Amenemhet IV: Difference between revisions

''The ?adopted son of [[Amenemhet III]], (the 6th Pharaoh of the 12th dynasty).  He co-reigned with Amenemhet III for 9 years over Upper and Lower Egypt, Elephantine and Lower Nubia and then suddenly disappeared.  His ancestry is not recorded in Egyptian records.  (Many believe him to be the [[Moses]] of the Bible who was born {1526BC}, raised by a princess in Pharaoh's household, went into exile in Midian at the age of 40yrs {1486BC} and then returned to Egypt at the end of the 13th dynasty at the age of 80yrs to confront [[Neferhotep]] {1446BC} and lead the Israelites out of Egypt but died at the age of 120yrs before the Israelites entered the 'Promised Land' ([[Canaan]]) {1406BC}.)  [[Sobekneferu]], the daughter of [[Amenemhet III]] may have been the Princess that found him in a basket in the Nile and, being childless, raised him as her own. [[Amenemhet III]] had no sons to inherit the throne so when he died [[Sobekneferu]], in the Absence of Amenemhet IV, became the next Pharaoh.  When she died, after reigning only 4-8 years, the 12th dynasty ended and Egypt was destabilized and eventually over run by the [[Hyksos]] {1444BC} bringing an end to the 13th dynasty. The [[Egyptian chronology|revised dates]] of his reign: 1495-1486BC (approximately).''   

Egypt's wealth and power reached it's peak in the 12th dynasty under [[Sesostris III]] and his son [[Amenemhet III]].  By the end of the 12th dynasty, the Israelites had come to number about 2 million.  They had been in Egypt for 400 years and they had served as slaves for about half of this time.  The 12th dynasty pharaohs had long forgoten [[Joseph]] / [[Joseph and Imhotep|Imhotep]] of the 3rd dynasty and were becoming fearful of the Israelites because they were so numerous.  The 12th dynasty pharaohs decided to oppress the Israelites and made them in to slaves.  They were forced to work the fields and make mudbricks for the inner core of the 12th dynasty pyramids.

Not only did Egypt lose its slave labour force, it lost it's monarch, it's firstborn, it's entire army and it's transportation system. It was a massive defeat and not something that Egyptian historians would want to memorialize. In fact, much has been done to white wash this defeat from their records.

When the Israelites left Egypt (the [[Exodus]]), the Pharaoh [[Neferhotep]] and his son died and all the Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea taking all of Egypt's chariots with them.  Egypt's first born were dead.  Their slave labour force had gone. Egypt was then thrown into turmoil.  Egypt was no longer able to undertake major constructions and so no more pyramids were built.  The Egyptians were not able to defend themselves.  They became vulnerable to invasion and they were easy pickings for any of their neibours.   

Not long after the [[Exodus]], the [[Amalekites]] / [[Hyksos]] were able invade Egypt and take contol of Lower Egypt.  This was the beginning of  Egypt's [[Second Intermediate Period]] / the 15th dynasty.  Just as if by chance, as Israel was leaving Egypt (lead by [[Amenemhet IV]] / [[Moses]]), the [[Hyksos]] were on there way in.  In fact, the [[Hyksos]] / [[Amalekites]] had a brief battle with the [[Israelites]] at [[Rephidim]] in which the Israelites prevailed and sent the [[Hyksos]] / [[Amalekites]] packing.  The [[Hyksos]] / [[Amalekites]] eventually went to [[Egypt]] where they constucted a fort on Egypt's boundary at [[Avaris]].  From there, they mounted a campain to take over the rest of the country.  They controlled [[Lower Egypt]] for the next 400 years (corresponding to the Israelite's 40 years in the Wilderness and the  period when the Judges ruled in Israel).  They were eventually defeated in a rebellion starting in [[Upper Egypt]] lead by [[Kahmose]] of [[Thebes]] with the assistance of King [[Saul]] of Israel, ushering in the 18th dynasty [[Ahmose I]]).

The Israelites, therefore, had a profound influence on Egypt.  Joseph ([[Joseph and Imhotep|Imhotep]]) saved Egypt from a seven year famine and acquired all the land of Egypt, making the pharaohs wealthy and powerful.  He designed the first pyramid (in the third dynasty) and was the first to build with columns and write on papyrus.  Later in Israel's sojourn, the Israelites provided slave labour for various public works which included making mudbricks for the construction of the last of the great pyramids (those of the 12th dynasty). Egypt was destabilised when Moses (Amenemhet IV) went into exile as there was nobody to continue the 12th dynasty. Egypt suffered massive losses 40 years later as a result of the Exodus at the end of the 13th dynasty (1446BC) and as a result became vulnerable to invasion. The [[Hyksos]] took over and ruled Lower Egypt for the next 400 yrs (the second intermediate period). [F] .<ref name=Bukisa>[http://www.bukisa.com/articles/210623_who-were-the-hyksos Who were the Hyksos?] Save-Soderbergh, t. (1951) The Hyksos rule in Egypt, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Egypt Exploration Society.</ref>

If it is true that [[Joseph]] and [[Joseph and Imhotep|Imhotep]] were the same person, then the first pyramid (the Step Pyramid in Saqqara) was designed by an Israelite at the begining of Israel's Sojourn in Egypt and if the last of the great pyramids (those of the 12th dynasty) were constructed with a core made from mudbricks which were made by Israelite slave labour, then the Israelites were in Egypt while all of the great pyramids were being constructed. After the Israelites departed from Egypt in the 13th dynasty, lead by Moses ([[Amenemhet IV]]), there were not enough slaves left in Egypt to construct pyramids any more. The Pyramid Age, therefore, coincides with [[Sojourn of Israel in Egypt|Israel's sojourn in Egypt]]. The Pyramids were thus constructed over a period of around 400 years and no more large pyramids were built after Moses ([[Amenemhet IV]]) lead the Israelites out of Egypt in 1446BC.