The Plagues

The City and Pharoahs Ramses

But there is good reason Rosenberg is practically alone in arguing for King Tut as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. He ignores the two primary pieces of evidence that most commentators cite. One is a chronological note in 1 Kings 6:1. The second is the reference to the city Rameses.

Most Christian and secular scholars today base their arguments on the city of Rameses. Ramses is a personal name meaning “son of Ra.” 11 different pharaohs bore this name. They ruled between the 13th and 12th centuries BC. Regardless of the identification of this city, it should be one named after one of these kings. Not only that, there happens to be a city called Per-Ramessu (Pi-Ramesse). It happens to be located in the Nile Delta, where the Bible situates it. It was also built with slave labor. The name of these slave laborers was the ʿApiru’. Many scholars connect this word with the Hebrew word for “Hebrews.” It was Ramses II who orchestrated this building project. This city functioned as the seat of Egyptian power throughout the 19th and 20th dynasties. Moses does make a reference in Genesis to Joseph living in “the land of Rameses.” But one can easily explain this as a reference to the area Moses knew by this later name.