Events in Egypt, one week before first Passover in 1447 BC. #passover, #egypt, #Moses, #Seder, #Sed, #SedFestival

Sunday 6 April 2014 is eight days before Passover, Monday 14 April, 2014.  At this time and during this week, back at the time of the biblical Moses, the descendants of Jacob (Israel) were slaves in Ancient Egypt.  Moses had asked Pharaoh to release themThere had already been nine plagues by this time, eight days before Passover, and there would be one more plague, the death of the firstborn of both man and beast, and then a judgment.  The story is told in the Bible's book of Exodus, and every credible evidence I can find establishes that it is accurate.  Even more so the post below of the Egyptian Army being found in the sand provides even more strong evidence that the Exodus account in the Bible is entirely accurate.

The year by several different ways of figuring was 1447 BC during the time of Thutmose III as Pharaoh and Hatshepsut who was a co-regent or a co-Pharaoh.  More about 1447 BC and the number later.

1447 BC had been an especially difficult year for the Egyptians.  There had been nine devastating plagues that began with warnings from Moses.  The plagues were: the Nile turned to blood, frogs, lice (or wormy insects), flies, boils, sickness of beasts, hail mixed with fire, locusts, and darkness that could be felt.  The crops and herds had been destroyed several times and the cattle had been sickened.

If this is 6 Nissan or the 6th of April 1447 BC, then just about a week or so ago the crops were devastated by a great plague of locusts which just stripped every green thing off the landscape and there wasn't much after the plague of Hail and Fire came from the sky and burned up all the crops.

That wasn't bad enough but this past week in 1447 BC Egypt, there was a darkness which you could feel.  It was like a light gritty black powder that just covered everything and just caused the world to be black.  Well it was in the Egyptian areas but not so much in the eastern Nile Goshen area where the Israelite slaves live.

This week was midway in preparation of the Passover and the Festival of Sed.  More about how I know this in a later post.   About 1 April, or more accurately 1 Nissan in the Jewish calendar, Moses told his people to begin preparation for the Passover by doing three things.

Firstly Moses told the people to bring a lamb into the house to be kept until Passover night.  Secondly, they were to clean the house of all leaven or yeast bacteria and to make unleavened break sufficient for seven days, just before Passover.  Thirdly, Moses, from God, had instructed his people to go their neighbors, to the people who they had served as slaves 'borrow' (KJV) to ask for gold and jewelry somewhat as a payment for the years they had served them without pay.  And the Egyptians knew from the many plagues that the Israelites were seeking to leave Egypt to hold a feast and to probably leave completely.  But the Egyptians, partly because of the plagues, and probably partly in the good feelings of preparing for the great spring lunar festival or feast, were in a generous mood and gave abundantly.

One new thing I recently discovered relating to this period is the feasts of the Egyptians, which were held for the new year and the new moons.  There is a historical reason that the Egyptians were also likely preparing for one of their great feasts at this time which was likely held at the same time as the Passover.  The reason for suspecting this is the circumstances of the death of the firstborn which occurred Passover night.

One observation: one great Egyptian feast was Heb Sed while for Israeli it is the Passover Seder.  And in keeping with the philosophy of the Exodus plagues, which were a demonstration and judgment against each of Egypt's 'gods,' for the death of the firstborn to occur on a festival of a 'god' is a double judgment.  It is a judgment against the worship of the firstborn and a judgment against the worship of another deity other that the true and living GOD.

In Egypt, as in many cultures today the firstborn is especially honored.  The firstborn being the eldest is the natural ruler of the household and in many cultures is officially given the recognition and the responsibility of overseeing the household as next in authority and responsibility after the mother and father.  The Israelite patriarch Joseph, Genesis 43:34, says: " . . .Benjamin’s serving was five times as much as any of theirs (the other brothers)."  Because Benjamin was the firstborn of the main, preferred, wife Rachael.  The important point, is that it was standard Egyptian and recognized middle eastern custom of the time that the firstborn was given a porting, a serving of food and also even clothing, Genesis 45:22.

Although no direct evidence has yet been discovered, it is probable that a major Egyptian lunar festival or feast was held at the same time as the first Passover, 14 Nissan 1447 BC, or 14 April 1447 BC which was 3,460 years ago.

One way of figuring the date of 1447 BC is from Biblical dating and calculating the years of various kings.  Another way of calculating is the circumstances for Passover in various years.  In 1447 BC there was a remarkable lunar eclipse of the moon on Passover night, meaning that there would normally be a full, or near full moon at Passover but during the brief eclipse period the moonlight would instead shift to total darkness.

A curious aside for the numerologists, 1447 is a prime number and is also the number dealing with the exact astronomical relationship of the earth and the moon as the earth precesses or wobbles.  And the 1447 is associated with 49 to find the dates and the number 49 is dominant in Daniel and Revelation end times interpretation.  Amazing how God brings this all together.

More about the 1447 timing, the Sed and Seder feasts in Ancient Egypt, and the death of the firstborn in an upcoming blog.

