This lesson is split into three one week lessons.
Moses, birth to c. 1349 BC Exodus
1. Lesson Pages from Supplemental Materials:
· From Adam to Us: p. 117-124, 130-132 (additional activities for these pages are in the accompanying Map Book and Student Workbook)
· Story of the World, vol. 1: p. 103-109 (additional activities for these pages are in the accompanying The Story of the World: Activity Book One)
2. Study material for family discussion (older students can
read on their own, parents can read and summarize for younger students):
Exodus 1-5, 7-14
Most historians put Moses and the Exodus around the
time of Pharaoh Ramses II. However, this is based loosely on the Bible mentioning
that the Pharaoh used the Israelite slave labor to build up the cities Pithom
and Raamses. However, this task is set by the first Pharaoh to bring the
Israelites into slavery, not the last (Exodus 1: 11). And, if you look at the
footnotes, Raamses is identified as Avaris or Tanis. Avaris was the capital
built up by the Hyksos, which we already theorized may have been the dynasty to
put the Israelites into bondage. (A map of the Nile Delta with Avaris and Tanis)
I looked through Egyptian history for a Pharaoh that fit a few criteria. First, he would be or would be related to one of the last pharaohs to be named with the Mosis/Mose/Moses name part (which means “born of” or “child of”). This usage began with Ahmose ruling in 1570 BC, and the last pharaoh to have it was Thutmosis IV ruling in 1419 BC. No ruler would have wanted to remember the name Moses after the Exodus.
Second, the pharaoh of the Exodus could not be followed by his oldest son, since his oldest would have died in the tenth plague. Amenhotep III, son of Thutmosis IV, was followed by his second son because his oldest died before he could reign.
Third, I thought it likely that the pharaoh to follow the pharaoh of the Exodus would have a religious crisis, because the Egyptian gods completely lost face to the Israelite God with the plagues. Again, the second son who followed Amenhotep III was the famous heretic pharaoh who turned away from all the Egyptian gods to worship a new god, Aten. He even changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten. He was married to the famously beautiful Nefertiti. (A family chart of the 18th dynasty)
It turns out I am not the only one who thinks that Amenhotep III was the pharaoh of the Exodus:
https://jbqnew.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/454/jbq_454_FriedmanAmenhotepzz.pdf
After Akhenaten, the ruler was King Tut, or
Tutankhamun, (who is also on the 18th dynasty family chart with two possible mothers) who is technically really only famous because his tomb was found
intact, a rarity for the Egyptian pharaohs. He began rule as a young boy, and
died before he was twenty. But the treasure trove of artifacts he left helped
shape our ideas of ancient Egypt.
In this same time period the Hittites had a fierce ruler raise them up out of a time of trouble. His name was Suppiluliuma I. King Tut’s widow contacted him to have one of his sons marry her and save her from the men who wanted to take over the kingdom. This request did not work out well for anyone involved. The son that was sent was killed at the border, the widow was forced to marry a man named Ay who was possibly her mother’s father, and Suppiluliuma attacked Egypt.
3. Attention Getter: It might be fun to set this one up by watching Prince of Egypt the evening before. You can start the discussion with the theory that it was not the Pharaoh Ramses that was involved in the Exodus.
4. Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I_qM4HO6gg (Baby Moses drawn from the water)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUIUNVjTYvc (Thutmose IV may have been the pharaoh while Moses was growing up as a royal prince. He would have been dead when Moses came back for the Exodus)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqjwr7KXI30 (Moses learns he is a son of God)
THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT - YouTube
What was the meaning and purpose of the ten plagues of Egypt? - YouTube
5. Mapping: Study Map 2 in the LDS version of the King James Bible (In the Gospel Library app it is under Scriptures>Study Helps>Bible Maps>2. Israel’s Exodus from Egypt and Entry into Canaan).
6. Worksheets: There are several good activities on this page under Fun and Games: https://www.biblewise.com/characters_topics/moses.php
7. Make a bunch of origami frogs to spread across your table for the week to remind you of the plagues of Egypt: https://origami.me/jumping-frog/
8. World History Reading:
· Time-Life Student Library Ancient Civilizations 3000 BC – AD 500, p. 72-73, discuss what you learn about the Israelites from the Egyptian drawing.
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