That is what I have been doing for weeks. I am almost finished with my project. The hardest hump is behind me as of this evening, and what a relief that is.
Hubby assigned me the project of creating a time line for our home school. Said timeline must be Biblically accurate inasmuch as we are able to ascertain any Biblical dates, of course. The timeline must also be one that includes a full 430 years from the entry of Jacob and his family into Egypt to the Exodus, not the traditional two hundred and some years that most timelines use. Scripture is quite clear that the Israelites were enslaved and mistreated for 400 years (Genesis 15:3, Acts 7:6) and four generations (Genesis 15:16), so a timeline that has them enslaved for only 200 does not meet our criteria for Biblical accuracy. Unfortunately, most conservative, otherwise Biblical timelines do just that, mostly because of the four generations (Moses was Levi’s great-grandson: Levi–Kohath–Amram–Moses.)
So I found a timeline that seems relatively accurate Biblically, and used it as a basis for my timeline. (If you are curious, you can find it here: http://www.teachinghearts.org/dre00timeline.html) However, it is not accurate when it comes to the Egyptian Pharaohs. That timeline has the Exodus taking place under the 18th dynasty at the end of the Hyksos era, when the historical evidence seems to point to the Hyksos invaders being able to conquer Egypt primarily because all of Egypt’s mighty chariots had been destroyed in the Red Sea, and the rest of Egypt was weakened by the ten plagues. This puts Neferhotep I as the Pharaoh of the exodus. This means that Sesostris I cannot be Joseph’s pharaoh, and Sesostris I’s famous vizier (often considered to be Joseph, because of the way his power is described) cannot be Joseph.
Now I had to find a pharoah about 430 years before Neferhotep I who had a powerful vizier and who united Egypt. That leads me to Menuhotep II and his first vizier Bebe. I am intrigued to discover that there is one contemporary account regarding Menuhotep II’s successor, Menuhotep III, that after his death there came “seven empty years.” Either Menuhotep II or III had to be Joseph’s pharaoh because Egypt’s most glorious period is the Middle Kingdom, which lasted approximately 400 years. According to this theory, Egypt would have been most blessed for that 400 years because God’s chosen people were there during the entire Middle Kingdom.
So this would make the Biblical pharaohs run thus:
Abraham meets Cheops (also called Khufu) of Dynasty 4. (Interestingly, if the way the priests described Cheops to Herodotus was accurate, Abraham would have had reason to worry about his wife.)
Joseph is sold into slavery during Dynasty 11 under Menuhotep II, and comes to power as vizier under Menuhotep III.
After the end of Dynasty 11, Israel is enslaved by Dynasty 12 who did not know Joseph.
Moses confronts Neferhotep I of Dynasty 13. Which Pharaoh ruled when Moses was born is uncertain.
Queen Hatshepsut visits Solomon as the Queen of Sheba.
If you have stayed with my ramblings this long, congratulations. You get the history nerd award.
Well, I stuck with it to the end, but my head is spinning! Does that count?
My head has been spinning, too. Now I am trying to figure our to which Pharaoh the letters were written from the Canaanite king who asks for help because the Haibru were invading and trying to take Jerusalem, probably before David took Jerusalem.