But the messenger was caught by loyal troops to Kamose and the plan was never carried out.

Conventional historians apparently are ignoring Arabic sources on the history of Avaris [200] which was also known as Auaris, Tharu and Rhinocorura. The builders name was Latis as he is called in the Arabic sources. We believe Latis is identical with the Hyksos king Salitis of Josephus-Manetho. [300]

Saul had gathered over 200,000 footmen and 10,000 men of Judah. He besieged Sharuhen for 6 years [400]. From the Egyptian sources the Ahmose Inscription[500] sheds some light on this conflict. This is how these people came to their end as anyone can read in the scriptures allowing the native ruler Ahmose to become the first king of the 18th dynasty.

Battle Scene Fragments

In 1993 battle scene fragments of the time of Ahmose were found on the eastern side of the inner court at Abydos. One fragment of a monumental stele shows two hieroglyphs spelling the name of the Hyksos capital Avaris (Hut-waret); a group of three archers aim upward - perhaps at the Hyksos fortress; teams of bridled chariot horses; ships with oars descending into water; fallen men recognizable as Asiatic soldiers; Hyksos subjects recognizable by their characteristic fringed garments and long swords; an inscription fragment showing part of the name of king Apophis (Egyptian - Ipep, Hebrew Apop/Agog); and a grain harvest relief may show an event during the siege, perhaps in response to their looting invasions?

"I followed the king on foot when he rode abroad in his chariot. One besieged the city of Avaris (Auaris). I showed valor on foot before his majesty ... One fought on the water in the canal [riverbed] of Avaris. ... Then there was again fighting in this place; I again fought. ... One gave to me the gold of bravery ... One fought in this Egypt, south of this city; then brought away a living captive. ... One captured Avaris. ... One besieged Sharuhen [s-r-h-n] for six years[600] [and] his majesty took it... One gave me the gold of bravery, besides giving me the captives for slaves ..." [700]

And in the parallel text in the scriptures we read"

"And Saul came to [the] city of Amalek, and laid wait in [the bed of] the stream [nakhal]."[800] 1.Samuel 15:5.

These words, "city of Amalek" have always been a stumbling block for commentators. The Amalekites are supposed to have been a small tribe of unsettled Bedouins but it makes sense once we realize they were the Hyksos.

El-Arish is the only river between the Nile Delta and Palestine which the Scriptures persistently refer to as `nakhal'. In winter it can be a torrent, in summer it is dry.

See Numbers 34:5; Joshua 15:4; Joshua 15:47; 2.Kings 24:7.

From the scriptural viewpoint God had charged Israel:

"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt ... Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it." Exodus 17:14,16; Deuteronomy 25:17-19.

The war ended with Saul sparing Agog and the best of the sheep, oxen and lambs and all that was good. The Prophet Samuel, in his capacity as the head lawyer of Israel, had instructed Saul not to spare anything because of the implication of a ban on inter-marriage with their women or those of their Egyptian subjects, whose overlords the Amalekites were. While men could marry their sister in Egypt, in Israel that was forbidden. As a result the two cultures had to collide eventually. [900]

Saul, after his great victory over the Amalekites, engaged himself in a war with the Philistines. He went into this war with a heavy heart (1.Samuel 16:14-18). The prophet Samuel had spoken stern words to him because he had shown kindness to Agog by sparing his life against the instructions of God (1.Sam. 15:3). Samuel killed Agog, never met Saul again, and died. Saul, with the aid of necromancy, tried to get in touch with the deceased Samuel. Again he disobeyed the explicit divine instructions not to consult the spirits of the devil. The day after his visit to the witch of Endor, Philistine archers hit Saul and he and his three sons died, Saul being finished off by his own request by an Amalekite soldier.

Historically the credit for freeing the Near East from the Hyksos yoke belongs to Saul, but his great achievement was never acknowledged and recognized and we shall find out why. Conventional authors usually apply "One" to the king himself. However, Saul was also a king. Nevertheless the minimal view would hold that Egyptians are unlikely to mention a foreign king while in the maximized view perhaps the ally situation may allow to include both kings in the account of Ahmose. [1000]

The strategic importance of El Arish can be gaged by the fact that here is where nearby Tharu had been constructed. According to excavation evidence this 3 meters thick, walled, enclosure covering 12,000 square meters, was an armory and dates back to the time of Seti the Great.

The capture of Auaris and the destruction of the Amalekites changed the course of history. Once more Egypt rose to power and splendor after being freed from hundreds of years of abject slavery and lack of freedom under a tyrannical people. The Age of the Exchanging of Gifts throughout the entire Orient reached new heights and became a hallmark of proper conduct among monarchs and potentates.

The Amalekites had revealed themselves as a wicked people who would have destroyed God's people and wiped out the worship of the only true God if given the opportunity. For this reason God commanded that nothing living of the Amalekites should survive but the Kenites [1050] because they were friendly towards Israel. We do not believe that the Qayini were the Kenites. [1.Samuel 15:6]

Ahmose's Links with Minoan Crete

The discovery of fragments of wall paintings in the destruction debries of M. Bietak's Tell el-Dab'a/Avaris, found laying over gardens beside the platform of a huge building (70m x 45m), which they are presumed to have decorated, seems to link Ahmose with the Minoan culture. The fragments show bulls and bull-leapers, a scene of an acrobat beside a palm tree, the pose of which is supposed to closely recall the scene of a chalcedony sealstone from Knossos and more images. [1100]

Careful reading reveals that the authors/editors use circular reasoning in that they try to corroberate dates between Minoan Crete, Mesopotamia and Egypt when both, the history of Crete and Mesopotamia, follow Egyptian chronological dating methods. An example is the clay sistrum, said to originate from the Middle Minoan IA funerary building 9 in the Arkhanes Phourni cemetery, compared to an example in blue faience from the pyramid of Amenemhat I at Lisht. The importance of this borrowing of Egyptian products on Crete implies "knowledge of the use and purpose of the Egyptian instrument; in other words we observe symbolic transfer taking place." [1150]

Here we have an example where the sistrum instrument was borrowed by the Minoans from the Egyptians while many other discoveries seem to indicate Egyptians borrowing or using ideas and products from Crete. Such bi-directional exchanges are normal and may corroborate but do not fix a chronology. See Here for more.

