Manfred Beitak of the Austrian Archaeological Institute has been leading an assortment of excavations at Tell el Da’ba in the Nile Delta since 1966. Tell el Da’ba was the capitol of the Hyksos. Many of Beitak’s findings have been controversial not only to other Ancient Egypt findings but also to the modern day Bible. Beitak’s findings have also been very helpful to many scholars because some of his excavations have answered and changed the thoughts and findings of many of the people that follow Ancient Egypt archaeology.
One of his excavations in the 1997 spring season found a large burial of women and children dating back to the thirteenth dynasty. There where thirty-two burials in all found at this site. Some of the burials found where vaulted mud brick tombs set into simple pit burials, and infant burials in large vessels of both Egyptian and foreign origin. The most predominant tomb found at this site was of a warrior and a girl. The girls body was found looking at the main tomb. Because of the way the girl was situated and along with other burials of this time there is a strong possibility that the girl was offered to her master as a human sacrifice. This scenario coincides with the beliefs of many other Egyptologists that human sacrifice occurred at this point in time.
Beitak’s most controversial excavation came about in recent times, between 1984 and 1987. He excavated a tomb of a person who some feel is Joseph from the modern day Bible. Beitak found a garden and a palace in this excavation. Within the palace Beitak found a statue of an Asiatic man with a mushroom haircut that some scholars say is Joseph of the Old Testament. Many scholars do not believe that this could be Joseph because they believe that it was not possible for a foreigner to have this type of status in Egypt at this time. More evidence needs to be unearthed before it can be confirmed that this site is indeed the tomb of Joseph. There is some evidence to support the theory that this tomb is the burial chamber of Joseph. The estimated date of this tomb is sometime around the twelfth dynasty, which is around the time of Joseph of the Old Testament.
Through the excavation of this burial in Tell el Da'ba, Beitak has uncovered information that has shed light on Ancient Egypt. Most of Beitak’s findings have to do with the Hyksos. Beitak found that the Hyksos were of West Semitic probably from west Palestine. He believes that the Hyksos came into power in 1648 B.C. when they captured Memphis, the capitol of Egypt. Beitak concluded that the expulsion of the Hyksos came in the fifteenth year of Ahmose. These findings help scholars fill in the timeline of Ancient Egyptian history.
Beitak also found four hundred boxes of wall paintings in his excavation of the site in Tell el Da’ba. This is about the same amount of paintings found at Knossos in Crete. Beitak concluded that these ancient civilizations had more contact with one another than what many archeologists traditionally thought. Some archaeologists say that the reason why there is so much foreign influence seen in Ancient Egyptian sites is the result of many great invasions over the centuries. There were major invasions by foreign powers throughout the history of Ancient Egypt but new archaeology sees these foreign influences as being shared ideas between neighboring cultures and craftsmen and not imposed ideas on the Ancient Egyptians. The murals that Beitak excavated help persuade the new world that Ancient Egypt was not all about the great invasions, there was actually friendly interaction between diverse cultures.
Former link, http://www.channel14.com/plus/great_excavations,pasts.html, (2006)
Former link, http://www.bibleandscience.com/genisis.html, (2006)
Former link, http://www.fireplug.net/~rshand/restriced/streams/thera/joseph.html, (2006)
Written By: Greg Kuehl, 2001