CTSJ 3:1 (Summer 1997) p. 1 Pharaoh’s Nine Bows — Dr. Glenn Carnagey * Chafer Theological Seminary [*Editor’s note: Dr. Carnagey earned his B.A. at the University of Houston, Th.M. at Dallas Theological Seminary, and Ph.D. at the University of Tulsa. Glenn has done extensive archaeological work in the Near East and editorial work for a major archaeological journal, as well as presenting scholarly papers at meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society. Dr. Carnagey has also pastored churches in Texas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. He is a member of Chafer Seminary’s National Board of Advisors, is a contributing editor to the CTS Journal, and was instrumental in the formation of CTS.] Introduction In the year 1210 B.C., Merneptah, 13th son of the mighty Pharaoh Ramses II (already an old man), assumed the throne of Egypt. Almost immediately in his third year he had to fight one nation after another along the long borders of Egypt. Breasted describes the menacing armies like this: [W]ith the Libyans on the one hand and the peoples of remoter Asia Minor on the other, they broke in wave on wave upon the borders of the Pharaoh’s empire. Egypt was inevitably thrown on the defensive, her day passed for conquest and aggression, and for six hundred years the empire made no serious effort to extend her borders.1 According to his account of the results of his battles (never totally reliable in Egyptian history) on the Merneptah Stele: “Israel is laid waste, his seed is not.”2 This is indeed a strange comment in such an important document. How did Israel come to be reckoned among the most dangerous nine enemies of Egypt by the year 1210 B.C.? Furthermore, Merneptah had to go north and east into the interior of Palestine to find and fight the Israelites. Why would he do this if Israel had just recently arrived in Palestine and had no real army of substance to be a threat? More to the point, if the Liberal late-date theories are even partially true, why 1 Breasted, J. H. A History of Egypt (New York: Bantam Books, 1905/1964); 390. 2 Breasted, 395. would Merneptah even bother with Israel, since Israel at this time would not have even partially left Egypt, if indeed it existed at all? Toward a Biblical Answer The answer, of course, is found in the biblical chronological framework of the Exodus, Conquest, and Settlement of Palestine. If we accept the literal numbers of 2 Kings 6:1, then the period of time between the Conquest and the time when Merneptah noted his victory over Israel is about 190 years (about 1400 B.C. to 1210 B.C.). Allowing approximately 30 years per generation, there would have been roughly six generations for Israel to grow as a nation and spread out through the central hill country of Palestine. With a population of around 600,000 men at the Exodus, six additional generations would have given Israel a formidable army of men indeed. We should note that there is no mention of a Jewish defeat by Egypt recorded during the entire period of the judges, nor for that matter any mention of Egypt in Judges at all. In fact, the main threat to Israel seems to come directly from the Amalekites (at the time of the Exodus) or from Philistines (during the latter part of the period of the Judges). Now it is possible that the Holy Spirit may have omitted to record such a battle for spiritual reasons, but this is certainly not the case in later periods when Sheshonq invaded during Rehoboam’s reign or Zerah during the early years of Asa’s reign. In fact, the Amalekites may have been the original reason for the Northeastward venture of the army of Egypt. They were perhaps the remnants of the Hyksos and were certainly every bit as cruel and rapacious and as much of a problem to the Israelites. Such contact as Merneptah may have had with Israel could only have been a glancing blow as Merneptah pacified his Syrian province. In keeping with the Philistine period, Ashkelon was his most dangerous enemy, and Merneptah adopted the tutelary “Binder of Ashkelon” from this campaign onward. Egyptian battle tactics were ill-suited to mountainous terrain, and the route of his campaign suggests that only peripheral Israelite sites were affected, as was also the case for the Hittites, who had been intimately involved in stirring up rebellion in the north. So what can we conclude from the two sources for this period? If Merneptah did fight the Israelites, the battle was either a draw, or possibly even repulsion, or real defeat for Merneptah. We know from many other Egyptian sources that Egyptian Pharaohs were