When Israel was at its highest point in its economic achievements under king Solomon, Egypt also was becoming very prosperous and had good relations with the Israelite king, so much so, that Solomon married pharaoh's daughter.[1300] Solomon also had two high Egyptian officials judging by their names, Eli-horeph and Ahiah, sons of Shisha, who were scribes (1.Kings 4:3). This indicates that the relations with Egypt in the days of Solomon and probably also Saul and David were much more complex and Egypt oriented than we might expect. In fact we may state that by virtue of Solomon having married the daughter of Thutmoses II, who had gone out of his way to destroy the remaining Canaanite stronghold of Gezer as a wedding gift (1.Kings 9:16), that he had great influence in Egypt. We may also consider Solomon resorting to forced labor, a common practice in Egypt, as an indication of his affinity with Egypt. The stern method of taxation under Hatshepsut in Egypt, Solomon in Israel (1.Kings 9:21, 22; 10:28; 12:10,11), was first introduced under the Middle Kingdom (12th dynasty) under Joseph (Genesis 41:34,35). Some of what is represented today than as Canaanite culture in archaeology is Israelite culture in revised view. It is incongruous to state that the Canaanites had a more advanced culture than the Israelites during the time of the judges. The reason for that assertion is once again an offset Egyptian chronology. The power of the Canaanites was that they were supported by the Hyksos/Amu/Amalekites whose influence reached clear back to the Euphrates [1350]. When the Hyksos/Amalekites were destroyed it also largely broke the resistance of the Canaanites.

The Defeat of the Hyksos by Kamose

Here is a part of the account of a tablet found by L. Carnarvon in 1908 recounting the defeat of the Hyksos from the point of view of Kamose:

"I should like to know what purpose serves my strength, when one prince is in Avaris and another is in Kush, and I sit united with an `A`am (Asiatic) and a Negro - each man holding his slice of the Black Land - who share the land with me. I do not pass him(??) as far as Memphis, the water (?) of Egypt. Behold, he holds(?) Shmun, and no man rests, being wasted(?) through servitude(?) of the Setyu. I will grapple with him, that I may cleave his belly. My desire is to deliver Egypt, and to smite(?) the `A'amu." [1400]

Khamose then battled the enemy in the vicinity of Elephantine in the south of Egypt.[1500]

The Rise of Queenly Power

When Hatshepsut became queen over Egypt Solomon ruled in Israel. Hearing the stories of his fabulous wealth she could bear it no longer but decided to visit him.

The Economy of the Levant

A long recognized critical factor in chronological interdependencies about the ancient nations of the Levant is their economy. Since in our revision we bring together different personalities, national history and economic factors we should present some issues and how they differ from conventional views. Our first task is to present as many scriptural assertions bearing on this subject as we can find. We shall go back in time in doing so.

One of the great tradesmen of the distant past was Abraham. Donkey and Camel caravans were the merchants truck fleets of that age. They distributed their wares along the major travel routes from China to North Africa in all directions. Sometimes goods would reach exorbitant prices due to having changed hands so often. The story of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon and the merchant aspects of that visit show how the Egyptians and Israelites sought for ways to eliminate the high prices caused by middle men merchants by trading and selling direct. Shipping lanes were the competition for the caravans in a limited way [Egypt and Levant] for shipping also brought regions together [Egypt and Greece] which never could be reached by caravans.

Dynastic Life and Times

Amenhotep III and his Queen Tiye [1600] were among the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, of the Egyptian kings. Their life is written up in many books but we have since breathed new recognitions in their identities as never realized before. This king is of interest, however, because of his connections to the Amarna Age and because of our latest discoveries. There is some evidence for Amenophis (prenomen Nebmaatre) to have visited Akhetaten, the capital of his son Akhnaton. It is based on a discussion of a, with a damaged text inscribed bowl, saying in effect that Nebmaatre was "in Akhetaton", according to F.J. Giles.[1650] Considering the revision we present, Amenophis/Amenhotep III/King Asa of Judah had good reason to be shown that way by Akhnaton/King Ahab, because in his later use as he contracted a disease to he feet, he had married Nefertiti, and his last two years, King Ahab = King Baasha, son of

A tomb (TT226) thought to belong to the time of Amenhotep III, even though very damaged, had a title, 'Overseer of the Upbringing of the King's Sons', of Amunhotep III preserved. A still visible painting of the owner, seated on a chair, shows on his lap his four sons . The top half of the painting is destroyed but the bottom half is still preserved. TT226 is supposed to belong to one Hekareshu, royal scribe, Overseer of the royal nurses. [1700]

The central region for most of the 18th Dynasty kings was Thebes and Karnak. Akhenaten changed all this and moved his residential capital some 170 miles further north on the banks of the Nile. Here the `Royal Road' connected the central city with administrative buildings all the way up past `The Sun Temple' to `The North Palace', Akhnaton's consort's palace, and to `The Riverside Palace', his royal residence. One well known architectural characteristic was Akhnaton's `Window of Appearances'. He may even have been the first monarch in Egypt to employ such a design, but a certain story comes to mind, which, in the light of our revision of these 18th Dynasty rulers, show us that elsewhere there was something like a window and balcony "of appearance.". [1800] Akhnaton is also famous for his wives. His Queen was Nefertiti.[1825] The name of his secondary Queen was Kiya, possibly the mother of Tutankhamen. [1850]

Archaeologists also excavated and described splendid residences of the nobles of the city of Akhetaten. Among these is the ca. 2850 ft² (265 m²) home of a vizier by the name of `Nakht', the compound of the sculptor Thutmose of El Amarna as well as a 27 room El Amarna mansion (ca. 5710 ft²), owner unknown. Artists drawings are included. [1900]

But the city was not to survive for very long as events unfolded causing many officials to locate their tombs elsewhere, away from Amarna, like near Saqqara. We are told, here the tomb of Raïay or Hatiay, the son of a gold smith, who became a top administrator of the treasury of the temples of Aten in the southern capital and in Memphis, was located. The art work inside reveals his devotion to Akhnaton/Amenophis III. While tombs of other personalities linked with Akhnaton had been damaged, Raïay's survived whatever changes brought Akhetaten down. His beautiful young wife Maïa (was she the wetnurse Maya?), was also provided space in the tomb. But neither was found to be buried in their finished tomb. Why we can only guess at. [2000]

