exodus 12:37-39, "Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves."
• Sheep petroglyphs - Awassi, fat-tailed sheep drawn on surfaces of rocks were bred and domesticated prior to 2000 B.C. Their fat tail allows them to endure arid climates in Africa, the Middle East, and other regions (see fao.org website for more information).
• Leviticus 6:6-7, "Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt."
• Leviticus 7:2-3, "'In the place where they slay the burnt offering they are to slay the guilt offering, and he shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. Then he shall offer from it all its fat: the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails . . .'"