The Church

Joseph in Egypt
By Bonnie Oswald, BFA, MA

When I began the study of art history as an undergraduate art major, I found Egyptian art very weird. It seemed that the people depicted couldn’t decide which direction they were going. The slides we were shown in class were dark and very poor, and uninspiring.

Will Cuppy, in “The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody,” said, “Their hieroglyphics, or picture writing, consists of owls, canaries, garter snakes, and the insides of alarm clocks.” I agreed with him. Then, as a graduate student in Boston, I discovered the Egyptian art in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and I changed my mind fast. The statues were huge and overwhelming. I even loved the jewelry for the Pharaoh’s horses.

But Egyptian art takes some explanation. The figures were drawn with a rigid set of guidelines as to proportion, and they are depicted with a device known as frontalism, in which the shoulders, eye, and torso were shown from the front, while the head, neck, legs, feet, arms and hands are drawn from the side or in profile. This shows each of these body parts in its simplest, most easy to identify view, giving a representation of the essence of the king, but not a literal portrait.

Some 4000 years later, Picasso used a similar device, combining different views in a single image.

In Egyptian art, males were painted with red/brown skin while females were painted with paler or white skin. The pharaoh was shown larger than others in the single picture. Pharaoh was also shown wearing a ceremonial beard. Hatshepsut, the only woman to hold the position of pharaoh for any length of time, wore a false beard at ceremonial functions, and was often depicted as a male with red/brown skin.

The desire of the Egyptians to preserve the body extended to the statues of the Pharaoh and Queen. Hands and arms were close to the body, and the hands were usually fists, to protect fingers. A large portion of stone was still attached to the back of the statue to increase stability. In fact, the only part of these ancient statues to suffer significant damage was usually the nose.

A drawing of a tomb painting showing a brilliantly colored scene of the Pharaoh Nebaman and his family hunting birds using a throwing stick. The Pharaoh is larger than the other figures. His wife and son are shown on the small boat. The son wears the typical shaved head and sidelock that identify him as the son of the king. (Nebaman Hunting Birds, a fragment of a wall painting. Thebes, 1400 BC. British Museum, London)

Semitic people ? Canaanites and probably Israelites ? came to Egypt for centuries as traders and in times of drought or famine. Sometimes they came as slaves. While Northern Egypt shares the same general climatic conditions as Canaan, Egypt’s economy depends on the Nile, the longest river in the world. Weather in Africa, far to the south, affects the annual Nile flood, and crops can be lush in Egypt while Canaan is dry.

This tomb painting shows Semitic traders coming to Egypt. They are depicted in Egyptian style art, with the men red/brown, but with the clothing and beards of the Semites. The men shown here were probably metalsmiths, and they are carrying weapons.

Artist’s rendering of a portion of a painting in the tomb of Beni Hasen ca. 1900 BCE, showing Semitic traders coming to Egypt.

Joseph would have come to Egypt as a slave at an unusual time in the 3000 years of Egypt’s history. During a period when Egypt was ruled by weak kings, and was unstable militarily and politically, a group of foreign invaders was able to overthrow the monarchy. They were known as the Hyksos, a name that means “foreign rulers” or “shepherd kings.”  They were Semitic, and had names related to Israelite names. They ruled primarily in the Northern part of Egypt, and conquered Egypt using superior weaponry that the Egyptians did not have ? body armor, metal weapons, horses and especially chariots.

This period, known as the Second Intermediate Period, lasted for about 100 years, from 1650 BC to 1550 BC. During this time, the Hyksos gradually spread south and adopted the language and customs of the Egyptians. Eventually the Egyptians, adopting the weapons of the Hyksos, were able to drive the hated Hyksos from Egypt. Many of the events of the Old Testament probably occurred during this time.  

Abraham may have come to Egypt during the reign of the Hyksos. When he came, the pyramids would have been at least 500 years old. Most scholars think that Joseph definitely came to Egypt during the Hyksos period. Egyptians maintained a very closed and snobbish society, and it is unlikely that a foreigner would have been given the position of responsibility that Joseph held. The Hyksos were closely related to Joseph, spoke the same language and had a Semitic relationship. Joseph would have been accepted by them.

