Joseph Rules in Egypt
The Temple On [College of Annu] referred to in the Bible is about 20 miles north of the site of Ancient Memphis. On began about 4,000 BCE [6,000 BP] as a religious center for worshipping the Sun God. Archaeologists state that On stood for over 4,000 years before its destruction in 525 BCE.
During the 11th Egyptian Dynasty of Pharaoh Intef II, based at Thebes, [2,118 to 2,069 BCE] the first records of a Hyksos [Hebrew] migration into the eastern Nile Delta appear. The date was about 2090 BCE. This is when Abram traveled to “Zoan” [Avaris]. Egypt was in decline for almost 100 years before this event. Avaris became the center of power for the Hyksos. Amun became the King of Gods with his spouse Mut and their child Khunsu, the Moon God. These formed the “first Trinity Godhead” in Egypt. This trinity would be advanced through history with the Sun God Mitra and into Christianity.
During the 12th Dynasty of Egypt [approx. 1,880 BCE], Pharaoh Sesostris III ended a peaceful coexistence with Theban rulers and neighbors to the north by conquering Egypt south to the 3rd cataract and north into Canaan. It was this pharaoh who granted lands in Canaan and in the eastern Nile Delta to “Joseph and his brothers”. This must have been a political agreement with the rulers of Canaan. Canaanite migrants [Hyksos] steadily moved into the Delta as labor for the construction of monuments.
Sesostris III established trade with Mediterranean nations from Greece to Canaan including the ruling elite Lords of the Minoan super-power of Thera and Crete. The Minoans ruled the sea trade routes before 5,000 BCE, using their ally the Phoenicians..
In 1,880 BCE Israel’s [Jacob’s] son Joseph, at age twenty, and his brothers were sent from Canaan to Egypt to become the ruling class of the Hyksos. He was tutored by the High Priest of the Temple of On, while living with the Pharaoh’s Captain of the Guard. The High Priest of On, Potiphera, was second only to Pharaoh Sesostris III [Senusret III, 1,878 – 1,839 BC]. Joseph apparently married into Potiphera’s family.
Joseph ruled as “The Minister of Egypt” from On for the Twelfth dynasty Pharaoh Sesostris III who lived near El Fayum, south of Memphis. He worshipped the Sun God and other Egyptian gods. His power may have been limited to Lower Egypt, as the Royal families of Upper Egypt despised the Hyksos as “irreligious and a plague on Egypt”.
There was widespread famine and plagues from Canaan into Egypt for about a hundred years. The Delta was a good place to be and the Hyksos provided field and building labor. They also brought building skills and new weapons into Egypt.
