Skip to content

Colour editions now on Kindle Shop the books

Ralph Ellis

The argument · I

The Hyksos and Avaris

Manetho, an Egyptian priest, wrote of foreign rulers in the Delta. He called them the Hyksos, the shepherd kings, and he put their capital at Avaris. His own books are lost. What survives is the account Josephus preserved in Against Apion, where he says these people were the ancestors of the Israelites.

If that account is right, the biblical Exodus is the Hyksos expulsion, not a labour walk under Ramesses in the thirteenth century BC. Avaris fell to the Theban king Ahmose in the sixteenth century. The city is Tell el-Dab‘a, in the eastern Delta.

Moving the date is why Abraham, Jacob and Solomon are missing from Canaan in the century the seminaries named. The Egyptian Testament looks for them in Egypt, in the century the Egyptian record names. It also sets the Tempest Stele of Ahmose, which records a storm and a darkness, beside the plagues of the Exodus, and in the same series Adam and Eve are identified with Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

Schematic · not to scale

Egypt, the Hyksos and the Exodus

A simplified map of Avaris, Memphis, Thebes and the eastern Nile Delta. The dashed line is the Exodus as Ellis reads it.

Mediterranean, to the north

A simplified map of Avaris, Memphis, Thebes, the eastern Nile Delta, and the Exodus routeNorth is at the top. The Mediterranean lies above the Nile Delta. Avaris, Tell el-Dab‘a, is inland in the eastern Nile Delta. Memphis is at the apex of the Delta, on the west bank. Thebes, modern Luxor, is upstream. A dashed line leaves Avaris toward the east, for Syria. That is the direction Josephus gives for the expulsion, and Ellis reads it as the Exodus. The stations are not surveyed.MEDITERRANEANAvarisTell el-Dab‘aeastern Nile DeltaMemphisapex of the DeltaThebesLuxorNile, simplifiedExodus, to Syria
  • Avaris. Tell el-Dab‘a, inland in the eastern Nile Delta. Not on the coast.
  • Eastern Nile Delta. The eastern side of the fan, on a simplified Nile branch.
  • Memphis. At the apex of the Delta, on the west bank. Not to scale.
  • Thebes. Modern Luxor, upstream. The distance from the Delta is shortened.
  • Exodus route. A dashed line from Avaris toward Syria. Josephus says the shepherds left Egypt that way. Ellis reads that departure as the Exodus. The stations are not surveyed, and Jerusalem is off this map.

In the Egyptian record

Josephus quotes Manetho on the shepherd kings, and on a capital he calls Auaris, in the eastern Delta. Tell el-Dab‘a is the archaeological site. Ahmose ruled from Thebes.

In Ellis’ reading

He reads that expulsion as the biblical Exodus. The dashed line follows the direction in Josephus, from Avaris toward Syria. That line is his reading of the departure. It is not a surveyed path.

Original schematic.Coast and river are simplified. Avaris is inland in the eastern Nile Delta, not on the coast. Memphis is at the apex, on the west bank. Thebes is modern Luxor, and the distance is shortened. The dashed line leaves Avaris toward Syria, as Josephus tells the expulsion. Ellis reads it as the Exodus. The stations are not surveyed.

The record. Josephus, Against Apion, quoting Manetho on the shepherd kings and Avaris. The Tempest Stele is the Egyptian record of Ahmose.

Ellis’ reading. The case is in Jesus, Last of the Pharaohs, Tempest & Exodus, and Eden in Egypt.

Continue Exploring

  1. 1 · Understand the argument

    This page is that introduction.

  2. 2 · Watch an introductory lecture

    Israelites were Egyptians, part 1

    51:36

  3. 3 · Examine the research and evidence

    Thackeray’s 1926 English spells the city Auaris and the people Hycsos. His note says Auaris is perhaps Pelusium. Ellis reads it as Tell el-Dab‘a.

  4. 4 · Explore the relevant book

    Jesus, Last of the Pharaohs

    The opening volume of the Egyptian Testament.

Jesus, Last of the PharaohsTempest & ExodusEden in EgyptWatch the lecture

Explore the book behind this research

Continue with the Books