An ancient Egyptian scarab seal that belonged to a senior Egyptian official was recently found at the site of Dor on Israel's Carmel Coast. Photo: Courtesy Tel Dor Excavations.
Posted on 05/07/2016 4:24:57 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Birdwatcher Alexander Ternopolsky made a remarkable discovery one day at the archaeological site of Tel Dor on Israel's Carmel Coast -- not a bird, but a rare Egyptian scarab seal. The stone scarab -- an ancient Egyptian object shaped like a scarab beetle -- belonged to a high-ranking official of the 13th Dynasty (18th-17th centuries B.C.E.) in Middle Kingdom Egypt...
The name of the scarab's owner, his position, and ankh and djed symbols (representing eternal life and stability, respectively) are engraved on the Egyptian scarab seal. While the owner's name hasn't been deciphered yet, he is described on the scarab as an "overseer of the treasury."
...Located about 19 miles south of Haifa, Dor was an important commercial port from the Late Bronze Age onward. Excavations at Tel Dor have uncovered a long range of occupation levels, including a Late Bronze Age Canaanite settlement, a Phoenician settlement, Iron Age Israelite and Assyrian administrative centers, a Hellenistic-period city and palace, and a Roman-period town.
Dor is mentioned in the Bible as one of the five cities in northern Canaan that banded together to resist invasion by the Israelites, led by Joshua (Joshua 11:1-2; 12:23). Additionally, the 11th-century B.C.E. Story of Wenamun, an Egyptian text describing a priest's journey to the Canaanite/Phoenician coast to purchase Lebanese cedar trees at Byblos, references the Sikil settlement at Dor.
(Excerpt) Read more at biblicalarchaeology.org ...
An ancient Egyptian scarab seal that belonged to a senior Egyptian official was recently found at the site of Dor on Israel's Carmel Coast. Photo: Courtesy Tel Dor Excavations.
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The story of Joseph is one of the best known in the Bible... in order to find out whether the personality of Joseph or the patron of the early stage of his career, Potiphar, is referred to in the historical documents, we have to look into those of the Middle Kingdom. The task appears simple. According to the Book of Genesis Potiphar was "an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard." In the register of the private names to the Ancient Records of Egypt by James Breasted, we find the name Ptahwer... at the service of the Pharaoh Amenemhet III of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. According to an inscription of Ptahwer at Sarbut el-Khadem in Sinai dated in the forty-fifth year of Amenemhet III, his office was that of "master of the double cabinet, chief of the treasury." ...The inscription records the successful accomplishment of some peaceful expedition. Since there is only one Ptahwer in the historical documents, and since he lived in the time when we expect to find him, we are probably not wrong in identifying the biblical Potiphar with the historical Ptahwer. This being the conclusion concerning Potiphar, we are curious to find whether any mention of Joseph is found in historical documents, too. the fact that from the great and glorious age of the Middle Kingdom only a very few historical inscriptions are extant. Since a great famine took place in the days of Joseph, it is, of course, important to trace such a famine in the age of which we speak. In the days of Amenemhet III there occurred in Egypt a famine enduring nine long years... Thus it seems that the Pharaoh in whose days was the seven years' famine was the successor of the Pharaoh in whose days began the rise of Joseph's career (if Yatu is Joseph). Potiphar, who lived under Amenemhet III, probably lived also under his successor. The inscription which deals with Ptahwer mentions a man whose name is transliterated by Breasted as Y-t-w. Among the monuments of Amenemhet III's reign is one of the Storekeeper... The inscription that mentions Ptahwer refers to his activity in the mines of the Sinai peninsula. In this respect it is of interest to find that the Jewish traditions connect Joseph with the area of the Sinai Peninsula saying that he kept a large quantity of treasuries near Baal Zaphon, the scene of the Passage of the Sea.
The author cites the Bible but uses the new age dating term “B.C.E.” (before common era) rather than “B.C.” (before Christ). I can’t stand that. Sorry
Tough.
Observant Jews use C.E. and B.C.E. quite often, as well.
Think of it as "Before Christ existed." Talk about it that way, too. We have to fight back when people try to make the language PC.
“...he is described on the scarab as an “overseer of the treasury.”
And yet he lost his official seal. (Some things never change!)
I always think of it as “Before Christian Era”.
Ooh, Egyptology news... I’d love to hear Dr Ben Carson weigh in on this one.
In fact Ihad read that the ultimate acronym meaning was Before the Christian Era. Which made much more sense to me than “common”. Common what?
I have no idea. There is no “common” count of years—the Chinese have their years, Iranians have theirs, Jewish have theirs, and probably many other peoples have year count systems differing from ours. “Before the Christian Era” is just as good as “Before Christ,” and the fact is, that is the beginning of our year count.
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if the name could be transliterated from Egyptian to Hebrew as ZAPHENATH-PANEAH?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2004927/posts?page=12#12
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3728564/posts?page=4#4
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3765691/posts
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