Evidence for the Mycenaean Age Paralleling the El Amarna Age

This evidence is based on papyrus fragments found by Pendlebury in 1936 in House R 43:2 when he wrote, "finds in this building included a complete Mycenaean vase (the second complete example found on the site) and a number of fragments of papyrus - still awaiting a proper treatment.' This treatment was accomplished by Bridget Leach (Conservation Department of the British Museum). All the fragments of the painted papyrus portion have now been positioned with reasonable certainty. They show 3 accumulations of small fragments (right to left) as part of a battle scene, a) `Libyan archers are depicted attacking a fallen Egyptian in a rocky terrain'; b) the middle scene shows running troops and an archer shooting an arrow; c) running foot soldiers. The significance of these scenes is that they show the unusual feature of a type of helmet on some of the running troops which are said to be remarkably similar to boar tusk helmets as found in Mycenaean images. One of the helmeted figures is also interpreted to wear a cropped ox-hide tunic which also has Aegean parallels.[2100]

With the passing of Amenophis IV (Akhnaton) the affairs surrounding the remaining rulers need to be retold so we may understand that there was no such thing as a transition from the 18th to the 19th Dynasty.

It was in 1907 that Theodore M. Davis, a business man from Rhode Island, who became interested in archaeological excavations while making a chance visit to Egypt, decided to clear a small area in the Valley of the Kings (Tomb 55). After having exposed several other tombs in times past, this time he found the undisturbed tomb of Yuya [2200] and Tuya, Queen Tiy's parents. Inside Davis found 4 beautifully made canopic jars of alabaster with identically carved lids. The heads were made by master craftsmen. [2300] The eyes were open, the irises and pupils inlaid with dark stones. The jars had once the name of their owner incised in them but now they were chiseled away. Inside the jar he found cloth material which had been soaked in bitumen but nothing else remained.

On the floor Davis found gold covered "doors" bearing the name of Queen Tiy. These doors were later judged to have been the sides of the catafalque inside which the coffin lay once enclosed. One of the partly with rubbish covered doors showed the full figure of the Queen engraved into metal foil. She was dressed in a thin, translucent tunic showing the contours of her body.

The presence of jewelry, a necklace and gold foil proved that the tomb had never been robbed. Yet, the tomb was extremely disorderly. The burial place chosen also seemed inappropriate for a queen since her servants had better constructed ones than she did. No pictures adorned the walls, it was just a rough cut hole in the ground. Someone had broken the catafalque apart and put some pieces of it on top of some rubble stones in the entrance corridor. The erasure of the names also did not make it easier to solve the enigma.

When Gaston Maspero studied the artifacts he found those of Queen Tiy but decided the coffin to have more the appearance of having been made for Akhnaton. Even though the name had been erased, the titles were still legible. He read, "living in truth" an epithet typically used by this king. Hieroglyphics also were typical epithets used by Akhnaton. However, the age determined by the anatomist spoke against this mummy to have been that of Akhnaton who reigned for some 16 years and was a grown man when he became king. Despite the findings of the anatomist, Maspero was joined by Arthur Weigall in declaring the mummy to be that of Akhnaton. They relied upon the fact that in the `foundation' deposits bricks were found bearing royal seal impressions of Akhnaton and again others bearing that of Thutankhamen.

There was only one other clue, a prayer or a love song cut with a stylus in the gold foil under the feet of the mummy. This prayer was not included in the report made by Davis and Maspero but was translated and published later.

Later Dr. G. Elliot Smith, a professor of anatomy, examined the remains and declared the body to be male about 25 to 26 years old based on ossification. This age was later reduced to 24 years old by Dr. Derry, who took over the position of Dr. Smith, who agreed to the reduction in age of the mummy. Also, the skull bore evidence of hydrocephalus according to Dr. Smith, an abnormal condition in which the frontal part of the cranium is extended but never the occipital part, as is the case with the cranium of Akhnaton. This finding, too, was later judged a normal family related feature by Dr. Derry. He asked Dr. Engelbach, an Egyptologist, to examine the evidence and determine whose body it could be. He decided it was the mummy of Smenkhkare, a favorite of Akhnaton, who also bore those titles.[2320] A comparison of the mummy remains of `Smenkhkare' and `Thutankhamen' revealed that they were brothers. This fact has reportedly been confirmed more recently by determining the blood group on the bases of small amounts of remaining skin of the mummy of KV55 (Amarna cage tomb) as the rare A2 type which also happens to be the type of the mummy of Tuthankhamen. It may be of interest that in the Spring of 2000 two stamped jar handles with the cartouches of Neb-kheperu-ra (Tutankhamun) and Ankh-kheperu-ra wa-en-ra (Smenkhekara) were found during excavations at Tel el Borg in the northern Sinai. KV62 is also of Tutankhamen. [2350]

The Mystery Surrounding the Sun God's Servants

To borrow in part a title from a late issue of National Geographic magazine focusing on `Raiay' or `Hatiay', the son of a goldsmith who apparently became a top administrator under Akhnaton. The unfinished tomb was found by Alain Zivie who discusses the presumed religious changes taking place during his time. [2500]

The Succession After Akhnaton - Please be informed we are just now (December 2011) proposing new identities for these rulers and have not adopted all articles to these new parameters

After Akhnaton's 17-19 year reign had come to an end, Smenkhare reigned for a short time. The latest date mentioned is the third year which included perhaps a period of coregency with his father. After his short reign there appears to have been a rivalry between the two brothers, Tut-ankh-amen and Smenkhare, and that Smenkhare was killed at that time. Since both of these brothers were very young when they began, the power behind them was thought to have been that of "General, Chief Priest, Court Chamberlain" Ay. It was Ay, probably related to Tiy, who buried Tutankhamen several years after the death of Smenkhare, whose cartouche was found in the tomb and he is being shown administering the mortuary rites of `the opening of the mouth' at the funeral. [2550]

