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THE BIBLE UNEARTHED: THE MAKING OF A RELIGION -- ILLUSTRATED SCREENPLAY & SCREENCAP GALLERY |
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An IMPERIAL building placed under the AUSPICES of [Jean-Francois] Champollion
the man who unraveled the mysteries of the hieroglyphics.
He will be meeting here with Jean Pierre Cortegianni, a French Egyptologist.
[Jean-Pierre Cortegianni, Egyptologist] When you look at a map of Egypt, it's obvious that it couldn't be anywhere else.
In any case, you have the Suez Canal here. What is known as the Suez Canal today.
[Neil Silberman] The Bible tells A VERY CLEAR STORY of Jacob's family coming down to Egypt at a time of famine. Are there OTHER IMPORTANT SOURCES in Egyptian inscriptions and pictures of people from Canaan coming down to Egypt in a time of famine?
[Jean-Pierre Cortegianni, Egyptologist] Certain people built careers there, people who held important positions. So the STORY of Joseph becoming a minister in the Pharaoh's service is quite plausible. I prefer NOT to use the word PHARAOH, because we REALLY SHOULD SAY KING of Egypt. As you know, the word "Pharaoh" comes from the Bible. The Egyptians themselves NEVER CALLED THEIR KINGS PHARAOHS, except very late in the period. In any case, there were people in the King's entourage who were Semites, who had been naturalized. They took on Egyptian names, and some of them built brilliant careers there.
Paintings in the ancient necropolis of Beni Hasan show Semites who had come to Egypt, most likely for trade reasons.
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