Freemasonry in Israel

The Origin and Fate of the Temples at Jerusalem Philip E.H. Thomas

A.   THE NEW CHRONOLOGY OF EGYPT

A1.   THE BASIS OF ITS ESTABLISHMENT

In the Egyptian Museum at Turin, there exists a papyrus document which was composed in the early 19th. Dynasty. Although badly deteriorated, it nevertheless lists in some detail, amongst other things, all known pharaohs from the 1st. Dynasty (c. 2920 NC) up to those of the 18th. Dynasty (1194-952 NC). Allowing for partial damage and deterioration over the years, each pharaoh is shown with his or her length of reign in years, months and days. It is known as 'The Royal Canon of Turin'.

Throughout the Middle East almost all records previous to this Canon were written on wet clay and then baked. In every instance such tablets were dated in relation to the lunar month and regnal year of the appropriate king; whether Egyptian, Babylonian or Assyrian. For example, in the 13th. Dynasty, Pharaoh Iayib reigned for 10 years 8 months 28 days, followed by Pharaoh Ay who reigned for 23 years 8 months 18 days. Obviously, the ancients did not have our advantage of relating events to the Common Era.

Hitherto, Egyptologists have been inclined to add together most, if not all, the reigning periods in order to obtain a time scale. It is only recently that there has come the realisation that many rulers functioned either as contemporaries of adjoining kingdoms or as co-regents of the same kingdom. Thus, the only completely reliable method of assessing the degree of such 'overlaps', has been to resort to astronomical dating, or rather retro-dating, that can be proven scientifically by modern standards.

For centuries the ancients regarded eclipses of the sun and positions of the planet Venus with special veneration. Mention of such events have been deciphered on tablets dug up in Egypt, the Levant and Syria. As a result, it has now been possible to establish three specific dates with total accuracy and confidence. These dates can be taken as the 'bench marks' of the New Chronology of the pharaohs.

The years in question are: 664 BCE; 1012 NC and 1540 NC. Very briefly, the methodology to achieve this has been as follows:

• 664 BCE

For a long time this datum has been accepted in ancient chronology. It is based upon the unalterable fact that King Ashurbanipal of Assyria invaded Egypt that year and sacked the city of Thebes (Luxor) as a penalty for the revolt led by King Taharka and which cost him his life. This episode has been inscribed upon contemporary monuments, as well as surviving accounts written at that time in Babylon, Greece and Rome. It also confirms the coronation of Pharaoh Psamtek I of the 26th. Dynasty.

The introduction of the two extra datum points has dramatically revised the scheduling of Biblical history for the previous 1000 years.

A2.   THE NEW DATUM OF 1012 NC

• 1012 NC

Hitherto, conventional chronology has placed the 18th. Dynasty in the time span of 1539-1295 BCE. The fifteen pharaohs forming this dynasty are well recorded and are not disputed. However, the historical relationship between the Egyptians and Israelites has had to be refined more accurately.

In CE 1887, a peasant woman of Tell el-Amarna, nowadays a small village on the Nile and midway between Cairo and Luxor, dug up 380 clay tablets from beneath the floor of a ruined mudbrick house. They subsequently transpired to be part of the contents of the 'House of Correspondence of Pharaoh'. The majority of these letters were either from notables of the Levant or Pharaoh's own file copies of replies. They also included letters to both Akhenaten and his Queen Nefertiti. It seems that all these letters were lost when the then city of El Amarna was abandoned (for whatever reason) early in the reign of Tutankhamun.

These letters also contained reports of military campaigns in Canaan, including David's raids and his seizure of Jerusalem. One vital document helped to pin-point the death of Amenhotep III in 1012 NC. It was from Abimilku, King of Tyre, commiserating upon the death of Amenhotep. It went on to describe a disastrous fire in the palace archives of King Nikmaddu II at Ugarit (about 120 miles (200 km) up the coast from Tyre). Subsequent archaeological digs beside the palace ruins found a blackened tablet which described the total eclipse of the sun at sunset in April/May of that year, and which was watched by Nikmaddu and his priests.

Total eclipses of the sun occur at the same place, on average, every 360 years. Only once in recorded history has this happened near sunset. Advanced computer technology (by M.I.T.) has been able to calculate the exact time as 6.09 pm. on 9th. May 1012 NC, and 30 minutes before sunset. Clearly, therefore, Akhenaten must have succeeded Amenhotep that year. Consequently, it has been possible to bring forward the 18th. Dynasty's time span by as much as 345 years to 1194-952 NC.

