An Eye-witness to the Plagues
Ipuwer describes an incredible story of lamentations, ruin, and horror. His story is an Egyptian version of a great national calamity. He writes:
PAPYRUS 2:8 Forsooth, the land turns round as does a potter's wheel.
PAPYRUS 2:11 The towns are destroyed. Upper Egypt has become dry (wastes?).
PAPYRUS 3:13 All is ruin!
PAPYRUS 7:4 The residence is overturned in a minute.
PAPYRUS 4:2 ...Years of noise. There is no end to noise.
The play on the word "noise" here could mean "earthquake," as the Hebrew word raash signifies both noise and earthquake. Earthquakes are often accompanied by loud ominous sounds from the bowels of the earth.
PAPYRUS 6:1 Oh, that the earth would cease from noise, and tumult (uproar) be no more.
The Plague of Blood
Now notice this amazing parallel between the Bible account of the plagues on Egypt and the Papyrus Ipuwer:
EXODUS 7:21 ...there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
PAPYRUS 2:5-6 Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.
EXODUS 7:20-24 ...all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood . . . And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
PAPYRUS 2:10 Men shrink from tasting -- human beings and thirst after water.
PAPYRUS 3:10-13 That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof? All is ruin!
The Plague of Murrain
EXODUS 9:3 ...the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
PAPYRUS 5:5 All animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan.
The Plague of Hail
After plagues of frogs, lice, flies, and the disease of murrain on the cattle, YEHOVAH brought on Egypt the destruction of a massive hailstorm which destroyed crops everywhere. This also was recorded by the Egyptian Ipuwer. Notice!
EXODUS 9:25 ...and the hail smote every herb of the every tree of the field.
EXODUS 9:23-24 ...the flax and the barley was smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled.
EXODUS 10:15 ...there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the fields, through all the land of Egypt.
PAPYRUS 4:14 Trees are destroyed.
PAPYRUS 6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found...
PAPYRUS 2:10 Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire.
PAPYRUS 10:3-6 Lower Egypt weeps...The entire palace is without its revenues. To it belong (by right) wheat and barley, geese and fish.
PAPYRUS 6:3 Forsooth, grain has perished on every side.
PAPYRUS 5:12 Forsooth, that has perished which yesterday was seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax.
PAPYRUS 5:12 Forsooth, that has perished which yesterday was seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax.
This last statement shows clearly these plagues on Egypt were not the consequence of long-lasting drought. Rather, this was a sudden onslaught of disaster, virtually overnight! What was visible yesterday was perished today! The produce of Egypt was cut down, like the cutting of flax -- a sudden, incisive event!
The Plague of Locusts
EXODUS 10:4-5 ...tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: And they shall cover the face of the earth . . . and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remains unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field...
PAPYRUS 6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found...hunger.
The Plague of Darkness
EXODUS 10:22-23 ...and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days
PAPYRUS 9:11 The land is not light...
This plague of darkness is further described in another ancient Egyptian document, a black granite monolith or shrine at the border of Egypt, inscribed with hieroglyphics all over its surface. The shrine's message declares:
EL-ARISH: The land was in great affliction. Evil fell on this earth...It was a great upheaval in the residence....Nobody left the palace during nine days, and during these nine days of upheaval there was such a tempest that neither the men nor the gods could see the faces of their next.
With the plague of locusts covering the skies and earth proceeding the plague of darkness, of three days, undoubtedly the Egyptians counted nine days as the total length of the time of impaired vision and light. Even the Jewish Midrash books explain the plague lasted seven days -- during the first three days one could still change his position, but during the next three (the three of the Bible) one could not stir from his place!
The Tenth Plague
The final, culminating plague upon ancient Egypt has not been fully understood. The last night before the Exodus, we know, the death angel slew the firstborn of the Egyptians, but the Israelites who had the blood of a lamb over their front doorposts were spared. But let us notice this account more fully.
EXODUS 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord SMOTE all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh...unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
EXODUS 12:30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a GREAT CRY in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. What was this awesome plague which destroyed everywhere, throughout the land, causing the death of multiple thousands, including cattle?
The Hebrew word for "smote" is nogaf and is used for a violent blow, such as the thrusting with horns by an ox. Now notice the Papyrus Ipuwer account of this traumatic event.
PAPYRUS 4:3, 5:6 Forsooth, the children of princes are dashed against the walls.
PAPYRUS 6:12 Forsooth, the children of princes are cast out in the streets.
PAPYRUS 6:3 The prison is ruined.
PAPYRUS 2:13 He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere.
PAPYRUS 2:13 He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere.
PAPYRUS 3:14 It is groaning that is throughout the land, mingled with lamentations.
