![\"Scarab-31d.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/Scarab-31d.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nThese are in fact scarabs, not coins. Is it possible scarabs could be used as coins? I suppose it is possible but is there any collateral evidence this was a practice from the Hyksos period of Egyptian history? None that I know of. And while we are at it, do you see any pictures of human faces on these coins? I think not. <\/p>\n
Jim Davila of St. Andrews University on the website PaleoJudaica.com has this to say….<\/p>\n
THE JUNK HISTORY FILE gets a new entry, once again from Egypt. MEMRI reports:<\/p>\n
Leading Egyptian Daily ‘Al-Ahram’ Reports: Coins from Era of Biblical Joseph Found in Egypt<\/big><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n
According
\nto a report in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, by Wajih Al-Saqqar,
\narcheologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name
\nand image of the Biblical Joseph.<\/p>\nFollowing are excerpts from the article: [1]<\/i><\/p>\n
“Koranic Verses Indicate Clearly That Coins Were Used in Egypt in the Time of Joseph”<\/b><\/p>\n
“In
\nan unprecedented find, a group of Egyptian researchers and
\narcheologists has discovered a cache of coins from the time of the
\nPharaohs. Its importance lies in the fact that it provides decisive
\nscientific evidence disproving the claim by some historians that the
\nancient Egyptians were unfamiliar with coins and conducted their trade
\nthrough barter.<\/p>\n“The researchers discovered the coins when they
\nsifted through thousands of small archeological artifacts stored in
\n[the vaults of] the Museum of Egypt. [Initially] they took them for
\ncharms, but a thorough examination revealed that the coins bore the
\nyear in which they were minted and their value, or effigies of the
\npharaohs [who ruled] at the time of their minting. Some of the coins
\nare from the time when Joseph lived in Egypt, and bear his name and
\nportrait.<\/p>\n“There used to be a misconception that trade [in
\nAncient Egypt] was conducted through barter, and that Egyptian wheat,
\nfor example, was traded for other goods. But surprisingly, Koranic
\nverses indicate clearly that coins were used in Egypt in the time of
\nJoseph.<\/p>\n“Research team head Dr. Sa’id Muhammad Thabet said that
\nduring his archeological research on the Prophet Joseph, he had
\ndiscovered in the vaults of the [Egyptian] Antiquities Authority and of
\nthe National Museum many charms from various eras before and after the
\nperiod of Joseph, including one that bore his effigy as the minister of
\nthe treasury in the Egyptian pharaoh’s court…<\/p>\n“Dr. Sa’id Thabet
\nadded that he had examined the sarcophagi of many pharaohs in search of
\ncoins used as charms or ornaments, and that he had indeed found such
\nancient Egyptian coins. This [find] prompted researchers to seek and
\nfind Koranic verses that speak of coins used in ancient Egypt, [such
\nas]: ‘And they sold him [i.e. Joseph] for a low price, a number of
\nsilver coins; and they attached no value to him. [Koran 12:20].’
\n[Also,] Qarun [2] says about his money: ‘This has been given to me
\nbecause of a certain knowledge which I have [Koran 28: 78].'”<\/p>\n[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’ll skip over the middle part, which has more of the same, and excerpt the best part at the end:<\/p>\n
“One Coin… [Had] an Image of a Cow Symbolizing Pharaoh’s Dream about the Seven Fat Cows and Seven Lean Cows”<\/b><\/p>\n
“The
\nresearcher identified coins from many different periods, including
\ncoins that bore special markings identifying them as being from the era
\nof Joseph. Among these, there was one coin that had an inscription on
\nit, and an image of a cow symbolizing Pharaoh’s dream about the seven
\nfat cows and seven lean cows, and the seven green stalks of grain and
\nseven dry stalks of grain. It was found that the inscriptions of this
\nearly period were usually simple, since writing was still in its early
\nstages, and consequently there was difficulty in deciphering the
\nwriting on these coins. But the research team [managed to] translate
\n[the writing on the coin] by comparing it to the earliest known
\nhieroglyphic texts…<\/p>\n“Joseph’s name appears twice on this coin,
\nwritten in hieroglyphs: once the original name, Joseph, and once his
\nEgyptian name, Saba Sabani, which was given to him by Pharaoh when he
\nbecame treasurer. There is also an image of Joseph, who was part of the
\nEgyptian administration at the time.<\/p>\n“Dr. Sa’id Thabet called on
\nEgypt’s Antiquities Council and on the Minister of Culture to intensify
\nefforts in the fields of Ancient Egyptian history and archeology, and
\nto [promote] the research of these coins that bear the name of Egyptian
\npharaohs and gods. This, he said, would enable the correction of
\nprevalent misconceptions regarding the history of Ancient Egypt.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhere
\ndoes one start with this sort of thing? Coins weren’t invented until
\nsomething like the seventh-to-sixth century BCE in Asia Minor. The
\nJoseph story, if it has any historical basis at all, is perhaps a vague
\nmemory of events of the Hyksos era or perhaps even later. There is no
\narchaeological evidence for the existence of Joseph as a real person
\nand any such find would receive immediate, enthusiastic, international
\nattention. I don’t know anything about the so-called researchers cited,
\nbut I will be very interested to see if Dr. Zahi Hawass<\/a>
\nhas any comments. Meanwhile, are there any Egyptologists or
\nnumismatists out there who can enlighten us as what artifacts are being
\ndiscussed here and what they really are?<\/p>\nVia Joseph I. Lauer,
\nwho asks, “was September 22, 2009, the date of the article underlying
\nthe following report, the Egyptian April Fools Day?!”<\/p>\nUPDATE: No
\nreplies from Egyptologists or numismatists but reader Daniel O.
\nMcClellan e-mails to note that photos of the two bigger scarabs at the
\nbottom of the article’s photo are found here<\/a> and here<\/a>. And reader Larry Rabinovich e-mails to note an online review<\/a>
\nby Morris Silver, whom I don’t know but whom Larry says ” I believe to
\nbe a respected economic historian” and “who takes issue with the
\nconsensus that coins did not exist until the 7th century BCE or so. He
\nfeels that some of the items described in the sources qualify as
\ncoinage.” Fair enough, but as usual with such things, when I’m not an
\nexpert I am going with the (apparently very strong in this case)
\nconsensus until I see peer-review articles or monographs by experts (in
\nthis case numismatists) which argue otherwise. And the business about
\nJoseph being named and pictured on one of these “coins” is
\nnonsensically described (the period Joseph is supposed to have lived in
\nis much later that that of the earliest hierogylphs) and is not to be
\ntaken seriously.
\nposted by Jim Davila |<\/font>
\n9:47 AM<\/a><\/font>
————
In short, as my grandmother once said— don’t be so open minded that your brains fall out. <\/p>\nBW3<\/p>\n
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![here<\/a> and](\"http:\/\/ettuantiquities.com\/images\/Scarab-44d.jpg\"){kind=link}
![here<\/a>. And reader Larry Rabinovich e-mails to note an](\"http:\/\/ettuantiquities.com\/images\/Scarab-31d.jpg\"){kind=link}