Jacob in Egypt (46:1–47:31)

All shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians (46:34). By identifying themselves as shepherds Jacob’s clan offer assurance that they are not coming to take Egyptian farmland or to get involved in politics. Flocks and herds were kept by Egyptians during all periods and were used for meat, milk, and wool or hides, as well as for some sacrifices (more cattle than sheep and goats).604 They are depicted in reliefs, models, and tomb paintings, remains are found in excavation, and deities were associated with the ram and the cow (but not the sheep or the goat)—all demonstrating the pervasive penetration of these animals into Egyptian culture. In contrast, sheep and goats do not figure prominently in fables, metaphors, or personal names, which indicates that they were considered rather common.

It is difficult to ascertain whether shepherds were detested because of associations of shepherds with foreigners, with a low status in society, or with sheep and goats as inferior animals that threatened farmland. Extant Egyptian records offer no insight on this comment.

District of Rames(s)es (47:11). At this period Ramesses was not a common name and no city was yet so named. The pharaohs with the name “Ramesses” do not come along until the thirteenth century. It is logical to conclude that this geographical name is supplied at a later period. The city of Ramesses, Piramesse, is eventually going to be located at Qantir/Avaris (Tell ed-Dabʾa). It was the capital of the Hyksos in the sixteenth century and was rebuilt as the capital of Ramesses the Great in the thirteenth century. In the twelfth century it was dismantled to build Tanis (Tell San el-Hagar, about twelve miles to the north), which in turn became the capital city.

Tell ed-Dabʾa has been extensively excavated by M. Bietak and has provided much evidence of the Semitic population that lived there. The site was founded in the Twelfth Dynasty, the most likely setting for Joseph. “A community of Canaanites (carriers of the Syrian-Palestinian Middle Bronze Age culture IIA) settled there in the late Twelfth Dynasty, which led to a considerable enlargement of the town.”605

Despite the growing Syro-Palestinian population of this town over the next centuries, no remains permit the identification of descendants of Abraham. The material culture is Canaanite and the religious practices show a syncretism between Canaanite and Egyptian elements.

Tell ed-Dabʾa

Todd Bolen/www.BiblePlaces.com

Buy us and our land (47:19). Joseph’s policy suggests a shift from privately owned property to centralized ownership of property worked by tenant farmers. The socioeconomic situation of the Middle Kingdom as it pertains to land ownership remains vague. The Middle Kingdom and Early New Kingdom evidence large tracts of crown property administered by government officials.606 In this way centralization is in evidence as is the state-run redistributive economy.607 In the New Kingdom, much land gradually comes under the control of the temples. In that period, there was no longer any private property, but only personal rights to the use of property granted in trust for a land-owning institution such as the crown or temple.608

Priests … received a regular allotment from Pharaoh (47:22). Priests did not need to grow their own food, and therefore shortages did not drive them to sell their land. Instead, temples, like the kings, were owners of land and benefited from renting out the land to be farmed by laborers. Temple ownership of land is well documented in Egypt in all periods, but became extensive in the New Kingdom period.

Do not bury me in Egypt (47:29). Jacob’s sentiment reflects the extent to which he is tied to the land of Canaan as it looks to both past and future. Since the ancestral burial ground is in Canaan, he “sleeps with his fathers” by being buried with them, thus actualizing his solidarity with them. One’s burial place also serves as the focus for any ongoing care and remembrance after death. The request to be buried in Canaan thus serves as an indication that he sees the future of his descendants as connected to the covenant land—a statement of faith in God’s promise to bring his family back there.