Coming back to the story of Smenkhare, in life Smenkhare wore already the regalia of the king when Akhnaton was still alive since they are shown on the same bas relief indicating that Akhnaton gave away his royal power in his life time while Smenkhare was still in his teens. Akhnaton on the other hand did not lose his throne by death but probably was forced to abdicate his crown on account of becoming blind. The clue that this might be the truth about the end of Akhnaton is the fact that Akhnaton called his capital city by a name so similar to his own that R.W. Rogers wrote: "A new city, bearing the king's name was erected." [2600] As V. wrote: "Herodotus rendered the names Akhnaton and Akhet-Aton as the basis for the name Anysis (the blind man) ..."who also, according to Herodotus, came from a city bearing his name. Is there any other evidence that Akhnaton became blind? "Although a man sees the facts, yet the two eyes of the king, my lord, do not see ..." [EA#288] These were the words written by a vassal king to Akhnaton. They may not have been written to refer to a physical disability but we cannot exclude that entirely just because its hard to imagine. Another, perhaps better reference is a poem which reads:

The sun of him that knew thee not hath set, O Amun,
But he that knoweth thee, he shineth.
The weba[2700] of him that assailed thee is in darkness,
while the whole earth is in sunlight.
Whoso putteth thee in his heart, O Amun,
lo, his sun hath risen." [2800]

Some say the end of Akhnaton was sudden, others it was gradual. Since this was written, we now believe that Akhnaton and King Ahab of Israel were the same person. Akhnaton/Ahab's city was abandoned by everyone (see here for that). Archaeologists could find no evidence that anyone was buried in the tombs of the nobles of Akhet-Aton. Later kings omitted Akhnaton and his heirs in their Karnak and Abydos lists of pharaohs. Where his name should be they wrote: "that criminal of Akhet Aten". [2900] As an aside, Sabacos (Shabaka) belongs to the end of the 8th century BC while Akhnaton lived in the 2nd half of the 9th century BC.

The End of the 18th Dynasty and Horemheb

Considering these circumstances we cannot find any person like Horemheb in the days of Akhnaton and Tut-ankh-amen, but we do find Jehu, who may have been Horemheb. We must also keep in mind that the King lists of Abydos and Karnak do not mention the kings of the Libyan and Ethiopian dynasties. When the lists then jump from Amenhotep III straight to Horemheb is that not necessarily an indication of actual chronological sequence without gaps. Often conventional historians make the assumption that Horemheb was a member of the court of Akhnaton which we find to be without good reasons. As we point out elsewhere, when the cartouche of Horemheb is found together with that of King Tutankhamun, is that on commemorative stones not contemporary with the period of the kings and cannot be used as indication of chronological association.

The painted war scene on a chest in the tomb of Tutankhamen against what looks like Syrians, Ethiopians and/or Libyans (the `Ammonians', Herodotus) may have been the occasion for the death of both (perhaps arranged by Ay?), Smenkhare and Thutankhamen. [3000] Both received royal burials but Ay, for whatever reason, saw to it that Smenkhare did not receive honors due to a king. It appears that someone (perhaps a sister) in disobedience to the command of Ay hid the body of Smenkhare in the roughly hewn cave and burned a few boughs in his honor.

Davis found yet another grave which did not get into the official report but deserved to be recorded.

"A short time ago, I found a small pit tomb three hundred feet from Tiyi's tomb. It was covered with rock and sand about three feet deep. It proved to be about seven feet square and six feet deep. It was filled with white jars sealed with covers." [3100]

We would like to enumerate the following facts about tomb 55 and cite suggested conclusions:

1. Amenhotep III broke tradition by marrying Tiyi [3150] who used a title `Queen's nurse' for having raised Nefretete.
2. Tut-ankh-amen's queen was sixteen year old Ankhesenpaaten. They had two children who were stillborn and their mummies were found in his tomb.
3. In order to establish his right to the throne Ay married the widow of Tut-ankh-amen, Ankhesenpaaten who was renamed Ankhesenamen, his own granddaughter. But not very long and we hear no more of Ankhesenamen. [3200]
4. While Akhnaton and Smenkhare used the appellation `living in truth', Ay used and described himself as one `Who is doing right', a rather unusual appellation in the history of Egypt.
5. The appellation was probably used by Ay to profess that he did his duty to the crown and Egypt by deposing Akhnaton, installing Akhnaton's sons and then siding with the younger son in the brother's conflict and imprisoning Meritaten in the pit tomb.
6. Ay's second wife and his later queen was Ty who bore the same name as Tiy, Ay's sister; the names are spelled differently only for us to be able to tell them apart.
7. The relationship between Ay, Yuya and Thuya was proposed based upon the similarity of the names of the Akhmim family. This Akhmim family was very closely related to the last pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty, and provided not only Queen Tiyi, who married Amenhotep III, but also Nefertiti. The banquet scenes are eloquent witnesses to the lotus motif which parallels the era of Solomon (look in the CIAS encyclo under `lotus')). Piles of gifts often included variously shaped containers topped by lotus blossoms.[3250] Ay is thought to having been Neferitit's father on the basis of his title `God's Father', which is understood to mean `God's Father-in-Law'. Yuya used this same title thought to provide more evidence in favor of the previous supposition regarding Neferitit. But who was the mother of Nefertiti? She was not Ay's later wife, Tiyi, who is described as a nurse. Therefore, they say, it must have been an earlier wife. Yuya was the father of Tiyi according to Cyril Aldred, 1988. See also Damien Mackey's paper first published on CIAS here and compare to Donald B. Redford, `The Monotheism of the Heretic Pharaoh' in BAR, May 1987, p. 16-32.
8. Ay's cruelty toward Meritaten was also dictated by him perceiving the need to prevent some other pretender to the throne from marrying Smenkhare's widow, the eldest daughter of Akhnaton, and by doing so have more rights to the throne than he himself.
9. Nefretete was a daughter of Ay by an earlier marriage who was nursed and raised by Tiyi. [3300]
10. Tutankhamen's tomb had originally been for Ay by his brother in law, Amenhotep III, not far from the tomb of his parents, Yuya and Tuya, in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb was located close to that of Amenhotep III. It is possible Tut's tomb was first planned to be for Smenkhare, when he was king for about one year but neither of the brothers was entombed in it. Aye finished the large tomb for himself.
11. Ay's reign lasted about four years and did not end peacefully. "Anarchy ensued. Thebes was a prey of plundering bands who forced their way into the royal tombs." [3400]
12. The invaders did the greatest damage to the tomb of Ay. It was not an act of robbing but one of violence and vengeance. [3500]
13. It is likely that these invading bands were once before called in by Smenkhare to help him regain the throne.

