Comparison of King Lists from Archaeology and the Bible
|King Lists from Archaeology||King Lists of the Bible|
("The First One")
("Maker of Peace")
|Amenemhet II||Amna-nu/Nuabu||Mahalalel||Judah II
|Amenemhet III||Sumulael||Noah II||Hotham||Telah|
"son of Qemau"
|Apophis / Tao 4
|Nahor II||Judah III||Caleb II6|
|Sequenenre Tao II
|Thutmose II||Perez II/Ephron||Panes||Jotham|
|Thutmose III (Yii)||Isaac (Yitschaq)||8|
|Amenhotep II (Yey)||Jacob (Yaaqob)||10|
|Thutmose IV (Yehi)||Judah IV
- The order of the Babylonian king list prior to Suma-abum, founder of the 1st Dynasty of Babylon, is uncertain. An initial attempt to correlate the list with the Patriarchs of Genesis was made by David Rohl in Legend, Chapter 6. Association of these proto-1st Dynasty Babylonian kings with Egyptian Middle Kingdom pharaohs and the Biblical genealogy of Joshua son of Nun is made here. The additional sources used in this study have allowed some refinement of Rohl's earlier identifications.
- Amenemhet II's praenomen includes Nub ("golden"), which corresponds to the Mesopotamian name Nuabu. Senusret II aligns with Jered, which means "fugitive." Jered is synonymous with Beriah. Auy (Auyibre) and Rephah are synonymous and mean "to support, succor." The name Azarah ("help") and the Egyptian Djer are synonymous. Ushpiya equates to Inyotef. The Hebrew word ashpah (fig. "a covering") is synonymous with tef/tsaph. The pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty were exceptionally long-lived. For example, Senusret III reigned 41 years. Therefore, a number of co-regents would have died before becoming kings in their own right. It is known that Amenemhet I appointed his son Senusret as successor 10 years prior to his death. Wegaf would have been his previous co-regent. Co-regents who predeceased the ruling pharaoh were placed in the "unlucky 13th Dynasty" king list by Manetho. The genealogies of Joshua, Jesse and Abram are "birthright threads" or "king-lists," and not true genealogies. Successive patriarchs are often not father and son. The genealogies of Middle and New Kingdom pharaohs are not known from archaeology. However, they can be derived from the genealogies and narratives included in the Bible.
- Jabal was called father to all that live in tents, that is Semitic peoples.
- Samsu-ditana of Babylon and Senakhtenre of Egypt are one and the same king, and correspond to the Biblical Terah, father of Abram (Egy. Ibrim/Djehuty), Nahor and Haran.
- Abram is the unnamed "Lord" that appeared to Gideon and led him in battle (See Chapter 12).
- The Bible states that Caleb son of Jephunneh was preserved an additional 45 years in order to receive his inheritance. In actuality, the second Caleb (a.k.a. Nahor son of Terah) claimed the rights of the first. Terah became a "Jephunneh" after his overthrow in Babylon. The name Jephunneh is based on the verb panah (6437) "to turn:- cast out, go away, (re)turn, turn (aside, away, back)"
- Tao and Baal have the same meaning, i.e., "the Master."
- David was favored at a young age (1 Sam 16), probably by his grandfather Obed (the Hyksos "Lord" Khyan). David (Dvd) is a Hebrew transliteration of Thut (Twt). The Biblical account of David is primarily based on Thutmose I, however events from the life of Thutmose III (and possibly Thutmose IV) are also included, which resulted in a composite biography.
- Tahpanes is a transliteration of the Egyptian Ta-Pere, "belonging to Pere," Thutmose II. Hatshepsut was first the queen of Thutmose II. After the death of Thutmose III, she became a pharoah in her own right, and assumed a masculine identity. The primary account of Hatshepsut is that of David's "son" Absalom (See Chapter 14).
- The Biblical account of Solomon is primarily based on Amenhotep III. However, the reign of Amenhotep II is composited with Amenhotep III, as was done with Thutmose I & III.