Factoid #5: History of Passover
Apr. 13th, 2006 08:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phynckeHere is a bit of the background history of the Jews in Egypt as part of the ongoing Passover series. That's right....series...*heh*
History of Passover
Passover celebrates the Jewish people's freedom from Egyptian bondage that took place approximately 3,500 years ago, as told in the first 15 chapters of the biblical Book of Exodus. Before the Jewish people were known as Jewish or Jews - names that were derived from the Kingdom of Judah where they lived from 922 B.C.E. until 587 B.C.E. - they were known as either Israelites or Hebrews. "Hebrews", "Israelites", or the "Children of Israel" were names that collectively described the descendants of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob (also known as Israel). The Hebrews and Israelites eventually established and lived in both the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel. The events of Passover written about in the Book of Exodus occurred at a time before the Jewish people were known as Jewish or Jews, and so we refer to the Jewish people as either Hebrews or Israelites in the Passover story that follows. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim (or Mizrayim), and means either "constriction" or "narrow straits". This is in reference to the Israelites being in a state of constriction while toiling as slaves in the land of Goshen, an area of ancient Egypt. As slaves, the Israelites were building cities such as Pithom and Ra'amses [not to be confused with the Pharaoh (King) Ramses] which were used as supply centers for the Pharaohs of Egypt.
How did the Israelites wind up in Egypt in the first place to set the stage for the Passover story? According to the Book of Exodus, there was a famine in the land of Canaan (later known as Palestine) and because of this famine the Hebrew patriarch Jacob traveled with his extended family of 70 to Egypt to both live in better conditions and be with his son Joseph, whose wisdom had impressed the King (or Pharaoh) of Egypt to the point that he was appointed Viceroy of Egypt, which was second in power only to the Pharaoh. The next 430* years in Egypt saw the Hebrews prosper and rapidly multiply to about 3 million people. These numbers were so great that during this time one Pharaoh became nervous that the Israelites were becoming too many in number to control and thought they might side with Egypt's enemies in case of war. This Pharaoh decreed that the Hebrews should be enslaved to build cities and roads for him so that they would be too tired and also wouldn't have time to have children. The Israelites were then confined to the land area of Goshen (Hebrew meaning of Goshen: "approaching" or "drawing near", meaning the Hebrews were drawn closer to G-d during this period of time in Goshen, hence the essence of the Passover story occurred here), which was the fertile land that was east of the Nile delta and west of the border of Canaan. When that didn't slow down the population growth of the Israelites, this Pharaoh then decreed that all Israelite males should be killed, but the Hebrew midwives - Shifra and Puah - who were ordered by Pharaoh to be in charge of this task feared the wrath of G-d and made sure that this didn't happen. The Pharaoh then ordered his people to throw every male born to a Hebrew in the Nile River. Pharaoh was afraid that Hebrew males could grow up to become fighters against his regime. Pharaoh spared Hebrew girls because they would not become fighters against his regime, and he thought they would marry Egyptian men and adopt Egyptian values.
* Regarding the number of years that the Hebrews were in Egypt and when they were enslaved in Egypt, rabbinical interpretations claim that the Hebrews psychologically and then physically spent either 400 years or 430 years as slaves in Egypt of which the final 210 years were spent in actual physical slavery in Egypt. The figure of 430 years is calculated from the time G-d promised Abraham (also: Avram) the land of Canaan and G-ds' foretelling to Abraham of the Hebrews' slavery in Egypt, thus psychologically 'enslaving' Abraham and the Hebrews in Egypt in their minds from that point in time forward with the knowledge that they would be slaves in Egypt, to the time of Abraham's son Isaac's birth (30 years) plus from the time of Isaac's birth to the exodus from Egypt (400 years) which equals 430 years. Another rabbinical interpretation claims that based on the Passover Haggadah readings that mention "400 years" of slavery in Egypt, the 400 years started from the birth date of Jacob's father, Isaac - the same Isaac who was the son of Abraham. It claims that since the Torah states that Isaac was 60 years of age when Jacob was born, and Jacob was 130 years of age when he went to Egypt, then the period of time the Hebrews spent in Egypt was 210 years (400 years minus the total of 60 + 130 = 210 years), and that the Hebrews spent the final 86 years in Egypt as slaves. This calculation was based on aligning the timelines of events in the Torah so that it all made sense. Personally, I would imagine that it would