1. Smenkhars's nomen name included `Nerfer-nef-ruaten' which once belonged to Nefertiti.
2. From this we should not conclude that Nefertiti wrote a love song to Akhnaton in his grave.
3. The possible allusion to Smenkhare in the poem has nothing to do with the ownership of the coffin itself.
4. The love poem to Smenkhare was written by a female and he was called `brother'.
5. The coffin (KV55) supposedly with the mummy of Smenkhare, bears the royal uraeus at the head and the royal scepter in his hands [3550], was made for Akhnaton and the catafalque for Tiy.
6. The latest identification of the head of the canopic jar lids is that of the eldest daughter of Akhnaton and consort of Smenkhare, Meritaten. Meritaten was the sister or half sister and queen wife of Smenkhare.
7. It appears that the person who secreted the love poem underneath the feet of the mummy was the same who carefully obliterated (not to destroy) the name on her own canopic jars and placed them into the tomb.
8. It appears that Meritaten introduced whatever precious objects she could find into the tomb.
9. Some miniature canopic coffins, one of the enormous gold shrines and adornments which covered the mummy had originally been made for Smenkhare but were usurped for the funeral of Tut-ankh-amen.
10. The intruders to tomb 55 were agents of Ay. They used the same seal - a jackal over nine prisoners - which appears on the door of Tut-ankh-amen's grave and the pit in the rock with the clay vessels in it.

The pit in the rock tomb was found in 1908 and is located 300 feet from Tiyi's, 120 yards from King Tut's and 100 yards from tomb 55. It measured:

For our purposes we can see that the 18th Dynasty ended as a result of the double dealings of the ambitious Ay who brought the heirs of Akhnaton to their deaths possibly at the hands of the enemies. These Libyan enemies took advantage of the power vacuum in Egypt and established the 22nd Dynasty at the passing of Ay. Thus, the ending of the 18th Dynasty reminds us of the end of the 12th Dynasty, both had no heirs ready to wear the crown of Egypt after the death of their last king. No Amarna letter authored by Ay has been found.

There is no insurmountable indication whatsoever that someone like Horemheb lived at this time and took over the reigns of the country. Let us also not forget that the name of Horemheb was found in the tomb of Petamenophis located in the Valley of the Kings, TT33. Petamenophis was a highly placed official during the time of the Ethiopian Dynasty in Egypt. This tomb attracted early on the attention of archaeologists for its great size and ambitious layout in a prestigious location. It was first described by Richard Lepsius in his `Denkmäler' [3800] and judged by Rudolf Anthes and Grapow to be of Ethiopian times. [3900]

Therefore, we must follow the account found in Josephus on the three brothers to get the story on Armais/Harmhab/Horemheb as the ancients knew it. At least we have the backing of an ancient source and recommend to our readers to give this some thought.

In our revision Sheshonk was a contemporary of Pharaoh Tutankhamon and Pharaoh Ay. During the time of the latter's reign it seems the `Stela of Shoshenk' makes references to when it addresses `His Majesty', meaning Pharaoh Ay. Convention assumes `His Majesty' refers to the 21st Dynasty Priest-king Pesibkhenno which does not make sense to us. We must ask the question, `What do we know about Pharaoh Ay and his relations to the Lybians?' Some point to Ay when it comes to the question how Tutankhamen and Smenkhare died. The painted chest from the tomb of Tutankhamen showing Africans/Ethiopians or more likely Lybians waging war against the Egyptians was arranged or supported by Ay to help him come to power. While the evidence is circumstantial, it makes sense in connection with Shoshenk I later coming to power in Egypt itself. There is then an overlap of reignal years probably from the time of Tutankhamen to the end of Ay with Shoshenk I's reignal years. [4000]

2. Amenhotep III was the model for Laius.

6. Tiy was the model for Jocasta.

16. Akhnaton was the model for Oedipus

17. Smenkhare may be the model for Eteocles and Tutankhamun for Polyneices. Meritaten may be the model for Antigone.

Conventional history is at a loss to explain why these three mummies should have been singled out for placement away from the others found reburied within the tomb.

Our revised history has no such difficulties. As Dr Velikovsky pointed out in Oedipus and Akhnaton, Queen Tiy corresponds to Queen Jocasta in the Oedipus legend, and took her own life. The wisdom teeth in the 'young woman' mummy have not emerged, which makes her too young to be Nefertiti. She is thus Smenkhare's sister and wife, Meritaten, the Antigone who secretly buried her brother's body and was immured living within a pit for her deed. Before long, she took her own life.

There is a common link between these 'isolated' mummies: suicide. This points to suicide as the cause of Thutmose V's premature death, and further enables us to identify him as Chrysippus of the Oedipus legend, the youth who took his own life when violated by Laius (Amenhotep III).(PW)

"Early last November, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the discovery of Tut Ankhamen's burial chamber, a French archeological team headed by Alain Zivie uncovered a most revealing Ancient Egyptian tomb in Sakkara a few kilometers south west of Cairo, not far from Memphis the sometime administrative capital of Ancient Egypt. Digging into rock below a modern day guest house and cafeteria, the French team discovered what appeared to be at first an Ancient Egyptian nobleman's tomb. A more thorough examination and -- bingo! The underground chamber revealed this was no mere nobleman's place of rest but was the tomb of Maya the divine wet nurse, a beautiful noblewoman whose highborn breasts had been suckled by the Pharaoh God, Tut Ankhamen. Engraved on the adjoining tombs' walls were members of the late 18th Dynasty nobility including priests, grandees, the chief of the royal treasury, ambassadors and three generations from a family of royal painters.

