Our story comes to us, indirectly, from Flavius Josephus, the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian. In his work Against Apion, Josephus is defending Judaism against its detractors. One of those detractors was Manetho, an Egyptian priest and historian from the 3rd century BCE. Manetho spun a wild tale about the origins of the Jews, and Josephus, quite understandably, wasn't having it.
Manetho's version, as relayed by Josephus, begins with a king named Amenophis who, for some reason, "desired to see the gods." Now, Josephus is quick to point out the absurdity of this. What gods are we talking about? The animal deities the Egyptians already worshipped? Or the heavenly ones? And if the latter, what made Amenophis think he could just see them? Had another king done it before?
Then comes the prophet, supposedly a wise man. But if he was so wise, why didn't he tell the king his desire was impossible? And here's where it gets even stranger: the prophet claims the gods won't appear because of the people's physical imperfections, specifically leprosy. Josephus rightly asks: since when do gods care about bodily ailments? Aren't they more concerned with wickedness? Plus, how do you even gather eighty thousand lepers in one day?
The king, instead of expelling these afflicted people as the prophet supposedly advised, sends them to work in quarries. It's as if he needed laborers more than he wanted to "purge his country". And the prophet? He kills himself, predicting the gods' wrath. But wait, if he was such a seer, why didn't he foresee his own demise?
But the story doesn't end there. The king, despite the dire warnings, allows these "maimed" people to inhabit Avaris, a city formerly belonging to the shepherds (a term often associated with foreigners and sometimes used pejoratively). Here, they choose a priest from Hellopolis named Osarsiph, who then changes his name to Moses. Yes, that Moses.
According to Manetho, this Moses forbids the people from worshipping Egyptian gods and encourages them to kill and eat the sacred animals. He forms a pact with them, builds a wall around Avaris, and then… declares war on the king.
And it gets even more fantastical. Moses sends a message to Jerusalem, inviting "that people" (the Jews) to come to his aid, promising them Avaris, claiming it once belonged to their ancestors. They arrive, and together they wage war against Egypt, burning cities and temples, committing all sorts of atrocities.
The Egyptian king, Amenophis, supposedly flees to Ethiopia, leaving the sacred animals in the care of the priests. But thirteen years later, he returns with a massive army, defeats the "shepherds" and the "polluted people," and drives them all the way back to Syria.
Josephus is incredulous, and for good reason. He meticulously dismantles Manetho's narrative, pointing out its inconsistencies and absurdities. It's a clear attempt to slander the Jewish people and distort their history. The idea that Moses was a defrocked Egyptian priest who led a band of lepers and committed atrocities simply doesn't hold water.
What's fascinating about this story is how it highlights the power of narrative. Manetho crafted a tale designed to demonize the Jews, playing on existing prejudices and fears. And while Josephus effectively refutes it, the fact that such a story existed in the first place is a reminder of how easily history can be twisted and manipulated. It reminds us to be critical of the stories we hear, to question their sources, and to always seek a deeper understanding of the truth.
28. Now, for the first occasion of this fiction, Manetho supposes what is no better than a ridiculous thing; for he says that, "King Amenophis desired to see the gods." What gods, I pray, did he desire to see? If he meant the gods whom their laws ordained to be worshipped, the ox, the goat, the crocodile, and the baboon, he saw them already; but for the heavenly gods, how could he see them, and what should occasion this his desire? To be sure? it was because another king before him had already seen them. He had then been informed what sort of gods they were, and after what manner they had been seen, insomuch that he did not stand in need of any new artifice for obtaining this sight. However, the prophet by whose means the king thought to compass his design was a wise man.
If so, how came he not to know that such his desire was impossible to be accomplished? for the event did not succeed. And what pretense could there be to suppose that the gods would not be seen by reason of the people's maims in their bodies, or leprosy? for the gods are not angry at the imperfection of bodies, but at wicked practices; and as to eighty thousand lepers, and those in an ill state also, how is it possible to have them gathered together in one day? nay, how came the king not to comply with the prophet? for his injunction was, that those that were maimed should be expelled out of Egypt, while the king only sent them to work in the quarries, as if he were rather in want of laborers, than intended to purge his country. He says further, that, "this prophet slew himself, as foreseeing the anger of the gods, and those events which were to come upon Egypt afterward; and that he left this prediction for the king in writing." Besides, how came it to pass that this prophet did not foreknow his own death at the first? nay, how came he not to contradict the king in his desire to see the gods immediately? how came that unreasonable dread upon him of judgments that were not to happen in his lifetime? or what worse thing could he suffer, out of the fear of which he made haste to kill himself? But now let us see the silliest thing of all:--The king, although he had been informed of these things, and terrified with the fear of what was to come, yet did not he even then eject these maimed people out of his country, when it had been foretold him that he was to clear Egypt of them; but, as Manetho says,
"he then, upon their request, gave them that city to inhabit, which had formerly belonged to the shepherds, and was called Avaris; whither when they were gone in crowds," he says, "they chose one that had formerly been priest of Hellopolls; and that this priest first ordained that they should neither worship the gods, nor abstain from those animals that were worshipped by the Egyptians, but should kill and eat them all, and should associate with nobody but those that had conspired with them; and that he bound the multitude by oaths to be sure to continue in those laws; and that when he had built a wall about Avaris, he made war against the king." Manetho adds also, that "this priest sent to
Jerusalem to invite that people to come to his assistance, and promised to give them Avaris; for that it had belonged to the forefathers of those that were coming from Jerusalem, and that when they were come, they made a war immediately against the king, and got possession of all Egypt." He says also that "the Egyptians came with an army of two hundred thousand men, and that Amenophis, the king of Egypt, not thinking that he ought to fight against the gods, ran away presently into Ethiopia, and committed Apis and certain other of their sacred animals to the priests, and commanded them to take care of preserving them." He says further, that, "the people of Jerusalem came accordingly upon the Egyptians, and overthrew their cities, and burnt their temples, and slew their horsemen, and, in short, abstained from no sort of wickedness nor barbarity; and for that priest who settled their polity and their laws," he says, "he was by birth of Hellopolis, and his name was Osarsiph, from Osyris the god of Hellopolis, but that he changed his name, and called himself Moses." He then says that "on the thirteenth year afterward, Amenophis, according to the fatal time of the duration of his misfortunes, came upon them out of Ethiopia with a great army, and joining battle with the shepherds and with the polluted people, overcame them in battle, and slew a great many of them, and pursued them as far as the bounds of Syria."
