Putting The Pieces Together Part V: Is Science A Friend or Foe Part III; Can The Death of The Firstborn Free The Israelites of The Conviction That They’re The Hyksos?

This is the final plague of Egypt; the death of the firstborn, man and animal. Many who hold to a Christian faith would say that it is impossible to scientifically prove this last plague, for it was God himself who came down to carry out the tenth plague. But Simcha Jacobovici is certain he can scientifically prove this plague and gives us his theory on it. But he doesn’t just have a theory; he has evidence to back up his theory. Evidence that was found in the Hyksos capital, Avaris. The evidence from Avaris brings us back to the question of whether the Israelites and Hyksos are the same in one. I will go over my own theory on this.  

Despite the first nine plagues and their destruction on the land of Egypt, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. In the Biblical account Pharaoh is depicted as somewhat of a deceiver. He answered “No” to Moses and Aaron all ten times and his answer resulted in a plague coming down upon him and his people, and when the plague became too much Pharaoh informed them he would let them go if God would stop the plague. Which God did, but then Pharaoh took it back and never let them go. From this effect came the cause of another plague upon Pharaoh’s land. This act of defiance proceeded through all nine plagues, but when the result of the tenth plague was completed Pharaoh finally gave in, for his son had died, and he let the Israelites go. “The final plague took place at midnight,” Jacobovici explains, “after Moses ordered the Israelites to sit down to what became known as the first Passover meal. While the Israelites were involved in the Passover ritual the Egyptians slept, and then it happened. Every firstborn male Egyptian died. Every house was affected. No one has ever been able to offer a plausible scientific explanation for the death of the firstborn; until now.”

Will Jacobovici’s scientific theory for the death of the firstborn get rid of the Biblical story? Because it was the Lord himself who came down and smote all firstborn males. Or can his theory work alongside the text, having God manipulate the effects of the Santorini eruption using it for his purpose? Jacobovici’s theory is that “The gas leak that set the chain of plagues in motion would’ve finally erupted. Carbon-dioxide would’ve seeped to the surface and being heavier than air would’ve killed animals and sleeping people before it dissipated harmlessly into the atmosphere.” But, like with all of Jacobovici’s pieces, this is often disputed but he persists in proving his claims and continues by saying “In case you think all this is conjecture. Consider this, it happened in exactly the same way in 1986 at Lake Nyos, Cameroon.” He then goes on to describe the events that occurred on Lake Nyos. “As the people of Lake Nyos slept, the top of the lake was keeping the carbon down like a cap on a pop bottle. But then, the earth rumbled and a landslide took place sending rock into the water, disturbing the surface pressure and releasing the gas. The gas then rose to the surface and like some alien monster emerged from the water, droplets forming on it, turning the invisible gas into a visible fog. The fog then rolled across the water and across the land, suffocating everything in its path, and then suddenly as it appeared……it disappeared, dissolving harmlessly into the atmosphere.” This is the scientific theory behind plague number ten, but can the Biblical account and the scientific theory fit together? Jacobovici believes so.

What was it that in the end made the defiant Pharaoh cave in and surrender to the Lord God of the Israelites? He clearly saw that the God of Israel was the true God but yet still hardened his heart. The Lord knew that Pharaoh would always say ‘no’ in response to Moses and would defy Him, and this is clearly seen through the biblical account throughout the first fourteen chapters in the book of Exodus. Also, again, the Israelites are kept safe from this plague, and Moses tells Pharaoh the words of the Lord: “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel (Ex. 11:7, KJV).” Jacobovici goes on to say that “It was this selectivity that demonstrated to him God himself was involved. How can we account for this? Well, Egyptian firstborn males had a privileged position; they were the heirs to throne, to property, to title, to more. They slept on Egyptian beds low to the ground, while their brothers and sisters slept on rooftops, sheds, and in wagons. The Israelites sitting up at their first Passover meal did not feel a thing, while the low traveling gas suffocated the privileged position males sleeping in their beds.”           