What happened? The evidence indicates that during this final night of the Passover, a great earthquake struck Egypt, killing those YEHOVAH God had marked for death all over the land, from the houses of princes to those lying in dungeons, and even cattle. The Church historian Eusebius quotes an ancient source in a book by Artapanus which tells of "hail and earth quake by night (of the last plague), so that those who fled from the earthquake were killed by the hail, and those who sought shelter from the hail were destroyed by the earthquake. And at that time all the houses fell in, and most of the temples."
This must have been a massive earthquake! It must have been a forerunner of the final earthquake and hail which will culminate the "seven last" plagues mentioned in the Book of Revelation (see Rev. 16:17-21). The Ipuwer Papyrus says:
PAPYRUS 4:4, 6:14 Forsooth, those who were in the place of embalmment are laid on the high ground.
A legend in the Haggada tells that in the last night, when Egypt was smitten, the coffin of Joseph was found lying on the ground, lifted out of the grave. Earthquakes in modern times have been known to have similar effects, causing coffins to protrude from their graves in hillside cemeteries.
YEHOVAH God smote strong and weak alike, just as an earthquake would do. The Midrashim say that "as many as nine tenths of the inhabitants have perished" (Ginzberg, Legends, II, 369).
YEHOVAH judged ancient Egypt. If this Judgment caused nine tenths of the population to perish, then indeed it was a TYPE of the future destruction YEHOVAH will wreak upon this earth during these "last days," in our lifetime! In the future "time of trouble" we find that only a tenth of the population shall survive (Isaiah 6:13). YEHOVAH God will overthrow the land as He did Sodom and Gomorrah (Amos 4:11). Only ten percent of the population of the nations comprising modern "Israel" shall escape death (Amos 5:3). This same figure can be extended to the judgment of the Gentiles, also, who will be judged and found wanting by YEHOVAH (compare Isa. 10:18-19; Isa. 47:1-9; Rev. 18; Isa. 24:6).
Revolt of the Slaves
The Papyrus Ipuwer continues its amazing parallel with the book of Exodus. As Israel prepares to leave Egypt, we read:
EXODUS 11:2 ...let every man borrow (demand) of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
PAPYRUS 3:2-3 (gold and jewels) are fastened on the neck of female slaves.
EXODUS 12:33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
PAPYRUS 4:2 Forsooth, great and small say: I wish I might die.
PAPYRUS 5:14f. Would that there might be an end of men, no conception, no birth! Oh, that the earth would cease from noise, and tumult be no more!
PAPYRUS 5:14f. Would that there might be an end of men, no conception, no birth! Oh, that the earth would cease from noise, and tumult be no more!
The Papyrus describes men fleeing the cities in tents, even as Israel fled Egypt and abode in tents as they journeyed.
PAPYRUS 10:2 Men flee. . . . Tents are what they make like the dwellers of the hills.
The Scriptures show that a "mixed multitude" of Egyptians fled Egypt with the Israelites (Exo. 12:38). Their first brief stopover was at a place called "Succoth," which, in Hebrew, means "tents" or "huts."
As Israel left Egypt, YEHOVAH God went before them. We read:
EXODUS 13:21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and by night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night...
EXODUS 13:21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and by night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night...
PAPYRUS 7:1 Behold, the fire has mounted up on high. Its burning goes forth against the enemies of the land.
But as Israel left Egypt with a high hand, what happened to the Pharaoh? The Ipuwer Papyrus only records that the Pharaoh was lost under unusual circumstances "that have never happened before." The Egyptian eye-witness to the plagues lamented his fate, in the broken lines which are still discernible:
PAPYRUS 7:1-2 ...weep...the earth is...on every side...weep...
After this destruction, chaos reigned in Egypt. There was no longer any authority in the land. Mob rule prevailed. Brigands and thugs seized what they could carry. Plunderers looted the royal storehouses. Ipuwer records:
PAPYRUS 6:9 Forsooth, the laws of the judgment-hall are cast forth. Men walk upon (them) in the public places.
PAPYRUS 10:3 The storehouse of the king is the common property of everyone.
PAPYRUS 8:14 Behold, the chiefs of the land flee.
PAPYRUS 9:2 Behold, no offices are in their (right) place, like a frightened herd without a herdsman.
PAPYRUS 6:7 Forsooth, public offices are opened and their census-lists are taken away.
Invaders appeared on the horizon -- the Hyksos attacked Egypt, after their encounter with the Israelites in the desert of Arabia. Egypt was helpless, prostrate before them.
PAPYRUS 3:1 Forsooth, the Desert is throughout the land. The nomes are laid waste. A foreign tribe from abroad has come to Egypt.