The early art of the Hyksos reveals their Canaanite roots, and is dramatically different than that of the more artistically sophisticated Egyptians. Over the 100 years of Hyksos rule, they adopted the art and architecture of the Egyptians, probably using Egyptian craftsmen, but their early art is very different.



This earthen Hyksos vessel or vase, in the shape of a man’s head, was found in an archaeological dig in Jericho. Pinpricks in the clay represent a beard. The proportions are strange and the artistic quality is very crude. (Department of Antiquities and Museum, Jerusalem)

When the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt and the New Kingdom began, most evidence of the Hyksos was destroyed.  Hyksos names were chiseled off statues and temples, or the statues and temples were demolished. Once the Egyptians took control of their nation again, the Israelites would have then come under the control of Egyptians. Any large Semitic group within the borders of Egypt would have been treated with suspicion and mistrust. We read in the Bible that there arose a Pharaoh “who knew not Joseph.” This could have happened at that time.

Evidence of Hyksos or Israelite towns in Egypt is hard to find. No mention in Egypt is made of the Israelites until many years later when they were settled in Canaan. Egyptians only told their successes on the monuments. Recently archaeologists have found evidence of early settlements in the delta that might be Israelite settlements, and also Hyksos areas. Hyksos towns were usually converted into Egyptian places. More information is sure to come to light in the near future, as exploration of these sites continues.

Several other interesting events occurred during the 430 years the Israelites were in Egypt. Hatshepsut ruled from c. 1473 to 1458 BC. She reigned first as regent for her young stepson when her husband died, and then took control and declared herself Pharaoh. At her death Thutmoses III, who had waited 20 years to take his place as Pharaoh, apparently ordered her name chiseled from all royal statues and buildings, to be replaced by his own.

Another period that deviated from the norm in Egypt, and while the Israelites were in Egypt, was that of the Amarna Period. The Egyptian pharaoh had always been considered divine. It was believed that at his death he would become one with the gods after his embalming and burial,
if all the rites had been conducted properly. It was essential that his body be preserved intact. Amenhotep III apparently decided not to wait till death to become a god, and declared himself a god during his lifetime, uniting himself with the solar deity and de-emphasizing the other many gods, such as Amen, the creator god.

The sun had always been worshiped in Egyptian theology. The 5th dynasty temple at Heliopolis worshiped Aten, the sun disk. The city of Heliopolis was called by the Egyptians “Iunu.”  In the Bible we find it as “On.” 

When Amenhotep III died, his son, who had been co-ruling with him for the last years of his life, assumed the throne.. Suggested dates vary from 1369-1332 BC to 1351-1336 BC for his reign. He changed his name from Amenhotep IV, which means “Amen is pleased,” to Akhenaten (Serviceable to the Aten).

The Egyptians had always believed in many gods. Akhenaten believed in one god only, the sun disk. He closed all the temples and removed the powerful priesthood, and decreed that he alone was the only intermediary with god. He moved the capitol to a city he built called Akhetaten (now Tell el Amarna).

The art of this period (known as the Amarna Period) changed dramatically. His beautiful wife was the famous Nefertiti, and they are depicted in murals and carvings in relaxed poses, and loving family scenes with their daughters, quite different from the rigid art of other Pharaohs. It is curious that while the Israelites were in Egypt, with their strong belief in one God, that Akhenaten would change the religion so drastically to a belief in one god. He is often known as the “heretic king.”

Pillar statue of Akhenaten from the temple of Amen-Re, Karnak. 1375 BC. Sandstone, approximately 12 feet tall.  (Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt)

At his death, after a brief period, nine-year-old Tutankhaten became Pharaoh. He was possibly Akhenaten’s half brother or son-in-law, or even son. After the death of Akhenaten, Young Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamen and was taken by the priests from Amarna to Thebes. It was then that the old religion returned, with a belief in many gods.