be difficult to grow in numbers from 70 upon entering Egypt to 3 million in just 210 years. To take the thought further, with regard to the Hebrew population and the final 86 years in Egypt as slaves, after a day (and possibly most of the evening) of hard labour, the last thing on one's mind would be to have the energy to do anything else but sleep! The interpretation that makes the most sense to me is that the Hebrews were psychologically and then physically in Egypt for 430 years and were enslaved for the final 210 years. That's simply my personal view which is based on pure speculation. Anything is possible when one speculates. The figure of 210 years spent in physical slavery may also be the same number of years spent in Egypt by the Hebrews. Perhaps the Hebrews did have some energy left after a day of hard labour to reproduce a lot. Each person who reads this web page can reach their own conclusions. In any case, the above-mentioned claims as well as the claim by the authoritative medieval scholar Rashi are historically the primary interpretations for how long the Hebrews were in Egypt and when they became enslaved in Egypt. Rashi (Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac) (1040-1105), born in Troyes, France, was a famous Jewish exegete, grammarian, and legal authority who wrote authoritative biblical and Talmudic commentaries which still remain important to this day. The following is his version of how long the Israelites were in Egypt, taking into consideration how long Kehos (son of Levi) (133 years), and Amram (son of Kehos) (137 years) lived, as well as the age of Moshe (Moses) (son of Amram) (80 years) when he left Egypt, which totaled 350 years: "The years of Kehos (son of Levi, one of the 12 sons of Jacob or Israel), Amram, and Moshe (Moses) overlapped, thereby, significantly reducing the total of 350. It is thus, impossible to suggest that Avraham's (Abraham's or Avram's) descendants were in Egypt anywhere near 400 years. We must, therefore, conclude that the 400 years commence with the birth of Yitzchok (Isaac)." Rashi goes on to say: "[The time] from Yitzchok's birth until Israel left Egypt was four hundred years. How is this so? Yitzchok was 60 years old at Yaakov's birth and when Yaakov descended to Egypt, he said, 'The years of my temporary residence are one hundred and thirty years,' making a total of 190. They were in Egypt 210 [years] - the numerical value of the Hebrew letters resh, daled, and vav, making a total of 400 years (each letter in the Hebrew alphabet represents a number). If you might suggest that they were in Egypt 400 [years], [this could not be so] because Kehos was of those who descended to Egypt. If you calculate the [total] years of Kehos, Amram and the eighty years of Moshe when [the Israelites] left Egypt, you will find only [a total of] 350. And you must still subtract from that all the years that Kehos lived after Amram's birth and that Amram lived after Moshe's birth." (You know what? I know who knows for sure how long the Hebrews were in Egypt because that entity was there and is still here: G-d! And who's going to argue with G-d?!)
During the time when Pharaoh issued his decree to kill Hebrew males, Moses, who later was to lead the Hebrews out of their slavery in Egypt to freedom, was an infant at this time and his concerned mother, Jochebed (alternate spelling: Yocheved), placed him in a basket of reeds in the Nile River while Moses' sister Miriam watched from a distance to see who would come to find him. The basket was found by the Pharaoh's daughter, who decided to raise the infant as her own son and named him Moses. She unknowingly hired Jochebed as a nurse to care for him, and Jochebed secretly taught Moses his Hebrew heritage. At age 40, on a visit to see his fellow Israelites, Moses saw an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave and in his rage, killed the Egyptian. Fearing for his life, Moses fled Egypt. He fled across the desert, for the roads were watched by Egyptian soldiers, and took refuge in Midian, an area in present-day northwestern Saudi Arabia along the eastern shores of the Red Sea. While in Midian, Moses met a Midianite priest named Jethro and became a shephard for the next 40 years, eventually marrying one of Jethro's daughters, Zipporah. Then when Moses was about 80 years of age, G-d spoke to him from a burning bush and said that he and his brother Aaron were selected by G-d to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt to freedom. At first, Moses hesitated to take on such a huge task but eventually, Moses and his brother Aaron set about returning to Egypt, commencing what was to be the spectacular and dramatic events that are told in the story of Passover. It is said that the Hebrews entered Egypt as a group of tribes and left Egypt as one nation. It has also been estimated that the Passover exodus population comprised about 600,000 men over the age of 20, with their wives and children making up the remaining amount totalling about 3 million people, plus numerous flocks of sheep who all crossed over the border of Egypt to freedom in Canaan during the Passover Exodus from Egypt.