PAPYRUS 15:1 What has happened? -- through it is to cause the Asiatics to know the condition of the land.
PAPYRUS 14:11 Men -- They have come to an end for them selves. There are none found to stand and protect themselves.
PAPYRUS 12:6ff. Today fear -- more than a million of people. No seen -- enemies -- enter into the temples -- weep.
The Awesome Death of Pharaoh
But during this time of upheaval and travail, what happened to Pharaoh?
The black granitic monolithic shrine of el-Arish tells of events in a very early time, to King Thom and his successor. The name of King Thom is written in a royal cartouche, pointing to the historical character of the text.
The text speaks of the days of darkness which came over the land, and the great affliction which fell over the earth. It speaks of the tempest that roared, so that no man could see the face of his neighbor.
During this savage time of affliction, and upheaval of nature, the text says that "his majesty of Shou" assembled his forces and ordered them to follow him to regions where they would again see light. We read, "...his majesty of Shou went to battle against the companions of Apopi." Apopi was the fierce god of darkness. The king and his army never returned.
Says the shrine:
Now when the majesty of Ra-Harmachis fought with the evil-doers in this pool, the Place of the Whirlpool, the evil-doers prevailed not over his majesty. His majesty leaped into the so-called Place of the Whirlpool.
Where was this strange-sounding event? What was this "Whirlpool" and to what does this strange story allude?
The shrine says:
His Majesty (here the words are missing) finds on this place called Pi-Kharoti.
A few lines later it says the king was thrown by a great force. He was thrown by the whirlpool high into the air. He departed to heaven. He departed this life.
Where is this "Pi- Kharoti"?
The book of Exodus gives us the answer!
EXODUS 14:9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh...and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-ha-hiroth (Khiroth).
Pi-Kharoti is the Pi-Khiroth of the Hebrew text! This is the very place where Pharaoh and all his hosts came upon the fleeing Israelites as they were camped. This is the same place where Pharaoh met his fate in the maelstrom of the Red Sea -- the place of the "Whirlpool." The Egyptian story says he went to "heaven," a euphemism for the fact that he perished and never returned!
The shrine's inscription continues, saying the son of the Pharaoh, "his majesty Geb," set out to find his missing father. "He asks information." People who witnessed the passage of his father "give him the information about all that happened to Ra in Yat Nebes, the combats of the king Thoum." Those with the prince Geb on his journey perish by a terrible blast, and the prince himself sustains terrible burns before he gives up his expedition to find his father.
Meanwhile, the shrine continues, invaders approaching by way of Yat Nebes came into Egypt and overpowered the country, and conquered only to destroy. "These rebels, they came from the mountains of the Orient by all the ways of Yat Nebes." These invaders, of course, were the Amalekites -- the cruel and barbarous Hyksos.
The prince retreated before the invaders and did not return to Heliopolis. In helplessness, he retreated to a provincial residence away from the carnage being wreaked in his homeland by the hordes of "Apopi."
The inscription at el-Arish says the name of the Pharaoh who perished in the Whirlpool was Thom or Toum. Pi-Thom means "the abode of Thom." Pithom was one of the names of the two cities built by the Israelite slaves for the Pharaoh of the Oppression.
The Egyptian historian Manetho calls the name of the Pharaoh who ruled Egypt just before the invasion of the Hyksos "Tutimaeus or Timaios."
Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century, quotes Manetho in Against Apion, as follows:
I will quote his (Manetho's) own words, just as if I had produced the man himself in the witness box:
"Tutimaeus. In his reign, I know not why, a blast of God's displeasure broke upon us.
"A people of ignoble origin from the east, whose coming was unforeseen, had the audacity to invade the country, which they mastered by main force without any difficulty or even a battle."
This "blast of God's displeasure" was the mighty judgments that the Almighty God poured upon the Egyptians for their cruelty and refusal to allow the children of Israel to leave the country in peace!
Thom, Thoum, or Titimaeus, therefore, was the Pharaoh of the Exodus! He was the last Pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom, before the Hyksos or Amalekites ruled Egypt for 400 years, until the time of king Saul of Israel.
During the centuries of the Hyksos domination of Egypt, there was no literary activity in the land. During that time, Israel and Palestine were free from Egyptian domination or influence. Therefore, during the 400 years of the period of the Judges, we find no mention or evidence of any Egyptian excursions into Palestine. All the battles of Israel were with her Palestinian neighbors and enemies. But Egypt is strangely silent and absent. But of course! Egypt was having her own problems with the domination of the Hyksos, or Amalekites!
The whole picture fits together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces fit beautifully.
But what, then about the famous Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, which threw off the yoke of the Hyksos? How does Thutmose III and Amenhotep II fit into the picture? When did they live?
