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The Egypt of the Exodus we must consider separately, but we must draw attention to
what may possibly be a most interesting link between the two books, Genesis and
Exodus.
At Karnak, Thothmes III had engraved a list of 119 names of places in Palestine that
were tributary and the 102nd and the 78th names in the list are of special interest to us.
The former, reads Jacob-el, the latter, reads Joseph-el.
The transliteration of the name of Jacob from Hebrew to Egyptian is exact; in the
name Joseph we have the Sh instead of the S, but such dialectic variations are common,
as for example the two pronunciations of Shibboleth and Sibboleth.
H. G. Tomkins drew attention to two other names on this list that are illuminating.
The name preceding Joseph-el is Har, which he identifies with the upland district of
Mount Ephraim "Har Ephraim". Another name in the list is Naun or Nun.
Jerome tells us that the holy lady Paula, who visited Timnath-serah wondered that
Joshua, who was ruler of Israel, chose such a rough country track for himself. It may be
that he chose the inheritance of his fathers, the family probably had possessions there.
Joshua was the son of Nun, and Nun is the name borne by this region where Thothmes
subjugated the country. If Har be indeed Har Ephraim, then Joseph-el may linger in the
name Yasuf, anciently called Yusepheh, but known as Yasuf in the Samaritan Book of
Joshua. Yusepheh may have been softened from Yusephel, just as Ekrebel (Judith 7:18)
has been softened into Akrabeh, and Yabneel into Yebnah ("Memoirs Palestine Survey").
Iqbala, six miles west of Jerusalem, may be the Jacob-el of the Karnak list. We know
very little of these things, "Our work is perhaps a faint ray of light in these shades" wrote
M. Groff in 1885. We are thankful for the light that subsequent archæology has thrown
on Bible lands, and hope to avail ourselves of its testimony as we proceed. With one
further article, dealing with a minor problem in chronology, we bring this series, so far as
the book of Genesis is concerned, to a close.