14
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
January 1930
has been identified with Amraphel of Genesis 14, is the oldest code of laws in existence. It dates to about 2100 B.C. This code of laws is a fine testimony to the practice of writing long before the time o f Moses. No intelligent person will ever again argue against the Mosaic author ship of the Pentateuch on the grounds formerly argued, except it be a case of ignorance or genuine dishonesty. E xistence of C ities P roved Again, archeology has proved the existence of certain cities which were mentioned in the Bible, but which critics argued never existed. Less than a century ago bold and daring men went so far as to say that no such cities as Nineveh, Babylon, Lachish, etc., had ever been. But workmen have, with mattock and spade, directed by the explorer, excavated these cities; their identity has been established beyond a possible doubt; and their ruins stand as silent but powerful testimonies to thé historical trustworthiness of the Old Testament records. P roves E xistence of H ittites Then, too, archeology has borne witness to the'exist ence of certain people mentioned in the Old Testament. A people called Hittites are mentioned in connection with the history of Palestine. It was from Ephron the Hittite that Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah in which he buried Sarah; so the Bible tells us in Gen. 23:10, 16. Though the Hittites are mentioned more than two score times in the Old Testament, critics have argued that no such people ever existed, characterizing the mention of them by the Scriptures as “ tales of Oriental fiction.” Im agine the chagrin o f these critics to find that archeology discloses not only the existence of such a people, but that there was a great Hittite empire stretching all the way from upper Mesopotamia almost to the Aegean Sea ! C orroborates the A ccount of B rick -M aking Archeology corroborates the experiences of the Israel ites in Egypt described in the fifth chapter of Exodus. Here we are told that the Israelites ,as slaves were com pelled to make brick. At first the straw with which the clay was mixed to make it adhere until the bricks were baked in the sun, was furnished them: Later they were compelled :to go and gather stübble for this purpose, but still later they were compelled to make brick without any straw. ;•■ Naville, the explorer, tells us that when he excavated Pithom, one of the ancient treasure cities, he found brick in its walls made with the use of a liberal quantity of straw, some with less straw, and some without any straw. E xplanation of I sraelis V aried T reatment An explanation is afforded by archeology concerning the varied kinds of treatment which the Hebrews received in Egypt. At first they were the favorites of the king and were granted the most fertile part of Egypt, the land of Goshen, in which to reside and to pasture their flocks and herds. Toward the close of their stay they were the oppressed slaves. Dr. Kyle describes the radical turning o f their fortunes as being “ from court to corvee,” mean ing from the court party to lowest of slaves. The Biblical explanation of this change is found in the statement, “ A king arose who knew not Joseph” (Exod. 1:8), but it remains for archeology to interpret this verse. A tribe of Asiatics called “ Hyksos” had swooped down upon Egypt, taking advantage of a weak and unsettled political condition, and had seized the throne
and placed one of their number upon it. This had hap pened several hundreds years before the Hebrews went down into Egypt, probably about 2000 B.C., and when the Hebrews came they found one of these Hyksos, or “ shepherd kings,” as they are called, ruling as the Pharaoh of Egypt. As Asiatics, and possibly Semites, having some things in common with the Hebrews, and not being native Egyptians, they accorded the foreigners a heartier wel come and were more willing to share Egypt’s most fertile lands with them than the Egyptians would have done. The new king who arose who knew not Joseph was likely a native Egyptian o f the early eighteenth dynasty, after the Hyksos kings had been driven out. Fearing lest these Hebrews might increase and become strong enough to seize the throne as the Hyksos had done, the new Egyptian Pharaoh accorded them oppressive treatment. It is in this same fact that an explanation is found for the puzzling admonition o f Joseph to his brethren when preparing them for introduction to Pharaoh. He told them to say, “ Thy servants are shepherds,” and the comment immediately follows, “ For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” Why should Joseph in struct his brethren to introduce themselves to the Pharaoh as shepherds if every shepherd was an abomination to the ■£‘§yptians ? Simply because the Pharaoh to whom they were about to be introduced was not an Egyptian at all, but a shepherd king. T he M oabite S tone Another testimony to the historical trustworthiness is found in the Moabite Stone, which was found at Dibon (now called Dhiban) on the north shore of the River Arnon, by Rev. F. A. Klein, a missionary, in 1868. It was erected by Mesha, king of Moab, to the god Chemosh, about 850 B. C.,-and commemorates Moab’s deliverance from Israel’s domination. Unfortunately the stone was broken into pieces by the superstitious natives when they discovered the anxiety of the Germans and French to come into possession of it; but all of the pieces were finally secured by the expendi ture of much time and money, and the Frenchman Cler- mont-Ganneau, reset the fragments, and the stone may be seen in the Louvre in Paris. This stone is a veritable supplement to brief portions of the Books of the Kings (1 Kings 16:23-28; 2 Kings 3 :4, 5). While there are details in each account which are not given in the other, they supplement each other well. The Moabite Stone is characterized by Price as “ the finest old inscription so akin to Hebrew yet found.” There are several things in this record which corrob orate the Scripture records: 1. Omri, the sixth king of Israel, is mentioned by name. 2. Moab’s vassalage to Israel is conceded in the Mo abite record. 3. Israel is mentioned six times. 4. Jehovah, the name of Israel’s God, was known to the Moabite king. T he T el E l -A marna T ablets The discovery of the Tel Ei-Amama tablets consti tutes an interesting story and illustrates the significance of small and apparently commonplace things, especially in the field of archeology. In the year 1887 a peasant woman was digging into the earth at a place called Tel El-Amarna along the Nile River about two hundred miles south of Cairo, and found
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