Jonathan Novak   All rights reserved,  Copyright 2014

Egyptian Army of Exodus and Moses found at Bow in Red Sea Heroopolite Gulf

by Jonathan Novak – JANovak.com  and  RedSeaBow.com have references and links

In ancient times a bow inlet of the Red Sea extended north from Suez Egypt as the Heroopolite Gulf,^{[1] [2] [3]} now filled with sand.  There, in the biblical Exodus, Moses and the Israelite slaves were trapped as they fled Pharaoh and Egypt's Army.  Then God made a strong east wind to part the sea^[4] and Israel escaped.  The army followed but drowned as the sea returned.  The author, seemingly led by God, spent twenty years of systems engineering analysis of maps, nature, and fine Bible details, to find the crossing place.  Klaus Dona,^[5] [6] international curator, researcher, and exhibitor of ancient artifacts, arranged for Satellite Ground Penetrating Radar scans as done at the Bosnian Pyramid.^[7]  Mr. Dona says: “One scan shows the old waterline and one shows the Egyptian army in the sand at the exact place marked.  It is incredible.”  (Klaus Dona, Personal communications, March 19, 2013)

The Satellite Ground Penetrating Radar image below shows the ancient Egyptian Army that drowned and was partly buried by a sand river bank collapse.  “Thou stretched out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.” (Exodus 15:12)  Hot, dry desert sand is ideal for natural dehydration mummification^[8] and for radar scans.^[9]

Fig. 1 left, Satellite Ground Penetrating Radar image (Klaus Dona Personal email March 19, 2013) shows the Egyptian army by a multicolored streak in the sand on a photo of the Red Sea, Heroopolite Gulf Bow.  The thick, light blue-gray line top left is the Suez Canal, 313 m (1027 ft) wide,^[10] north of Suez Egypt.  Brown is bone; black is iron; red is copper; light blue is silver; yellow is gold; and thin dark lines in the sand are modern roads.  The army image has been repositioned and put on a 5 Aug. 2013 satellite photo of the same scale to protect the exact location for science.  One scan, Figure 3 below, reveals sea salt mineral traces from the old Red Sea waterline where the Heroopolite Gulf Bow once flowed.

The army was advancing in a broad front from the Northwest (African Continent) top, to the Southeast (Sinai Peninsula) bottom.  When the north and south high walls of water returned the resulting two large opposing tsunamis drowned the soldiers, even those on shore. (Exodus 14:30)  Stopped and buried mid-charge, the army is 15.8 km (9.8 miles) long and 300 m (984 ft) from front to back.  The ground penetrating radar indicates that horses, soldiers, weapons, and a few of the silver and gold chariots of the best, chosen (Hebrew word: 'bachar') captains were not recovered by the ancient Egyptians but are still buried in the sand.  The 18^th Dynasty Exodus Pharaoh who drowned here (Exodus 14:6, 14:10, 14:28) is probably in the Cairo Egyptian Antiquities Museum.

This discovery, with it's amazing background story and explanation, points to a verification of the Exodus account of Moses and to finally answering some old, important questions of history, science, and theology.

The Heroopolite Bow  Text below omits references due to print space limitations.  Check website(s) for details.

The Nile's late summer flood once raised the water level annually in all rivers including the Heroopolite Gulf to the Gulf of Suez.  Fig. 2 below shows the Nile extending east via Wadi Tumilat sometimes called “The Canal of the Pharaohs” past Heroopolis to Lake Timsah, continuing south via the Bitter Lakes, to the Gulf of Suez.

The Heroopolite Gulf was a navigable waterway in ancient times but later filled with sand and silt.  The lower Heroopolite Gulf was at times dry or wet, salty or fresh, depending upon upriver rainfall and height of the Nile.

Whether the Bible's word Yam Suph is Red Sea or Reed Sea, this Gulf qualifies both ways.  Old historians call it the way to Heroopolis, Fig. 2, the Heroopolite Gulf, where today is found the Ancient Egyptian Army in the sand. “Pharaoh's chariots and his host . . . drowned in the Red Sea.” (Exodus 15:4)  The part in which this study is mainly interested is the lower or southern part, here called the Heroopolite Gulf or Red Sea Heroopolite Bow.

. . Fig.2 Map of old Nile to Red Sea . . . . . Fig.3 Old high water . . Fig.4 Suez Canal today. Fig.5 pre Suez Canal. Fig.6 Old low water

Fig. 2 Shows the Nile River connected to the Red Sea via the ancient Heroopolite Gulf.   Fig. 3 Satellite Ground Penetrating Radar shows minerals left from the old Heroopolite Gulf's high water line near a white deleted area. Fig. 4 Is a Satellite Photo of the Heroopolite Gulf /Suez Canal today.   Fig. 5 Napoleon's map before the present Suez Canal, showing a 'finger' of the old Heroopolite Gulf extending northward.   Fig. 6  How the Heroopolite Gulf Bow Inlet probably looked at low water level with the 'finger' extended all the way up to Little Bitter Lake.

In the multicolored image of the army in the sand, top sheet Fig. 1, a black 'blot' of iron in the middle tapers to points at both ends.  This is likely iron from the blood of thousands of dead horses and men that pooled in the bottom center of the bow inlet.  This 'blot' locates the inlet's center and is the #1 basis for the inlet's width; the #2 basis of the same width is the waterway between the Bitter Lakes; and #3 is the 'finger' of the old inlet remnant at the top of the Gulf of Suez, Fig. 5 above.

Fig. 7 unites the Suez Canal, the Army in the sand, and an estimated Red Sea Bow of 1447 BC.  The Bow can be added by knowing its width, middle, top, and bottom.  The width and middle are found from the iron 'blot' in the sand; the top is Little Bitter Lake's south end; and the bottom is the 'finger' atop the Gulf of Suez. The result is an apparently intentional bow and arrow symbol.

In Fig. 7 the 'bow' is the Exodus era, Heroopolite Gulf, Red Sea Bow inlet; the 'slightly pulled bowstring' is the Suez Canal today; and the 'broken arrow' is the ancient army in the sand then and now.  For God to make Egypt's army, its faith, its 'god,' a broken arrow at the place it perished, is the ultimate scorn and derision.  “And the Egyptians (the world) shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.”   Copyright 2013-2014 Jonathan Novak all rights reserved