At a December 7, 1997 press conference held at the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Zivie explained that this latest discovery was only the beginning. The French Egyptologist expected further consequential revelations to come out of Maya's near intact tomb. For instance, we may finally uncover who was King Tut's biological mother as opposed to his well known Divine Parenthood. Although we know King Tut Ankhamen was born in Tel al-Amarna and that he was reportedly the son of Amenhotep III (an earlier 18th-dynasty king), to this day no one determined who exactly gave birth to the Boy King. From his time also comes a hunting scene painted on the lid of a box found in his tomb showing the king standing in a chariot with a drawn bow, charging into a herd of running gazelles and ostriches. [4200]

Another unknown which might soon be cleared concerns the court painters depicted on the nearby murals. Are they the same ones who decorated the wonders that survived from that turbulent period? Many questions some of which are about to be answered.

Alain Zivie, meanwhile, too absorbed by what is in store for him the coming days, could not be bothered with King Tut's Curse.

Seventy five years since the discovery of the Boy King's burial chamber and the world is still spellbound by the mysteries of his enigmatic reign."
Press Release by Samir Rafaat, `Jordan Star', Dec. 11, 1997

Unfortunately, since this story came out, no new light has been shed on the origins of Tutankhamon.

[0100] `Stela of Kamose'; Ahmed Fakhri, `Bahriyah and Farafra', NY, 1974, p. 58.

[0200] A damaged example of the hieroglyphic signs for `Avaris' (hut-waret) are found in `Archaeology', Jul/Aug 2001, p. 52. The fragment was found at Abydos, not in the eastern delta.

[0300] Josephus, `Against Apion', Book I, Sec. 14.

[0400] A. Gardiner, being more conservative and not thinking of this war as against the Hyksos occupiers of Egypt reads 3 years. But we tend to agree with 6 years especially since the rock city of Petra could have been Sharuhen and that location was definitely hard to take. But we don't assume that Petra looked then as it does today. See also P. Scott-Moncrieff, `The Royal Feud in the Wadi Halfa Temple' in PSBA, Dec. 1909, p. 333-338. Referrencing K. Sethe in `Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache', Vol. XLII, p. 136, where Sethe defends the reading of 3 years.

[0500] There were two Ahmose, the first one who wrote the `Ahmose Inscription' was a commander in the army of the Ahmose, brother to Khamose, who became the first pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. For your information: The grandmother of Ahmose I was `Tetisheri', the name of his wife was Ahmose-Nefertire, according to Ancient Egypt, Part 1, 1921, p. 14-16.

[0600] Gardiner reads it as `three years'. See Kurt Sethe, `Die Dauer der Belagerung von Sharuhen', Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, XLVII, (1905), p. 136. Also Gunn & Gardiner in, `Journal of Egyptian Archaeology', Vol. V (1918),p. 47.

[0700] Breasted, `Records', "Ahmose Inscription", Vol. II, Sec. 7-13. See also Archaeology, Jul/Aug 2001, S.Harvey, Tribute to a Conquering King, p. 52ff.; See also Omar Zhudi, `A Tale of Two Amoses - Or How to Begin an Empire' in KMT, Vol. 11, Winter 2000/01, p. 50-60; For a detail image of the Ahmose inscription see p. 59.

[0800] The KJV translation of "in the valley," is incorrect. `Nakhal' is "a bed of a river," "a river," and more especially the "river of Egypt" or the wadi of el-Arish, as distinguished from Yeor, or the Nile. Levy, Wörterbuch über die Talmudin und Midrashim, translates `nakhal' as "Fluß, Bach, Flussbett [river, creek, river bed]."

[0900] See Dr. Ewald Metzler, Conflict of Laws in the Israelite Dynasty of Egypt', p. 13.

[1000] New research shows the following: The relevant part of A. Yahuda's discussion of "One" is p.13, section 6. Court expressions of deference. He shows that addressing Pharaoh in the 3rd person (as in the Joseph narrative) is most ancient, e.g. "his Majesty". We encounter that often. Then he goes on: "Very often out of respect to the king he was referred to simply as 'one' (tw); e.g. Urk. iv. 27. 10: ' why does "one" recall these things?', meaning the king: d'Orb, 12, 2f. (=Lit., 157): 'his Majesty loved her very much; one (iw.tw) appointed her as shepes.t (i.e. a 'freewoman, honorable, great lady')'; the same occurs again in other passages in the same narrative (compare also Lit., p. 50, n.1). This usage dates back to very ancient times and was always characteristic of official speech, as e.g. in the letter addressed in the name of King Phiops II (6th dynasty, about 2625-2475 BC) [sic] to General Herkhuf (hr-hwf) '... your letter to the king in the palace so that one (= the king) should know', &c. [Records, I, Sec.351; At this website we will modify our available information to reflect these identities and rely on the other identifications which bring the early Israelite kings together with the early 18th Dynasty kings as outlined in Here.]".

[1050] F. Charles Fensham, Did a Treaty Exist between the Israelites and the Kenites? in BASOR, Oct 1964, p. 51-54; States the Kenites were the Midianites.

[1100] Peter Warren, `Minoan Crete and Pharaohnic Egypt' in Egypt, the Aegean and the Levant, BM 1995.

[1150] Ibid., p. 2.; See also: The Eg. example in Hayes 1953, 248; 1963-1934 BC, Kitchen 1989, 153.

[1200] Manfred Gord, "Der Name `Kanaan' in Ägyptischer Wiedergabe', 1982, Biblische Notizen 18:26-27.

[1300] Paul Ash, "The Relationship Between Egypt and Palestine During the Time of David and Solomon', Doctoral Dissertation, Emory University, Atlanta, 1998, pp. 64-66.

[1350] The word `Amu' appears in Egypt's records as `mw', read as `Amu', but rendered by Breasted as Asiatics. [Breasted, `Records', Vol. II, Sec. 303.]

[1400] A. Gardiner, `The Defeat of the Hyksos by Kamose' in JEA, Vol. III, 1916, p. 95-110.; For the large scale image of the Carnarvon Tablet turn to page 96,97.

[1500] For a color image of a bronze dagger with a silver grip and gold covered pommel, found in the coffin of Khamose see N.Reeves, Ancient Egypt and the Great Discoveris, p. 47.