accustomed to claiming victory and rulership over nations and peoples that they most certainly did not control. It is significant that Merneptah does not claim to have brought back any captives to assign to the Temple Corps in Egypt. The above discussion revolves around the single occurrence of the name “Israel’ in Egyptian historical documents. The reference deserves clarification by those of us who hold to the inerrancy of God’s Word. The remainder of this paper will be devoted to doing just that. I will survey the evolution of the term “The Nine Bows” throughout Egyptian history. Also I will seek to show that at the time of Merneptah and those pharaohs who were his intermediate predecessors, as well as those who immediately followed him, the historical situation was such that Egypt had to adjust to a defensive posture against its enemies of the Nine Bows. This continued to be the case throughout the reign of his son, Ramses III. Egypt makes no impression upon the Israelites for over three centuries after the events of the late XIXth and early XXth Dynasty. Not until the reign of Sheshonq I, first Pharaoh of the XXIInd Dynasty did Egypt return to Israel, and then only as a divine “Whip Nation” to punish Rehoboam for his rebellious nature, and in the manner of pirates looting a city. They appointed no officials and left no permanent provincial government. Except for the vast amount of loot Sheshonq took back to Egypt and the record he left in Egypt of the Nine Bows and the Palestinian cities he defeated and looted, his passage left little impression on CTSJ 3:1 (Summer 1997) p. 17 the politics of Judah and Israel.3 His campaign was followed by a lengthy hiatus after which Zerah the Libyan attacked Judah during the reign of Asa, was totally routed, and his army looted and sent packing back to Egypt (I Kings 11:40; 14:25; 2 Chronicles 12:2–9). These events bring us well down towards the middle history of the Divided Monarchy. The Nine Bows During the Old Kingdom Returning, then, to the matter of the Nine Bows and their significance and evolution, we must begin where mention of them begins, in the Old Kingdom of Egypt. For much that follows I am deeply indebted to E. Uphill, whose magnificent article in 1967 remains the starting point for anyone who would investigate the Nine Bows. He collected the data; I have only brought it to bear upon a different context in which the single contact between Egypt and Israel is recorded in the historical records of Egypt. The individual nations or peoples who made up the Nine Bows during the Predynastic Period (Dynasties I and II) and the Old Kingdom (Dynasties III through VI) are not mentioned by name during this period. However, they are present on preserved decorated artifacts from the first recorded king of Egypt even before Dynasty I (the Scorpion King) through the Pyramid Texts at the end of Dynasties V and VI. One of the Mace Heads found at Hierakonpolis shows the Scorpion King performing a ceremony of some sort with a hoe in the presence of the Nome leaders with their standards.4 Ranging from the Nome standards is a representation of a scene with Rekhyt birds (symbolic of the Egyptians) on one side and opposed by the Bows on the other side. There seems to be room to 3 Breasted, 442–430. 4 Uphill, F. The Nine Bows. Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genoorshap. Ex Oriente Lux 19 (1965~66), pages 393–420, especially 393. restore all nine of the nine bows in this scene. It is, however, such an early representation that it may merely stand for the archers of Egypt as part of the Scorpion King’s armed forces. Nevertheless, since the bows are separated from the Rekhyt Birds, the scene is more likely to be showing defeated enemies of the Egyptians rather than extolling Egyptian archers. Added to this example are the numerous slate palettes currently in museums that represent the various peoples who lived in the regions along the Nile not directly under the King’s authority. The “Hunter’s Palette” found in Petrie’s Ceremonial Slate Palettes (Plate A.3) is an excellent example of this motif.5 These are very likely the first peoples to whom the Egyptians applied the concept of the Nine Bows. The first time the Nine Bows definitely appear beneath the feet of the king occurs during the rule of Djoser, first king of Dynasty III.6 A statue of this king was discovered near the south-eastern corner of the Step Pyramid enclosure, and upon it was engraved a scene much like that on the Mace Head of the Scorpion King as described above, with Rekhyt Birds opposed by the Nine Bows.