Under the reign of Pharaoh (King) Thutmose III** in Egypt in 1476 B.C.E. (meaning 'Before Common Era', a Jewish substitute for BC), the Hebrew leader Moses ("Moshe" in Hebrew) - guided by G-d - led his people out of Egypt after a series of 10 plagues that were created by G-d and initiated by Moses. Prior to most of the plagues, Moses had warned the Pharaoh about each plague and that it would devastate his people, if he refused to let them go. After the first two plagues, the Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrews go because his court magicians were able to re-create the same miracles, and so the Pharaoh thought: "This proves that the Hebrew G-d is not stronger than I". But when the third plague occurred, the Pharaoh's magicians were not able to duplicate this miracle, however, that still did not change the Pharaoh's mind about letting the Hebrews leave Egypt. After each subsequent plague, the Pharaoh agreed to let the Hebrews go, but the Pharaoh soon changed his mind and continued to hold the Hebrews as slaves. Finally, after the 10th plague, the Pharoah let the Hebrews go for good. However, after the Hebrews left in a hurry, in fact so quickly that they did not have time to bake any bread in their ovens for the trip to Canaan (Palestine), and instead baked unleavened bread called Matzah, the Pharaoh, being very fickle, changed his mind after a short time and sent his army into the Sinai Desert after the Hebrews. Meanwhile, the Hebrews were already deep into the wilderness of the Sinai desert and peninsula and continued to wander there for days until they reached the Yam Soof, which is the Hebrew phrase for the "Sea of Reeds" [which is possibly the "Red Sea", an arm of the "Red Sea", or another body of water in the Sinai Peninsula area (Gulf of Suez, or the large delta at the mouth of the Nile River in Northern Egypt)]. The Egyptian army continued to look for them and finally spotted the Hebrews camped at the shores of the Yam Soof. When the Hebrews saw the Egyptian army moving toward them, they called out in despair to Moses. Fortunately, G-d intervened and commanded Moses to strike his staff on the waters of the Yam Soof, which "parted", or opened up, exposing underground tunnels that led into the "Sea of Reeds". The Hebrews went into these tunnels, which went partly into the "Sea of Reeds", and eventually led in a 180� turn back to the Sinai Desert. According to the biblical Book of Exodus, it took a few hours for the Hebrews to complete their journey through the tunnels. The Egyptian army followed the Hebrews into the tunnels, and when the last Hebrew emerged from the tunnels onto the sand of the Sinai Peninsula, G-d then commanded Moses to strike the waters of the Yam Soof with his staff again. The waters came together again, drowning the entire Egyptian army and the Hebrews were saved. After this event, the Hebrews continued to wander in the Sinai Peninsula for another 42 days until they reached Mount Sinai, where Moses received the 10 Commandments from G-d on the summit of Mount Sinai. This event is celebrated by the Jewish people as the holiday of Shavuot, meaning "weeks" in Hebrew, which refers to the timing of the festival which occurs exactly 7 weeks (50 days inclusive) after the first day of Passover (alternate spellings: "Shavuoth", and "Shavuos"). Because a week consists of 7 days, and Shavuot occurs exactly 7 weeks after the first day of Passover (50 days inclusive), Shavuot is also known as the "Week of Weeks". However, because of the sin of the Golden Calf, the Hebrews then spent the next 40 years wandering in the Sinai Desert until they finally reached the land of Canaan.
** Historians have different views on the exact date of the Exodus. 1476 BCE is the generally accepted date, a time when Thutmose III ruled. Other claims by historians are 1134 BCE, when Rameses (or Ramses) II ruled, or during the time of either Pharaoh Adikam, Malul, or Pepi (Phiops) II, the latter being the 6th and last dynasty of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, circa 2200 BCE. Incidentally, the name Pharaoh means 'Great House' in the ancient Egyptian language and originally referred to the Royal Palace in ancient Egypt, but gradually came to be a title reserved for the ruler or king of ancient Egypt who at different times in the course of history viewed himself as either a G-d in human form, the son of a G-d, or agent of a G-d; usually the G-d of the Sky, who was named Horus. However, from the 5th Dynasty onward, the Pharaoh was viewed by the ancient Egyptians as the son of Ra, the Sun G-d.