[1600] For an image of the black granite statue of Isis with the facial features of Queen Tiye see KMT, Spring 2004, Vol. 15, p. 36. See also KMT, Summer 2004, p. 43.
Please be aware that the Amenhoteps of the 18th dynasty are called in some books Amenophis, a name which derives out of the traditions of Manetho.

Notice this account: "In 1892 the Palestine Exploration Fund were excavating at Lachish, the Amorite city whence Zimrida wrote his dispatch, and where he must have dictated and received many others. Among various small relics their explorer, Dr. Bliss, found and Egyptian ornament bearing the name of Queen Tii, wife of Amenophis II, father of the king to whom Zimrida's dispatch, now at Berlin, was sent, and far more fortunate than this, a clay tablet turned up similar to these from Tel Amarna, having the same peculiar idioms as did those of that collection emanating from Southern Palestine, and the same forms of cuneiform letters, and bearing twice upon it the name of Zimrida himself."[PBSA, Vol. XIX, p. 24.]

[1650] F.J. Giles, `Ikhnaton - legend and history', p. 66ff. - "... The tomb of Aperel, prime minister to the iconoclastic King Akhnaton" was found by the team that also found the tomb of Necaromes, envoy or foreign minister to Ramses II during their Saqqara crumbling limestone cliff clearing. [Alaine Zivie, A Pharaoh's Peacemeaker', National Geographic, October 2002, p. 26-31.]

[1700] Lisa Manniche, `City of the Dead', Theban Tombs and Owners; See also, Davis N. de Garis 'The Tombs of Menkheperrasonb, Amenmose and EES Theban Tomb Series', Fifth Memoir, London 1933, p 35-40, pl. XXX, E.

[1800] See Barry Kemp, `Discovery & Renewal at Amarna', Egyptian Archaeology, Summer 1991, p. 19-22 & and the streets of El Am. in No. 4, 1994, p. 39.; Donald B. Redford, `The Monotheism of the Heretic Pharaoh' in BAR, Vol. XIII, May/Jun 1987, p. 16-(24)-32.

[1825] On the subject of cult objects on stone blocks from the Aton Temple at Thebes, Egypt, see Sayed Tawfik, `Aton Studies' in MDAI, Band 35, 1979, p. 335-344. Much of it is on the nmst jars. For the painted picture of Akhenaten's jubilee processional which was celebrated every five years in Thebes see BAR, May/June 1987, p. 21.

[1850] Peter Clayton, `Chronicle of the Pharaohs', p. 130. Kiya was also the sister of the Mitannian king `Tushratta'.

[1900] See KMT, `Spacious and Comfortable Dwellings: Homes of the Nobles at Akhetaten', Vol. 10, Summer 1999, p. 66-79. For B&W images of a scenes from the tomb of Nakht, see BA, June 1987, p. 75.

[2000] For images of the tomb and its art work see National Geographic, November 2003, p. 52-59.

[2100] R.Parkinson & L.Schofield, `Images of Mycenaeans in Egypt, the Aegean and the Levant, BM 1995, p. 125-126.

[2200] Yuya, a Semite, was a vizier in the days of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. He is another example that foreigners could reach high positions in Egypt. As such he, like Senmut and Thutmose I/King David(?), may not have lived in Egypt but only visited there or accomplished his work by proxy servants of his choosing. His prestige and standing earned him a tomb where archaeologists read his title, `ntr-n-nb tawi' (Holy father of the Lord of the Two Lands). Both, Tiy and her brother Anen, Chancellor of the King, Second Prophet of Amun, Sem-priest of Heliopolis, and Divine Father, were powerful personalities. Since Yuya's daughter Tiy was married to Amenhotep III, he, in effect, fathered a pharaoh, Amenhotep IV/Akhnaton.; See also E.R. Ayrton, `The Tomb of Thyi' in PSBA, Vol. XXIX, 1907, p. 85-86; Also p. 277-281 showing in B&W 4 lids of canopic jars with a female head, Tuya's gold head-dress, and the tomb entrance.

For images of Yuya's mummy mask see KMT, Summer 1996, p. 40-45 and Susan E. James, `Who is the Elder Lady?' in KMT, Summer 2001, p. 42-(46)-50. Features also a side view of Yuya and Tuya comparing her with Nefertiti.

[2300] N. Reeves & R. Wilkinson, `The Complete Valley of the Kings', p. 78.

[2320] The form of names of this royal personality includes Ankhkheperure (`beloved of Uanre'), Smenkhare Djeserkheperu (on the Meryre II tomb relief), Ankhkheperure and Nefernefruaten. [F.J. Giles, Ikhnaton, p. 98.; KMT, Vol. 20, No. 3, Fall 2009, p. 41-49.]

[2350] For the Tell Borg report search Google `tell borg report by James K. Hoffmeier'. List of finds: A ring with the seal of Queen Tiye, Aegean, Cypriote and Canaanite ceramics, faunal remains, a bronze arrow and a 64 cm long lance, the nomen of Ramesses II, `rc mss sw mry imn'.
See also Federico Rocchi, `Recent Facts about the Coffin from KV55,' Nov. 2000, on file.

[2400] W.J. Murnane, `Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt', (1995), p. 210-211; [See also, James P. Allen, `JARCE', Vol. XXV (1988), pp. 117-126; and Cairo Museum - Gold Foils of KV55 in KMT, Summer 2001, p. 19.]

[2500] A. Zivie, `Mystery of the Sun God's Servants', National Geographic, Nov 2003, p. 52-59; The article features numerous images as well as a schematic view of the tomb.

[2550] For a larger image of the bark of Ay as painted in his tomb see Peter F. Dorman, `Creation of the Potters Wheel at the Eastern Horizon of Heaven' in Emily Teeter & John A. Larson, `Gold of Praise', 1999, p. 83-(93)-99.

[2600] R.W. Rogers, `Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament', p. 257.

[2700] A. Erman translated `weba' as forecourt even though the word is written with the sign of an eye. Not being prepared to consider that Akhnaton may have become blind explained: "The buildings of the heretic, in particular el-Amarna." As V. wrote: "All the world is in sunlight, the world of one man is dark: this is the meaning of the sentence, and "sight" is here intended by the use of the hieroglyph with a human eye." Heresy may be defined as a distortion of the truth, an over-emphasize of one part to the neglect of another important part where the track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not deeply acquainted with the Bible, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error.