     In Jacobovici’s persistence to prove his theories, once again he offers compelling evidence to back them up. This time his evidence comes from an archaeological standpoint. He takes us back to the city of Avaris for the evidence: “This conclusion is backed by the archaeology. In Avaris Professor Manifred Bietak has found mass graves dating to before and during our date for the Exodus. The earlier graves are classic examples of ancient epidemics that killed men, women, and children. But at the time of the Exodus the mass grave he found has only males in it.” Professor Bietak quotes: “Here you see bones of burials from the early eighteenth Dynasty, they’re all male victims, and the size of the graves, and the amount of the individuals in the graves we think people died in rapid succession, and the individuals were just thrown into the pit; some of them lying on their stomachs, some lying on their side, some of the pits were just twenty centimeters deep and just some dust put on top of them.” In the end of my post I will give my theory on these mass graves that are found at Avaris, and we will see if the Hyksos can be connected to Israelites. The graves found at Avaris seem to back up, undoubtingly, the death of the firstborn. Although more than a few scholars, scientists, and archaeologist will disagree with Jacobovici’s findings. But Jacobovici doesn’t stop here, even though this is very convincing evidence, he continues to persist to find every little detail he can to prove the Exodus really happened. “The Bible says that Pharaoh’s son also died during the plague of the firstborn. Since we claim that Ahmose is the Pharaoh of the Exodus, we should be able to prove that Ahmose’s son died young.” Surprisingly Jacobovici comes through with the evidence once again, and shows that Pharaoh Ahmose did indeed have a son, Prince Sapair, and he did indeed die at a young age. Jacobovici comments: “Searching in the Cairo museum we found Ahmose’s son, the Prince had died young; he was only twelve. For the first time ever we can put a face and a name to a victim of the Biblical plagues.”  

 

     Here I will deal with my theory on the mass graves found in the Hyksos capital city, Avaris. If indeed these are the victims of the tenth plague of Egypt, the death of the firstborn, then this cancels out the suspicion that the Hyksos and Israelites are the same in one. Why? Because, through all the plagues that were unleashed on Egypt the Israelites were not affected. In the book of Exodus chapter twelve, verse twenty-seven Moses tells the Israelites: “That you shall say. It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped (KJV).” The tenth plague was different from the rest because of the fact that the Israelites had to spread the blood of a lamb over their doorposts (Ex. 12:1-28). Through all of the nine plagues the Israelites were kept safe but for the tenth plague they had to carry out a condition, spreading lamb’s blood on the doorposts (Ex. 12:7), to be saved from death. If the Israelites didn’t do this they would have met the same fate as the Egyptians. So if the graves at Avaris prove the tenth plague then that frees the Israelites from being the Hyksos. First, because it proves the land that Avaris sits on is a completely different land from Goshen, which Goshen is where the Israelites dwelt (Ex. 8:22, 9:26). This then proves that the Israelites were not the Hyksos, for if they were wouldn’t they have been in Avaris? So the Hyksos and Israelites are not one in the same. Lastly, the Hyksos had to have been expelled from Egypt either before or after the Israelite Exodus, because Avaris was affected by the plagues (according to Jacobovici). Ahmose is the Pharaoh Jacobovici uses as the Pharaoh who wouldn’t let the Israelites go, and one thing that all scholars agree on is that he’s famous for the Hyksos expulsion. So because of this we can presume the Hyksos were expelled some time before the plagues battered the once prosperous Egypt. This then brings up another question: are those graves marked as just males, plague victims or victims of war? For there is only two reasons people would be dishonorably buried in mass graves holding numerous victims, and that is either in an epidemic or in battle. So this is the question we must ask, and hopefully I will study and research more about the Hyksos and their rule and their expulsion. But one thing is for certain. From Jacobovici’s mass graves we thwart all suggestions that claim the Hyksos and Israelites as the same people group

    

Can one truly argue with Jacobovici’s evidence? His pieces still continue to look as though they fit perfectly within the puzzle. Jacobovici’s theories and evidence is not only controversial with the scholars, scientists, and archaeologist but also on the other side of the spectrum, Christians who claim the Exodus story as truth. James Cameron ends this section of the documentary, dealing with the plagues of Egypt, and comments: “It seems that the Bible, geology, and archaeology are all telling the same story. The skeptics who would like to regard the Exodus as myth might resist the idea that it actually happened, because this would apply that God does indeed exist. Believer’s on the other hand may feel the scientific explanation of the Biblical story takes God out of the equation.” So Jacobovici is cornered by both sides, and both sides are skeptical about his information all together. But with the evidence he presents how can one argue with him? Some of the facts may be misrepresented and his dating, to most scholars, is off scale. But only time will prove if Simcha Jacobovici’s pieces truly fit to make up the puzzle of the Exodus. Jacobovici gave us his theories along with the facts to back it up, so only time and more research will prove if his chronology is indeed right; and the Exodus is indeed history. Which is my belief, but further research and study needs to be done to get the kinks out of Jacobovici’s puzzle.