From the site: http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/
History of Passover
Passover celebrates the Jewish people's freedom from Egyptian bondage that took place approximately 3,500 years ago, as told in the first 15 chapters of the biblical Book of Exodus. Before the Jewish people were known as Jewish or Jews - names that were derived from the Kingdom of Judah where they lived from 922 B.C.E. until 587 B.C.E. - they were known as either Israelites or Hebrews. "Hebrews", "Israelites", or the "Children of Israel" were names that collectively described the descendants of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob (also known as Israel). The Hebrews and Israelites eventually established and lived in both the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel. The events of Passover written about in the Book of Exodus occurred at a time before the Jewish people were known as Jewish or Jews, and so we refer to the Jewish people as either Hebrews or Israelites in the Passover story that follows. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim (or Mizrayim), and means either "constriction" or "narrow straits". This is in reference to the Israelites being in a state of constriction while toiling as slaves in the land of Goshen, an area of ancient Egypt. As slaves, the Israelites were building cities such as Pithom and Ra'amses [not to be confused with the Pharaoh (King) Ramses] which were used as supply centers for the Pharaohs of Egypt.
How did the Israelites wind up in Egypt in the first place to set the stage for the Passover story? According to the Book of Exodus, there was a famine in the land of Canaan (later known as Palestine) and because of this famine the Hebrew patriarch Jacob traveled with his extended family of 70 to Egypt to both live in better conditions and be with his son Joseph, whose wisdom had impressed the King (or Pharaoh) of Egypt to the point that he was appointed Viceroy of Egypt, which was second in power only to the Pharaoh. The next 430* years in Egypt saw the Hebrews prosper and rapidly multiply to about 3 million people. These numbers were so great that during this time one Pharaoh became nervous that the Israelites were becoming too many in number to control and thought they might side with Egypt's enemies in case of war. This Pharaoh decreed that the Hebrews should be enslaved to build cities and roads for him so that they would be too tired and also wouldn't have time to have children. The Israelites were then confined to the land area of Goshen (Hebrew meaning of Goshen: "approaching" or "drawing near", meaning the Hebrews were drawn closer to G-d during this period of time in Goshen, hence the essence of the Passover story occurred here), which was the fertile land that was east of the Nile delta and west of the border of Canaan. When that didn't slow down the population growth of the Israelites, this Pharaoh then decreed that all Israelite males should be killed, but the Hebrew midwives - Shifra and Puah - who were ordered by Pharaoh to be in charge of this task feared the wrath of G-d and made sure that this didn't happen. The Pharaoh then ordered his people to throw every male born to a Hebrew in the Nile River. Pharaoh was afraid that Hebrew males could grow up to become fighters against his regime. Pharaoh spared Hebrew girls because they would not become fighters against his regime, and he thought they would marry Egyptian men and adopt Egyptian values.
* Regarding the number of years that the Hebrews were in Egypt and when they were enslaved in Egypt, rabbinical interpretations claim that the Hebrews psychologically and then physically spent either 400 years or 430 years as slaves in Egypt of which the final 210 years were spent in actual physical slavery in Egypt. The figure of 430 years is calculated from the time G-d promised Abraham (also: Avram) the land of Canaan and G-ds' foretelling to Abraham of the Hebrews' slavery in Egypt, thus psychologically 'enslaving' Abraham and the Hebrews in Egypt in their minds from that point in time forward with the knowledge that they would be slaves in Egypt, to the time of Abraham's son Isaac's birth (30 years) plus from the time of Isaac's birth to the exodus from Egypt (400 years) which equals 430 years. Another rabbinical interpretation claims that based on the Passover Haggadah readings that mention "400 years" of slavery in Egypt, the 400 years started from the birth date of Jacob's father, Isaac - the same Isaac who was the son of Abraham. It claims that since the Torah states that Isaac was 60 years of age when Jacob was born, and Jacob was 130 years of age when he went to Egypt, then the period of time the Hebrews spent in Egypt was 210 years (400 years minus the total of 60 + 130 = 210 years), and that the Hebrews spent the final 86 years in Egypt as slaves. This calculation was based on aligning the timelines of events in the Torah so that it all made sense. Personally, I would imagine that it would be difficult to grow in numbers from 70 upon entering Egypt to 3 million in just 210 