Joseph, whose coat was of many colours, was a man of many names

by

Damien F. Mackey

And, perhaps most telling of all, Manetho’s Usaphais, a virtually perfect

Greek transliteration of the Semitic name, Yusef (=Usaph-), or Joseph.  

Apparently in the search for the historical Joseph, as was the case with Moses, one will need to – in order to find him in all of his fulness – course through various of the old Egyptian dynasties, both Old Kingdom and so-called ‘Middle’ Kingdom.

This is what I have come up with so far:

Basically, Joseph was – as many are now thinking (see Internet and You Tube) – Imhotep of Egypt’s Third Dynasty, who brilliantly served Horus Netjerikhet.

But Imhotep, simply qua Imhotep, does not appear to be very well attested from contemporaneous records, so much so that some say he may never have existed, but may have been a later (say, Ramesside, or Ptolemaïc) fabrication.

That problem can be nicely solved, I think, by recognising Imhotep as the Second Dynasty, or the Third Dynasty character, Khasekhemwy-Imhotep (variously Hetep-Khasekhemwy, Khasekhem, or Sekhemkhet).

Of this Khasekhemwy, we read (Britannica) that “… he was the first to use extensive stone masonry”.

But, then, something similar is said again ofHorus Den (Dewen, Udimu) of the First Dynasty. Thus, Nicolas Grimal (A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell, p. 53. My emphasis): “In the tomb built by Den at Abydos a granite pavement was found, the first known example of stone-built architecture, which until then had been exclusively of mud brick”.

And it is said, again, of Netjerikhet (ibid., p. 64): “… Netjerykhet … is famed for having invented stone-built architecture with the help of his architect Imhotep …”.

Very confusing! “… Den … first known example of stone-built architecture …”.

Khasekhemwy “… first to use extensive stone masonry”.

“… stone-built architecture [invented] with the help of … Imhotep …”.

Never mind, if – as I am proposing – Den, was Khasekhemwy, was Imhotep.

Now, Den supposedly had a powerful Chancellor, Hemaka, who might likewise be considered as a potential candidate for Joseph (Wikipedia, article “Hemaka”. My emphasis):

One of Hemaka’s titles was that of “seal-bearer of the King of Lower Egypt” … effectively identifying him as chancellor and second in power only to the king.

….

The tomb of Hemaka is larger than the king’s own tomb, and for years was mistakenly thought as belonging to Den.

But not a mistake if Hemaka was Den!

And Den’s wife, Merneith, may be the same as Ahaneth, a name almost identical to that of Joseph’s wife, Aseneth (Asenath/Ahaneth) (Cf. Genesis 41:45, 50; 46:20). This Ahaneth must have been very important considering the large size of her tomb.  

Den’s ruler may have been Horus Djer, which name recalls Horus Netjerikhet.

Joseph’s given Egyptian name, Zaphenath paneah, which biblical commentators generally find so difficult to interpret, I have connected in some of its elements, as a hypocoristicon, with Ankhtifi, a quasi-pharaonic like official (of no definitely fixed address) whose records boast of him as being ‘unlike any man ever born’, and who fails even to make any clear reference to his ruler. Ankhtifi, and the prolonged Famine of his time, with people cannibalising one another, I have linked to other similarly-described famines, of Bebi, and also the one at the time of Heqanakht.

And I have then tentatively suggested a connection between the Famine personage, Bebi, and the Vizier of that same name serving Mentuhotep, so-called II, of the Eleventh Dynasty (‘Middle’ Kingdom).   

This powerful king, Mentuhotep, also had a Chancellor of Ankhtifi-like prominence and importance, Kheti.

Previously I wrote on King and Chancellor pairings:

Once again, as with Horus Netjerikhet and Imhotep, Saqqara (“Sakkara”) takes centre stage. Den may here have been recording Horus Djer’s Sed festival rather than his own.

Similarly, Mentuhotep’s quasi-pharaonic vizier, Kheti, will be prominent in the case of his Pharaoh’s Sed festival, presumably as its organiser. So far, I have not even come to this Kheti, whose name may be a hypocoristicon of Sekhem-khet (= Zoser/Imhotep). In Djer/Hemaka; Djer/Den; and Mentuhotep/Kheti, we have, I believe, three variant combinations of the one King and Chancellor. And we have not even included here Netjerikhet/Imhotep.

The multi-named Joseph

From what we have just read, Joseph’s names may include

Imhotep;

Khasekhemwy-Imhotep;

Hetep-Khasekhemwy;

Khasekhem;

Sekhemkhet;

Den (Dewen, Udimu);

Khasti;

Uenephes;

Usaphais (Yusef);

Zaphenath paneah;

Ankhtifi;

Bebi

and perhaps also:

Hemaka;

Kheti

From stark obscurity, the historical Joseph now abounds!

And I suspect that this will not exhaust the potential list of Egyptian (also including some Greek) names for the biblical Joseph.