KING  TUT--  A  VICTIM  OF  THE  PASSOVER?

By Raymond Finney, Shomair Yisrael Prophecy Teacher

          In the article "Who Killed King Tut?" in the March 2003 issue of Prophecy in the News, Dr. J. R. Church excerpts part of a book by Dr. Lennart Moller, The Exodus Case.

        God raised up Moses to convince the pharaoh that the Israelites should be permitted to leave Egypt for Canaan.  Needing the Israelites' slave labor, the pharaoh refused. God sent plagues to Egypt, but the pharaoh's mind was set.  God sent the final plague, that the firstborn of every family would die when God passed over the land unless the family's door was painted with lamb's blood.  Exodus 12:29 informs us:  And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharoah... [to all others in the land].  Pharaoh's heart was broken when his son died, and the Israelites were permitted to leave Egypt in haste.

        Come forward in time approximately thirty-three centuries to October 1922.  English archeologist Howard Carter had been searching in Egypt's Valley of the Kings for the tomb of Tutankhamun (Kintg Tut) since 1918.  Thirty-three royal burial sites had been found, but all had been completely looted by grave robbers.  Carter's benefactor, the Earl of Carnarvon, had just notified Carter that he was withdrawing his funding after the present dig was completed.

        With heavy heart, Carter pointed to a spot near the tomb of Ramesses VI, and told his laborers to begin digging.  Within three days the men had dug to bedrock, where they discovered a stairwell that had been carved down in the rock.  Clearing the stairwell, they found a door bearing the seal of the jackal god, Anubis.  Carter knew he had found an undisturbed burial site of a royal family member.

        Upon breaking the royal seal and opening the door, Carter realized that he had found a warehouse of treasure-- treasure stored for later placement in a royal tomb.  The room was packed with statues, jewels, and gold-- everywhere gold.  In the back of the room was a sarcophagus-- three coffins, layered upon each other.  The inner coffin was one-eight inch thick of ornately carved pure gold.  In the coffin was a linen-wrapped, mummified body of a young man, as well as one of the greatest art treasures of the world-- the polished gold funerary (burial) mask of King Tut now known to hundreds of millions of persons around the world.

        An inscription on the wall indicated that the body was that of Tutankhamun, son of Amenhotep III.  The history of the pharaohs is difficult to piece together, but Moller believes that Tutankhamun was the son of a pharaoh with two titles-- Thutmosis IV of Memphis and Amenhotep III of Thebes.  This pharoah had a son who died at eighteen years of age.  The Eighteenth Dynasty died with this pharaoh, at about the time Bible historians believe the exodus from Egypt occurred.

        Pathologists performed an autopsy on the mummified body.  He was a young, vigorous, healthy man, with no marks of trauma or evidence of acute or chronic illness.

        Moller believes this:  All of the hopes and promise for Egypt rested on the shoulders of a young Tutankhamun.  His father's hope for continuing his dynasty lay with his only son.  During a time of dispute with the Israelite Moses, Tutankhamun and his parents went to bed one spring night.  The parents may have been awakened by wailing and screaming shortly after midnight.  They may have asked a servant what the despair was about.  When told the families were experiencing death of their sons and daughters, they would have been seized with panic.  Rushing to their son's bedroom, they would have confirmed their worst fears-- Egypt's future pharaoh was dead.

        In despair, the pharaoh let the Israelites leave.  Upon gaining composure and seething with rage, he chased after his former slaves, only to be drowned with his army in the sea.

        Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty died the same night God's Chosen People were delivered from bondage.

        I have shown a videotape to members of my Chavurah group.  This tape documents a submerged land bridge across the Gulf of Aqauba.  This bridge is the ONLY place in the gulf where the Israelites could have crossed.  The rest of the gulf is too deep and steep to permit walking.  Scuba divers have explored this land bridge, and have found the sea floor littered with chariot wheels and axles and chariot boxes, with the wheels detached from the boxes just as The Bible records.  Human and horse bones are present as well.  Experts state that the chariot wheels are unique to those made during the Eighteenth Dynasty.

        These discoveries and others show that Passover is more than a tradition.  Passover celebrates a historical fact, with modern discoveries confirming the biblical account.  For us, Passover is more than history.  It is the time of the year Yeshua chose to lay down His life for us.  We remember His sacrifice every Shabbat, when we take Communion together.

Raymond Finney - 2119 Middlewood Dr. - Maryville, TN 37803-6375