A3.   THE NEW DATUM OF 1540 NC

• 1540 NC

Tablets discovered at Nineveh (now Mosul, on the river Tigris in Northern Iraq), have been certified as copies from the reign of King Ammisaduga of the 1st. Dynasty of Babylon. Such records include the precise description of the risings and settings of the planet Venus. These observations are known to have coincided exactly with Ammisaduga's reign of 21 years. Use now had to be made of the Venus cycle; i.e. the period between exact repetitions of its risings and settings, and which average 60 years.

Old Babylonians dated their documents in relation to the days of the lunar month, beginning with the first crescent of the moon. The dating of these tablets, taken in conjunction with the specific positions of Venus, have been subjected to further advanced computer analysis in much the same way as described in the 1012 NC datum. The result has shown that Ammisaduga became king in 1419 NC and died in 1398 NC. Moving back from this, and knowing the names of all eleven kings of that dynasty, it has been possible to determine the reign of the 6th. and most famous (or infamous) of those kings, namely Hammurabi (1565-1522 NC). In his 35th. regnal year (1531 NC), Hammurabi attacked and destroyed the huge yet beautiful palace of Zimrilim, King of the city-state of Mari (now known as Abu Kemal, on the river Euphrates in eastern Syria). Zimrilim perished with it.

In CE 1933, a French archaeologist unearthed 25,000 tablets from the archive of that palace. The last date traced from those tablets showed that Zimrilim must have died in his 6th. regnal year, having reigned 1536-1531 NC. A particular tablet, however, was an inventory of gifts on the occasion of his enthronement, including a solid gold cup. It had come from Yantin, in his 9th. regnal year as King of the city-state of Byblos (now Yuniye, 13 miles (20 km) north of Beirut) and which, in those days, formed part of the Egyptian empire. Thus Yantin must have been enthroned in 1544 NC. Sadly, at this point, any archaeological hope of establishing an Egyptian connection went cold.

It is true to say that every archaeologist lives in the hope that perhaps once in a lifetime he or she may benefit from some dramatic and unexpected bonus, even indirectly, such as in the case of the Amarna woman's discovery. In CE 1952, there was just such an instance.

Arising from a comprehensive excavation of Byblos, a large limestone slab was uncovered with Egyptian hieroglyphics carved upon it. It showed Yantin in his 5th. year as King of Byblos. What was astonishing, however, was that beside Yantin's inscription was the partially damaged cartouche of Pharaoh Neferhotep in his first regnal year. It therefore followed that Neferhotep must have begun his reign in 1540 NC, thereby bringing forward the re-dating of the 13th. Dynasty by 127 years to 1632-1440 NC.

B.   SELECTED BIBLICAL REFERENCES

'KJ' signifies reference to the King James Bible (Old Testament)
'GN', the Good News Bible (Old Testament)
'AP', the Apocrypha.

C.   MAIN LINE RULERS OF EGYPT

(EMPLOYING THE NEW CHRONOLOGY)

SHOWING ONLY THOSE DYNASTIES AFFECTING THE ISRAELITES

Note: From time to time, there were many minor pharaohs or local kings, particularly during the Intermediate Periods. They have been deliberately excluded to avoid complication. Ruling Queens are annotated (Q).

D.   SELECTED BIBLICAL MEASUREMENTS

E.   KINGS OF ISRAEL

F.   BRIEF SUMMARY OF BIBLICAL HISTORY

G.   SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

H.   ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS

I remain indebted to the following for their critiques and guidance, without which much of this presentation would have had less substance:

• Rev. Peter Davies, Principal, Elim Bible College, Nantwich, U.K.
• Professor Michael Goulder, Dean, School of Continuing Studies, University of Birmingham, U.K.
• Rev. Canon Michael Hocking (Former Arch Deacon of Jerusalem), U.K.
• Rev. Dr. Stephen B. Dawes, Chairman, Cornwall District of Methodist Churches, U.K.
• Mr George Edison, Shepherd, Montana, U.S.A.
• Dr. David M. Rohl, former Chairman, Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences, London, U.K.
• Rabbi David Roller, Livermore, California, U.S.A.
• Daniel Farhey, Haifa, Israel.

I am also immensely grateful for the generosity of the following for allowing me to make use of those illustrations as indicated by their reference letters:

1. From 'The Times Atlas of the Bible', by courtesy of Times Books Ltd, imprint of Harper Collins Ltd., London, U.K.:
   Prints: C, D, F, H, M and N.
2. From 'A Test of Time', by courtesy of Dr. David M. Rohl:
   Prints: A, B, P, R, S, T, V and W.
3. By courtesy of Vaughan Tregenza, Esq., Penzance, Cornwall, U.K.:
   Prints: G, J and O.
4. The following prints are from sources published more than 50 years ago and are now out of copyright:
   Prints: E, I, K, L, Q and U.

P.E.H. Thomas

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