EGYPT
4,000 years ago… maybe a little more,
maybe a little less… there lived a young man who was 17 years old. He came to
Egypt as a slave. Some men on camels had come by the camp where this man and
his brothers were taking care of a huge flock of sheep and goats. His brothers
sold him to the men on camels!! They were tired of hearing him talking and
telling stories, so they sold him! What a horrible thing to do to your little
brother! The men on the camels didn’t care. All they cared about was money.
This was a very long time ago and
there were not as many people on earth as there are now. People were strong and
very smart, but there were not very many of them. They did not have very many
big cities. They did not have big machines. They had to do most of their work
by using their brains and their muscles.
This slave was very
strong and very smart. The Egyptians would like to have such a man as a slave!
Don’t worry. Most of the Egyptians at this time in history were very kind to
their slaves. The slaves had to work hard, but they had plenty to eat and time
to rest.
The men on the camels sold this guy to a very important man
in Egypt. He was a captain in Pharaoh’s army. He needed someone young and smart
to help him take care of his big house. He soon found out that this man was
just the guy he needed. When the captain was gone his slave took care of
everything. He was good at math. He kept track of everything the captain had.
He figured out how much money and food and other stuff he had. He figured out ways
to make it so the captain had even more and did not waste anything. The captain
was very pleased.
However, the captain’s wife was not nice! She did not like it
that her husband gave this slave so much responsibility. You see, this slave
was a Hebrew. Hebrew people were looked down on in Egypt. Hebrew people lived
in tents, not beautiful stone houses like the Egyptians. Hebrew people lived in
the wilderness and wandered from place to place. Egyptians lived in beautiful,
strong cities next to a cool, life-giving river called the Nile River. But, the
worst thing of all is: The Hebrews stunk!!! They smelled like goats and sheep,
because they were shepherds! The Egyptians were very clean people. They shaved
the hair off their bodies, they took lots of baths in the river. The Hebrews
had long beards and lots of hair. The looked and smelled nasty!! Also, the
Hebrews ate goat meat and lamb meat. What did the Egyptians eat? They ate beef!
They thought beef was better. They thought people who ate goats and sheep were
gross and disgusting. They wouldn’t even let them eat at the same table with
them!
But, this slave boy didn’t mind. He kind of liked to eat by
himself. He shaved his beard. He washed his hands and face. He dressed like an
Egyptian. He probably even ate beef sometimes.
The Captain’s wife was impressed. Eventually she got a crush
on this slave. He looked pretty cute all cleaned up! Sometimes, when her
husband was gone, she would to try to get the slave to pay attention to her, or
hold her hand, or tell her she was pretty, or maybe even… KISS her!!!! This was
very wrong! The Egyptians and the Hebrews both believed that it was wrong!
The slave ignored her and kept diligently doing his job. He
did exactly what his master told him to do.
“Why won’t you even look at me?” the lady asked. “Come and
sit next to me!” she demanded.
“I can’t.” the slave answered. “My master has given me
directions on taking care of everything in this house. There is only one place
I am not allowed. That is your room. There is only one person I am not in
charge of. That is you. He trusts me very much. I do not want to make him mad.
Please go away!”
The Captain’s wife was very angry! She got madder and madder.
By the time her husband came home she had thought of a way to get rid of this
slave. She told her husband a lie. She said the slave, that disgusting Hebrew
slave, had tried to hurt her.
The Captain was very angry!
“Why would you hurt my wife? I told you that she was the only
thing you were not allowed to touch. I gave you freedom to do anything else,
but the one thing I said no to, you did!”
He did not give the slave a chance to answer. He sent him to
prison!
Would the slave live in prison the rest of his life? He
wasn’t sure, but he decided that maybe that is where God wanted him to be. He
knew he had done nothing wrong. He worshiped one God. The Creator. The
Egyptians had many gods and idols. They even worshiped the Pharaoh. The
Pharaoh was their ruler. If Pharaoh said something everyone did it! But, the
slave didn’t tell the Egyptians they were wrong. He just kept praying to his
God. He kept obeying the rules his family followed.
The man in charge of the prisoners was very impressed with
this young man. He soon found out he could trust him to do whatever he asked
him to do. Soon this slave was pretty much in charge of whatever happened in
the prison. Do you think the prison was a nasty place to be? It was not a fun
place. But, the Egyptians did not torture their prisoners. If what they did was
really bad, the Pharaoh would have them killed. They would get beaten as a
punishment sometimes too. If they were really bad criminals that did not
deserve to be killed, they might put them in a hole in the ground by themselves
for a while. But, the prison this slave went to was just a building with lots
of rooms. They weren’t allowed to leave, but, they were fed and taken care of.