years. To take the thought further, with regard to the Hebrew population and the final 86 years in Egypt as slaves, after a day (and possibly most of the evening) of hard labour, the last thing on one's mind would be to have the energy to do anything else but sleep! The interpretation that makes the most sense to me is that the Hebrews were psychologically and then physically in Egypt for 430 years and were enslaved for the final 210 years. That's simply my personal view which is based on pure speculation. Anything is possible when one speculates. The figure of 210 years spent in physical slavery may also be the same number of years spent in Egypt by the Hebrews. Perhaps the Hebrews did have some energy left after a day of hard labour to reproduce a lot. Each person who reads this web page can reach their own conclusions. In any case, the above-mentioned claims as well as the claim by the authoritative medieval scholar Rashi are historically the primary interpretations for how long the Hebrews were in Egypt and when they became enslaved in Egypt. Rashi (Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac) (1040-1105), born in Troyes, France, was a famous Jewish exegete, grammarian, and legal authority who wrote authoritative biblical and Talmudic commentaries which still remain important to this day. The following is his version of how long the Israelites were in Egypt, taking into consideration how long Kehos (son of Levi) (133 years), and Amram (son of Kehos) (137 years) lived, as well as the age of Moshe (Moses) (son of Amram) (80 years) when he left Egypt, which totaled 350 years: "The years of Kehos (son of Levi, one of the 12 sons of Jacob or Israel), Amram, and Moshe (Moses) overlapped, thereby, significantly reducing the total of 350. It is thus, impossible to suggest that Avraham's (Abraham's or Avram's) descendants were in Egypt anywhere near 400 years. We must, therefore, conclude that the 400 years commence with the birth of Yitzchok (Isaac)." Rashi goes on to say: "[The time] from Yitzchok's birth until Israel left Egypt was four hundred years. How is this so? Yitzchok was 60 years old at Yaakov's birth and when Yaakov descended to Egypt, he said, 'The years of my temporary residence are one hundred and thirty years,' making a total of 190. They were in Egypt 210 [years] - the numerical value of the Hebrew letters resh, daled, and vav, making a total of 400 years (each letter in the Hebrew alphabet represents a number). If you might suggest that they were in Egypt 400 [years], [this could not be so] because Kehos was of those who descended to Egypt. If you calculate the [total] years of Kehos, Amram and the eighty years of Moshe when [the Israelites] left Egypt, you will find only [a total of] 350. And you must still subtract from that all the years that Kehos lived after Amram's birth and that Amram lived after Moshe's birth." (You know what? I know who knows for sure how long the Hebrews were in Egypt because that entity was there and is still here: G-d! And who's going to argue with G-d?!)
During the time when Pharaoh issued his decree to kill Hebrew males, Moses, who later was to lead the Hebrews out of their slavery in Egypt to freedom, was an infant at this time and his concerned mother, Jochebed (alternate spelling: Yocheved), placed him in a basket of reeds in the Nile River while Moses' sister Miriam watched from a distance to see who would come to find him. The basket was found by the Pharaoh's daughter, who decided to raise the infant as her own son and named him Moses. She unknowingly hired Jochebed as a nurse to care for him, and Jochebed secretly taught Moses his Hebrew heritage. At age 40, on a visit to see his fellow Israelites, Moses saw an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave and in his rage, killed the Egyptian. Fearing for his life, Moses fled Egypt. He fled across the desert, for the roads were watched by Egyptian soldiers, and took refuge in Midian, an area in present-day northwestern Saudi Arabia along the eastern shores of the Red Sea. While in Midian, Moses met a Midianite priest named Jethro and became a shephard for the next 40 years, eventually marrying one of Jethro's daughters, Zipporah. Then when Moses was about 80 years of age, G-d spoke to him from a burning bush and said that he and his brother Aaron were selected by G-d to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt to freedom. At first, Moses hesitated to take on such a huge task but eventually, Moses and his brother Aaron set about returning to Egypt, commencing what was to be the spectacular and dramatic events that are told in the story of Passover. It is said that the Hebrews entered Egypt as a group of tribes and left Egypt as one nation. It has also been estimated that the Passover exodus population comprised about 600,000 men over the age of 20, with their wives and children making up the remaining amount totalling about 3 million people, plus numerous flocks of sheep who all crossed over the border of Egypt to freedom in Canaan during the Passover Exodus from Egypt.