[2800] A. Erman, `The Literature of the Ancient Egyptian', (1927), pp. 309-310.

[2900] J.H. Breasted, `The Dawn of Conscience' (1933), p. 307. - With the re-identification of the 18th Dynasty kings as revised history proposes who these personalities actually were, will also make this detail more understandable why Akhnaton was considered to be a criminal, his other name was King Ahab of Israel.

[3000] Carter suggested once: "It is quite possible that he (Smenkhare) met his death at the hands of a rival faction. ... It is quite unprecedented in the valley to find the name of a succeeding king upon the walls of his predecessor's sepulchral monument. The fact that it was so in this case seems to imply a special relationship between the two, and we shall probably be safe in assuming that it was Ay who was largely responsible for establishing the boy king upon the throne. Quite possibly he had designs upon it himself already, but, not feeling secure enough for the moment, preferred to bid his time and utilize the opportunities he would undoubtedly have as minister to a young and inexperienced sovereign, to consolidate his position." Carter and Mace, `The Tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen', Vol. I, p. 43-44.

[3100] In more recent times a British team re-excavated this area and today archaeologists tend to think that the canopic jars belonged once to Kiya, a minor wife of Akhnaton. So far we have not found the logic on why Kiya was chosen. It appears they also re-excavated the `Pit Tomb' and classified it as a storage area. But this is of course an interpretative assumption which in fact does not seem to take into account the other subtle clues which we present, i.e. the woven fabrics with the embroidered names, animal bones, and clues of habitation within the pit tomb.

[3150] A full page photo of the head and upper torso of Tiye as carved into the side of the fallen colossus of Memnon/Amenhotep III at Kom el Hettan can be seen in KMT, Fall 2003, p. 21.- - The plan, the statue images and images of the whole area can be seen in KMT, Vol. 14, No. 1, Spring 2003, p. 34-43.

[3200] P.E. Newberry, `King Ay, the Successor of Tut-ankh-amun' Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. XVIII (1932), pp. 50-52.

[3250] See I. Velikovsky, Oedipus and Akhnaton, Illustrations (not numbered).

[3300] Weigall, `The Life and Times of Akhnaton' Aldred, `Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. XLIII (1957).

[3400] Breasted, `A History of Egypt', p.394.

[3500] G. Steindorff, `Die Grabkammer des Tutankhamun', Annales du Services des Antiquiés de l'Egypte, Vol. XXXVIII (1938), p. 667. In the tomb of Tutankhamun was also found a box decorated with painted scenes from the life of the king and showing him with Ankhesenpaaten, later Ankhesenamun. [Ancient Egypt, Jun 2007, p. 20. The issue shows also `Ta-irty-bay', the old woman of Akhmim, p. 30f.]

[3550] F.J. Giles, Ikhnaton, p. 103. For the coffin image see P. Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, p. 127. According to Giles, inside the coffin was a piece of gold leafe bearing the epithet, `beloved of Uanre', a title, which he says appears only in the name of Smenkhare.

[3600] Memoirs of H.E. Winlock, Materials used at the Embalming of King Tut-ankh-Amun, Metropolitan Museum of Art Papers, No. 10 (1941).

[3700] See Nicholas Reeves, `The Complete Tutankhamun', p. 53, 93.

[3800] Richard Lepsius, `Denkmäler', p. 245.

[3900] F.W. von Bissig, `Das Grab des Petamenophis in Theben', Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumsurkunde, Vol. LXXIV (1938), p.2; R. Anthes in `Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache', Vol. 73 (1937), p. 30f.

[4000] A.M.Blackman, `The Stela of Shoshenk, Gret Chief of the Meshwesh' in JEA, Vol. 27, 1941, p. 83-95.

[4100] `Bulletin' of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sec. II, February 1928, p. 46, figs. 48, 51.

[4200] Pritchard, `Records', Pl. 41.

[4500] Here is a solemn warning for the people of God today, to allow no unchristian trait to live in their hearts. A sin which is fostered becomes habitual; and, strengthened by repetition, it soon exerts a controlling influence, bringing into subjection all the nobler powers. Balaam loved the reward of unrighteousness. The sin of covetousness, which God ranks with idolatry, he did not resist and overcome. Satan obtained entire control of him through this one fault, which deteriorated his character, and made him a time-server. He called God his master; but he did not serve Him; he did not work the works of God. (ST Nov. 18, 1880){1BC 1116.6}
`Coveteousness' (10th commandment) for many is a form of idolatry, it may include a strong desire for things like cars, televisions, electronics, toys above regard for God today. -- Two hundred years ago perhaps, it had to do with horses, wagons, etc.; and 3000 years ago, donkeys, cloths, metal wares, etc. It often is things one wants but cannot really afford to purchase, or if they are purchased at the price of other, perhaps more important items for the family.

[4800] Names like: (1) Baal-gad, the lord of fortune (Josh. 11:17; 12:7; (2) Baal-hamon, the lord of a multitude Song of Sol. 8:11; (3) Baal-hazor, enclosure (2.Sam. 13:23); (4) Baal-meon, lord of the house (Num. 32:38; Ez. 25:9; Jer. 48:23); (5) Bamoth-baal, high places (Num. 21:19); (6) Beth-Aven, house of idols (Josh. 7:2; 18:12; 1.Sam. 13:5); (7) Beth-dagon, house of Dagon (Josh. 19:27); (8) Beth-diblathaim, house of fig cakes (Jer. 48:21,22); (9) Beth-shemesh, house of the sun (Josh. 15:10; 19:38; Judg. 1:33).

[5000] We may say, the experience of America is similar: (1) The Civil War because of the sin of slavery; (2) Vietnam because of allowing being seduced by Babylon to start it; (3) Iraq, because of quickly mounting sins among leaders and in the nation generally, etc.

[5200] Shittim was the final Israelite encampment before crossing the Jordan River. Here Moses bade farewell and the nations Law was completed, Num. 25:1; Josh. 2:1. It was a dry and unfruitful valley, Joel 3:18.