Who was pharaoh when Moses sent the Plagues?

Answer 1

A:

This should be an easy question to answer, but there is no mention in the extensive Egyptian records from the late Bronze Age,of the plagues, nor of the escape of a large number of slaves or the destruction of a great army in pursuit of those slaves. Without these records, we have establish who was the pharaoh of the Exodus and therefore at the time of the plagues. We can establish the biblical date of the Exodus from Egypt, and the Book of Exodus says the pharaoh at this time was also the pharaoh at the time of the plagues.

The Bible very clearly places the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt around 1440 BCE (1 Kings 6:1), but we now know from Archaeology that Egypt was at that time very much in control of Canaan and remained so until the thirteenth century, which brings us to the time of Ramesses II, or Ramses II, pharaoh from around 1290 to 1224 BCE. It is a historical impossibility for any earlier pharaoh to have been the biblical pharaoh. Moreover, it was Ramses II who built the city of Ramses (Pi-Ramesses), mentioned in the story of the Exodus, thus ruling out his predecessors. For these reasons, a more modern Jewish tradition redates the early history of Israel and places the Exodus much later.

Unlike the biblical pharaoh, who was drowned in the Red Sea, Ramses II died peacefully as an old man and was buried in a tomb in the Valley of Kings. His body was later moved to a royal cache. For Ramses II to have been the Pharaoh who let the people go, we would have to move the date of the Exodus forward by around two centuries and therefore move Solomon's reign to a historically impossible period. We would also have to have Ramses escape the Red Sea, in spite of Exodus 14:28. Assuming there really was an Exodus from Egypt, which few scholars now accept, Ramses II could not have been that pharaoh, regardless of popular tradition.

Ramses' son, Merneptah, ruled from 1213 to 1203 BCE and died peacefully as an old man, buried in the Valley of Kings. Merneptah's successor was also buried in the Valley of Kings, thus ruling out all possible pharaohs until long after the traditional date of the Exodus and even after Israelite settlers began to appear in the Canaanite hinterland.

It is not possible to identify any historical pharaoh with the biblical plagues. The history of the Hebrews must have been in some way different to that told in the Book of Exodus.

Answer 2

Since this question asks for a statement of historical fact, it is necessary to point out that almost all scholars believe that the Exodus of Moses and the Israelites from Egypt never happened as described in the Bible. It is now well accepted that the Hebrew people were actually Canaanites who migrated from the region of the rich coastal cities and settled peacefully in the hitherto sparsely populated hinterland. Moses was a mythical person and the stories of overcoming great challenges and of a glorious conquest only arose after the Hebrews had forgotten their real origins.

On the basis of accepting the biblical story as true, we can look at the Egyptian history of the time, to nominate a pharaoh. The Bible clearly states that the Israelites were released from slavery around 1440 BCE. however, it also says that Moses was already 80 years old when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, and no one king could have reigned for such an incredibly long time.

Thutmose III (c. 1479-1425 BCE) was the pharaoh in 1440 BCE, and his predecessor was Thutmose II, who probably reigned approximately 1493-1479. The reign of Thutmose I was about 1506-1493 and the reign of Amenhotep I is believed to have been 1526-1506 BCE. These reigns would cover the period from the birth of Moses, if he was 80 years old in 1440 BCE. Thutmose III could not be the pharaoh who drowned in the Red Sea while pursuing the Israelites, as he was buried in the Valley of Kings.

Answer 3

According to the Biblical account, the pharaoh during the time of the ten plagues was Ramses II.