Under the reign of Pharaoh (King) Thutmose III** in Egypt in 1476 B.C.E. (meaning 'Before Common Era', a Jewish substitute for BC), the Hebrew leader Moses ("Moshe" in Hebrew) - guided by G-d - led his people out of Egypt after a series of 10 plagues that were created by G-d and initiated by Moses. Prior to most of the plagues, Moses had warned the Pharaoh about each plague and that it would devastate his people, if he refused to let them go. After the first two plagues, the Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrews go because his court magicians were able to re-create the same miracles, and so the Pharaoh thought: "This proves that the Hebrew G-d is not stronger than I". But when the third plague occurred, the Pharaoh's magicians were not able to duplicate this miracle, however, that still did not change the Pharaoh's mind about letting the Hebrews leave Egypt. After each subsequent plague, the Pharaoh agreed to let the Hebrews go, but the Pharaoh soon changed his mind and continued to hold the Hebrews as slaves. Finally, after the 10th plague, the Pharoah let the Hebrews go for good. However, after the Hebrews left in a hurry, in fact so quickly that they did not have time to bake any bread in their ovens for the trip to Canaan (Palestine), and instead baked unleavened bread called Matzah, the Pharaoh, being very fickle, changed his mind after a short time and sent his army into the Sinai Desert after the Hebrews. Meanwhile, the Hebrews were already deep into the wilderness of the Sinai desert and peninsula and continued to wander there for days until they reached the Yam Soof, which is the Hebrew phrase for the "Sea of Reeds" [which is possibly the "Red Sea", an arm of the "Red Sea", or another body of water in the Sinai Peninsula area (Gulf of Suez, or the large delta at the mouth of the Nile River in Northern Egypt)]. The Egyptian army continued to look for them and finally spotted the Hebrews camped at the shores of the Yam Soof. When the Hebrews saw the Egyptian army moving toward them, they called out in despair to Moses. Fortunately, G-d intervened and commanded Moses to strike his staff on the waters of the Yam Soof, which "parted", or opened up, exposing underground tunnels that led into the "Sea of Reeds". The Hebrews went into these tunnels, which went partly into the "Sea of Reeds", and eventually led in a 180� turn back to the Sinai Desert. According to the biblical Book of Exodus, it took a few hours for the Hebrews to complete their journey through the tunnels. The Egyptian army followed the Hebrews into the tunnels, and when the last Hebrew emerged from the tunnels onto the sand of the Sinai Peninsula, G-d then commanded Moses to strike the waters of the Yam Soof with his staff again. The waters came together again, drowning the entire Egyptian army and the Hebrews were saved. After this event, the Hebrews continued to wander in the Sinai Peninsula for another 42 days until they reached Mount Sinai, where Moses received the 10 Commandments from G-d on the summit of Mount Sinai. This event is celebrated by the Jewish people as the holiday of Shavuot, meaning "weeks" in Hebrew, which refers to the timing of the festival which occurs exactly 7 weeks (50 days inclusive) after the first day of Passover (alternate spellings: "Shavuoth", and "Shavuos"). Because a week consists of 7 days, and Shavuot occurs exactly 7 weeks after the first day of Passover (50 days inclusive), Shavuot is also known as the "Week of Weeks". However, because of the sin of the Golden Calf, the Hebrews then spent the next 40 years wandering in the Sinai Desert until they finally reached the land of Canaan.
** Historians have different views on the exact date of the Exodus. 1476 BCE is the generally accepted date, a time when Thutmose III ruled. Other claims by historians are 1134 BCE, when Rameses (or Ramses) II ruled, or during the time of either Pharaoh Adikam, Malul, or Pepi (Phiops) II, the latter being the 6th and last dynasty of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, circa 2200 BCE. Incidentally, the name Pharaoh means 'Great House' in the ancient Egyptian language and originally referred to the Royal Palace in ancient Egypt, but gradually came to be a title reserved for the ruler or king of ancient Egypt who at different times in the course of history viewed himself as either a G-d in human form, the son of a G-d, or agent of a G-d; usually the G-d of the Sky, who was named Horus. However, from the 5th Dynasty onward, the Pharaoh was viewed by the ancient Egyptians as the son of Ra, the Sun G-d.
From the site: http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/
