Ancient cemetery exposed in Egypt – and what is the connection to the Children of Israel?
A large-scale archaeological discovery was revealed this month in Egypt: a mission on behalf of the Supreme Council of Antiquities exposed at the Kom el-Khilgan site in the Dakahlia Governorate, in the eastern Nile Delta, an ancient cemetery and remains of a residential area documenting human settlement for thousands of years. The earliest findings date back to the first half of the fourth millennium BCE, while some of the most intriguing findings belong to the Hyksos period and the beginning of the New Kingdom.
A large-scale archaeological discovery was revealed this month in Egypt: a mission on behalf of the Supreme Council of Antiquities exposed at the Kom el-Khilgan site in the Dakahlia Governorate, in the eastern Nile Delta, an ancient cemetery and remains of a residential area documenting human settlement for thousands of years. The earliest findings date back to the first half of the fourth millennium BCE, while some of the most intriguing findings belong to the Hyksos period and the beginning of the New Kingdom – periods attributed to the time of the Children of Israel in Egypt.
The earliest findings discovered at the site belong to the Lower Egyptian culture, to the stages known as Buto I and Buto II. The archaeologists found simple pit graves in an oval shape dug into the sand layer. Inside them were found human remains alongside small handmade pottery vessels and seashells.
The large number of graves led the researchers to estimate that already in a very ancient period, a significant population existed in the area. The various burial positions also testify to differences in the burial customs of the local residents.
In later layers, remains of a residential area were discovered, dating to the Second Intermediate Period and continuing into the New Kingdom period. At the site, structures built of mud bricks, silos used for grain storage, ovens, and fire pits were found. In addition, pottery, stone tools, and large quantities of fish, bird, and animal bones were found. The findings allow archaeologists not only to know that people lived in the area, but also to reconstruct part of their daily life – how they stored food, what they ate, and what the structures in which they lived looked like.
One of the intriguing parts of the discovery is the finding of graves from the 15th to the 17th dynasties and from the beginning of the New Kingdom. This means that the area was also inhabited during the Hyksos period. The Hyksos were rulers of foreign origin who ruled parts of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. The importance of the site in this context is strengthened due to its location in the eastern Delta, near Avaris, which served as the Hyksos capital.
In the graves from this period, jewelry, amulets, scarabs, work tools, and bronze weapons were found, as well as pottery. Among other things, Tell el-Yahudiyeh type pottery was also found, which is especially identified with the Second Intermediate Period.
The location and the periods in which the site was inhabited are particularly interesting in the biblical context. The Book of Genesis describes the descent of Jacob and his sons to Egypt and their settlement in the land of Goshen, in an area usually associated with the eastern Nile Delta. Later, the Book of Exodus describes the enslavement of the Children of Israel and their exodus from Egypt.
The Hyksos period arouses great interest in discussions about the historical background of these traditions, partly because it is a period when populations of Levantine origin lived in the eastern Delta, and Avaris was an important center in the area. However, there is currently no agreed-upon archaeological basis to identify the Hyksos with the Children of Israel.
However, over the years, various theories have been proposed that place the story of Joseph and the descent of the Children of Israel to Egypt around the Hyksos period or before it, while other proposals date the possible background for the Exodus to a later period.
The excavations are particularly intriguing because they do not stop at the Hyksos period. The archaeologists also found a mud-brick grave from the beginning of the 18th dynasty, alongside pottery and bronze tools, as well as foundations of a large structure with thick walls dating to the beginning of the New Kingdom. That is, the site may allow researchers to follow life in the eastern Delta also around the dramatic transition from Hyksos rule to the period when Egypt returned to being united under Egyptian rulers.
In the biblical context, there are those who find special interest in this transition due to the verse that opens the enslavement in the Book of Exodus: "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." However, here too, this is a possible comparison between the biblical text and historical processes – and not a proven archaeological identification of that "new king" or of the events described in the Book of Exodus.
The site continued to be used by humans hundreds and even thousands of years later. Among the later findings were graves from the Ptolemaic period, including an unusual burial of a child whose remains were placed inside two amphorae that were reused for the burial. Thus, a rare archaeological sequence was created at one site: from simple graves nearly 6,000 years old, through a settlement from the Hyksos and New Kingdom periods, to graves from the period when the Ptolemaic dynasty ruled Egypt.
The excavations at Kom el-Khilgan are still ongoing. The researchers hope that additional findings will allow for a better understanding of who lived in the eastern Nile Delta, how the communities in the area changed, and what daily life and burial customs looked like over thousands of years.
