Neither the biblical text nor archeological evidence supports the enduring misconception that Jewish slaves in Egypt built the pyramids. We rely on the support of readers like you. script>, Envisaging the Exodus Story: Meet the Egyptians, Levantines in 15th and 14th Century Egyptian Art, Ancient Mapping: Israelite Versus Egyptian Orientation, Figure 2: Storage magazines at the Ramesseum (Photograph by author), "What We Know about the Egyptian Places Mentioned in Exodus,". Given these circumstances, Pharaoh’s command to force the Israelites to build these temple storage depots was concomitantly a command to make YHWH’s chosen people labor in service to gods other than YHWH. That’s the deathblow to the idea that the Israelites built the pyramids. Who was the Pharaoh of the Exodus? Many say that the pyramids were built by highly skilled laborers, assuming bassd on biblical evidence that the Israelites built storage cities not pyramids, is there actual evidence that it was built by the enslaved, and if so, who were the enslaved people who built the pyramids? If Jews were not in Egypt at the time of the pyramids, what about Israelites or Hebrews? The Giza pyramids date to roughly 2580 BCE. (1) “Cleopatra’s Needle” on the banks of the Thames in London: (2) “Cleopatra’s Needle” in New York City’s Central Park: (3) The Vatican Obelisk in St Peter’s Square: (4) The Macuteo Obelisk in front of the Pantheon in Rome: (5) Flaminio obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo, Rome. Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. Temples were generally built with stone since they were meant to be permanent structures to last throughout the ages. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. We open up the first few chapters of the Book of Exodus and read about the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt, and we automatically imagine the slaves building pyramids. [1] Editor’s note: For more on Egyptian palaces, see Rachel Kreiter, "Pharaoh's Mudbrick Palace," TheTorah.com (2017). The Israelites, led by Moses, escaped the tenth plague of killing the firstborn by keeping the Passover; it was a shadow to show that Jesus would establish the Passover of the new covenant. Pharaoh selfishly put his own reputation above the Egyptians’ welfare. Yahweh is the name of the state god of the ancient Kingdom of Israel and, later, the Kingdom of Judah. Did the Israelites Build the Pyramids? Deuteronomy 28.org is loaded with information that proves from scripture, history and archeaology that the so called black people of the americas are the true descendents of ancient Israel and the true jews. Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? The word “obelisk” comes from the Greek obelos (ὀβελός), which means a skewer, because such stone pillars were thought to resemble spits for the grilling of meat. Beginning in the 19th century, it was significantly excavated and most of the antiquities were removed and placed in museums. The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim: lit. In Exodus 5 (Parshat Shemot in the Torah), Moses and Aaron meet with Pharaoh and deliver God's message, "Let my people go". What was the date of the exodus from Egypt? When the Lord Jesus came as Israel’s Messiah, He informed the nation Israel that many who thought themselves to be the “people of God” were mistaken: Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are … Are the pyramids mentioned in the Bible? [3] A. Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials (London: Edward Arnold & Co., 1926), 7. Here is what the obelisk looked like in a photograph from the late 19th century: Here is what the same obelisk, known to the locals as the “Al-Massallah obelisk” looks like today: This impressive pillar is the earliest example of an ancient Egyptian obelisk still found in its original location. His dissertation is titled, Ritual Processional Furniture: A Material and Religious Phenomenon in Egypt, and among his articles are, “The Egyptian Sojourn and the Exodus” and “Evaluating Chronological Hypotheses in Light of Low, Middle, and High Chronological Frameworks.”, The Pharaoh of the Exodus – Rameses III, What We Know about the Egyptian Places Mentioned in Exodus, Launched Shavuot 5773 / 2013 | Copyright © Project TABS, All Rights Reserved. In other words, Pithom and Rameses were cities, but they cannot really be described as “supply” cities, and thus, the verse likely refers to structures inside these cities. [6] Sphinxstele ThutmosisˀIV (Urk. 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