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Joseph) was found, on a door jamb close by, in connection with an inscription which
states that he had erected "many columns and bronze doors" in honour of some god,
whose name is missing. The Ra-name also of Apepi has been found quite near.
There is a remarkable reference to the famine with which Joseph is so connected in an
inscription upon a tomb in El-kab. These are the words:--
"I collected corn as a friend of the harvest god; I was watchful at the time of
sowing, and when a famine arose lasting many years, I distributed corn to the city
each year of famine."
This official was living at Thebes at the very time that Joseph was ruling at Memphis.
It may be a fitting place here to give a word as to the title Pharaoh. The word is taken
bodily out of the Hebrew and written in English letters. The word, however, is not a
Hebrew word, the Hebrew preserves the Egyptian word for us. This title, however,
seemed to be limited to the Scripture record, for no such title had been discovered upon
the monuments; this omission, as may be supposed, was used against the integrity of the
Scriptures, but more recent discoveries have proved the accuracy of the Bible title: a
hieroglyph was found to occur as a regular title of the king which signified GREAT
HOUSE. The idea contained in the title is current to-day in Turkey, for the Sultan is
spoken of as The Sublime Porte, or door. While the meaning of the hieroglyph was
known, the way in which the ancient Egyptians pronounced it was not so easy of
discovery or of proof. M. de Rouge, however, discovered the true pronunciation, and
brought back the long-lost "Pharaoh" of the Hebrew Scriptures. While speaking of this
title, it may be of interest to know that the Pharaohs had five great names each, viz.:--
1. A Horus name, as the descendant of the god Horus.
2. A Nepti name, as representative of Nekhebit and Vatchit, the great goddess of the
South and North.
3. A Horus of gold name. This has reference to the supposition that the blood of the
Sun god was made of gold, consequently as the divine blood ran in the veins of
Pharaoh, this name was given to him.
4. A Suten Bat name, as King of the South (Suten) and of the North (Bat).
5. A Son of Ra name, or personal name of the King.
Pharaoh was absolute; every man, woman, and child, together with the whole country,
were given to him by the gods, he was believed to be a god, was worshipped as a god, his
statues were placed among the statues of the gods, and received adoration. The
Egyptians were practically serfs, and Pharaoh held the life of all men in his hand. Such is
the measure of the height to which Joseph was advanced; these facts enable us also to
understand the nature of Pharaoh's opposition to the "god" of Israel, when he said "Who
is the Lord?"
In Egypt and in Egypt's religion we have a mirror held up to the face of human nature
left to itself. Rom. 1: 19-32, in speaking of the inexcusability of the nations for their lack
of the knowledge of the truth, seems to have had Egypt in mind, for it says:--