One day the man in charge of the prisoners called the Hebrew
slave to him. The slave’s beard had grown. His hair had grown. His clothes were
ragged. But, the man still liked him.
“It is Pharaoh’s birthday in a few days.” The man said. “Pharaoh was
planning a party for himself and something happened. I’m not sure if he got a
belly ache, or what, but he got very angry. He thought one of his servants
tried to poison him. The Chief Baker and the Chief Butler are both here as new
prisoners. Your job is to take care of them while they are here.”
The Chief Baker was
supposed to make sure Pharaoh’s food was not poisoned. The Chief Butler was
supposed to make sure whatever he drank was not poisoned. One of them had not
done their job! The Pharaoh sent them both to prison while he could think of
what to do.
Some times and places in history, the King, or Emperor, would
have just killed them both! But, the ancient Egyptians tried to be fair.
While they were there the baker and butler both had dreams.
The Hebrew slave told them what the dreams meant and they both came true! The
Baker was in trouble! The Butler was cleared. The Baker was killed. The Butler
could leave the prison to go back to the palace to work for the Pharaoh.
“Please.” The slave said. “Don’t forget about me. Tell the
Pharaoh I am stuck here in prison and I didn’t do anything wrong. Ask him to
set me free.”
“I will tell him.” The Butler promised. He knew the Hebrew
slave was good and kind.
So, the Butler left. Do you think he told Pharaoh? Do you
think Pharaoh felt sorry for the Hebrew slave and let him come out of prison?
Yes and no. The Butler forgot all about that slave who had helped him so much
during those dark days in prison. He got back to the palace and worked harder
than ever. He was very careful about everything he did. He spent every day
right next to the Pharaoh. They talked about many things, but they never once
talked about the Hebrew slave.
Years went by and the Hebrew slave got older, and hairier and
stinkier. He kept praying to God. He kept doing what was right. He kept being
kind, even to people who were not kind to him.
One day someone came running to the prison with a very
important message directly from the Pharaoh. It was a message about the Hebrew
slave! He was to shave his hair and take a bath. He was to put on clean
clothes. He must hurry very quickly!
The Butler had finally remembered. The Pharaoh had had a
dream. Some people say the Pharaoh’s name was Djoser. We will say that was his
name. Pharaoh Djoser needed the Hebrew
slave to tell him what his dream meant.
Joseph (the Hebrew slave) hurried and got ready. He didn’t
look, or smell, or sound like a Hebrew. He had learned many things during his
years in prison. He could probably speak different languages from being around the
prisoners. He could read and write. He was still very smart and very good.
“I cannot tell you what your dream means.” He told Pharaoh. “But, my God
can!”
Pharaoh
listened. He liked this man. He was not young anymore. Maybe he was even older
than the Pharaoh. Pharaoh looked up to him for advice. He called him his
father. He called him many names. Egyptians often had more than one name. Their
names told different things about them. One name the Pharaoh gave him was
Zaphnath-paaneah which might mean that he could reveal secrets or save life.
Another name might have been Imhotep which means the voice of God. In English
we call his name: Joseph which means: He shall add.
He helped Egypt prepare for a famine
that was coming. He built a city for storing the grain. He might have even
built the first pyramid that the other pyramids were patterned after.
Joseph was kind, even to them. Soon the whole family moved to
Egypt. The Pharaoh let them come and even bring their stinky goats and sheep.
They couldn’t live too close to the palace though, of course. So, Joseph asked
for them to be allowed to live in an area called Goshen.
Joseph’s
family was very happy. They were sorry they had been so mean. Their children
grew up looking up to Joseph. The Egyptians also looked up to the man they
called Imhotep. He taught them to use medicine to help people, not hurt them.
He lived to be 110 years old! The Egyptians made his body into a mummy. Some
people think they made have found his grave near the first pyramid that was
built in Egypt. The pyramid he might have built! But, some people say that
wasn’t it. Either way something is missing. Do you know what is missing? His
body. They cannot find the mummy of Imhotep. No one has found the mummy of this famous and well-loved Imhotep.
Why not? Do you know?
Well, IF Imhotep was Joseph, then it is because his body is farther north! Joseph asked his grandchildren and nieces and
nephews to take his body with them when they left Egypt. He wanted to be buried
in his home country. So, 400 years later they took his body with them and
buried him in Shechem. This is in the land of Canaan.
This all happened a very long time ago. The only facts we can
be sure of are what we read in the Bible. But, it would make sense if Imhotep
was Joseph and the pictures on the following links, are from the place he built to store grain 4,000
years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBDbDeepyS4
Joseph in Egypt Ron Wyatt
Saqqara Pharaoh Djoser pyramid and complex
Pharoah Djoser 16th paharoah of 3rd
dynasty
