The story before the Exodus
When Israel first came to Egypt, they were welcomed. The next time we read about them, they are slaves. What happened in between?
It all began with the Hyksos
The story starts with the Hyksos (literally “rulers from another land”), a group that grew in influence as more and more Asian tribes — mainly from Canaan — mixed with the Egyptian population. Their presence kept growing until, by 1720 BC, they held full control over the eastern Nile Delta and even had their own capital, Avaris.
From there they expanded southward, and in 1674 BC they conquered Memphis, the former Egyptian capital. The Hyksos thus formed the 15th and 16th dynasties of Egypt, and under their rule, Semites such as Joseph were able to rise to high positions.
Never again
The Hyksos were finally defeated around 1550 BC, and Egypt was determined never to let a second Hyksos takeover happen. That determination is what drove Pharaoh to keep the Israelites small and weak.
Several details suggest that Joseph himself lived during the Hyksos period:
- The land of Goshen, in the northwest of Egypt, was close to the palace at the time Joseph was there.
- Israel was later forced to build the cities of Pithom and Ramses, most likely under Ramses II, who rebuilt the northeast — the very region the Israelites eventually moved out from.
- Ramses’ father, Sethos I, built a summer palace near Avaris, the former Hyksos capital. That detail also explains how Moses could be found so quickly by the princess: the palace was still close to Goshen.