Asenat Amenhotep wrote:

"I've always been fascinated with the "Joseph and the many colored coat" (or Technicolor Dreamcoat) story from the last chapters of Genesis, hence my persona name, Asenath (wife of Joseph).

I've always been curious as to which Pharaoh it is and how it fits into the Egyptian history timeline we know of today.

I've tried looking it up on the internet but every time I see something on it, it's a different answer.

Could you please enlighten me and if you have evidence (books or credible websites, sources, etc) that I could refer to, it would be much appreciated."

That said, it doesn't mean there hasn't been some very wild, and some very scholarly, speculation along that line. ;)

Some of the most convincing Egyptian archaeological evidence for a person who might (and I repeat: MIGHT) have been the type of person we think of as Joseph is that of the New Kingdom tomb of Aper-el. This excavation was published in 1990 as

Zivie, A. 1990. Découverte à Saqqarah: Le Vizir Oublié. Paris: Seuil.

The Summary of this work, from the Annual Egyptological Bibliography explains the signficance:

(This publication) tells the general public the exciting story of the discovery of the relatively undisturbed tomb of the vizier Aper-El from the reign of Amenhotep III at Saqqara. In ch. 1 Zivie provides the necessary background information on Saqqara as a necropolis and as a field for excavations, and relates the discovery of the tomb and neighbouring ones some ten years ago and the subsequent excavations in later years in the Bubasteion area at the edge of the Saqqara plateau. In ch. 2 he describes the finds of the subsequent campaigns, which worked their way down passing from the entrance level through three more until arriving at last in the funerary chamber. At the third level the most conspicuous find was a stuccoed wooden funerary mask of a young woman. Ch. 3 is devoted to the funerary chamber, which yielded such remarkable contents. The first coherent find was the ensemble of the lady Taweret, whose mummy was preserved in a set of wooden coffins, in part faience-inlaid. Also other funerary equipment, such as fine canopic vases and the heart scarab. Most probably she was the wife of Aper-El. Decorated in the same way was the coffin of the general and scribe of the recruits Huy, son of Aper-El, which contained his body. A rich find of alabaster vessels and canopic vases belonged to Aper-El himself. Related to his burial were also an aegis, an alabaster shabti in a special box, amulets and other small objects, and a similarly inlaid coffin. Also conspicuous were the two cubit rods, one of wood, the other made of schist. In the last ch. 4 the author retraces this otherwise completely unknown personage, who nevertheless carried the title of vizier. He seems to have served not only under Amenhotep III, but also under Akhnaton, as the inscriptions found relate him to the Aton-cult. About his son Huy, who was probably active in the Amarna Period, equally little is known. The question of the coregency between Amenhotep III and Akhnaton is touched upon, as well as that of the position of Memphis, Amarna and Thebes in the period. At the end of the chapter, the remarkable name with its second non-Egyptian element incites the author to some speculations.

Foreign officials in Egyptian courts were not unknown, of course. Amenhotep's advisor, Yuya, who was also Chief of the Chariotry, may have been of foreign extraction, while it's pretty evident that Tutankhamun's Viceory to Nubia, Huy, was likely of Nubian origin.

Many of these foreign officials were products of the /kAp/, where children of the leaders of vassal countries, such as Nubia, Libya, etc. were placed to learn alongside royal children, as a combination of captive and benevolent indoctrination (Janssen and Janssen 1990). What better way to teach the Egyptian political point of view and implement it in foreign lands, so reasoned the ancient Egyptians, than to teach the young princes of tomorrow what Egypt expected of them within Egyptian "hospitality"?

There is evidence, of course that the Syro-palestinian groups were also well-known in Egypt as traders/dealers in goods and slaves since at least the Middle Kingdom (Bresciani 1997), and even had attained some levels of authority in Egypt before and durign the Hyksos periods (Bietak 1996).

So, if Joseph entered Egypt as a slave, as mentioned in Biblical accounts, this also would not mean he could not rise to serve within the royal house. His skill with dreams would have made him a prized addition in the royal court, no matetr is previous status, for dream interpretation was considered a divine means of communicating with the gods (Borghouts 1982; Szpakowska 2000 and 2003).

So, while there may be an element of truth to the Joseph story, the dating as to the events related in the Bible are unknown. It's now thought, as I mentioend before, many of the elements and motifs of the Joseph story are, in fact borrowings from Egyptian culture by the Israelites, particularly concerning dream interpretation and son on.

Redford (1970) has probably done the most extensive review of the Egyptian connections within the story of Joseph, and concluded that there were no less than 23 distinct Egyptian elements, all pointing to a very late date of the publication of the Joseph story, borrowing heavily upon Egyptian motifs and terms which were in place between 650 and 425 BCE in Egypt. This places the story squarely between the Libyan and Persian periods of Egyptian occupation, and paralleling the exilic period of the Israelites in Babylon.

As such, the Joseph story is again another example of ANE literary motif parallelism, rather than an datable event.

Reference:

Bietak, M. 1996. Avaris, the Capital of the Hyksos: Recent Excavations at Tell el-Dab'a. London: British Museum Press.

Borghouts, J. F. 1982. Divine Intervention in Ancient Egypt and Its Manifestation. In R. J. Demarée and J. J. Janssen, Eds., Gleanings from Deir el-Medîna: 1-70. Leiden: Nederlands Institute voor het Nabije Oosten.

Bresciani, E. 1997. Foreigners. In S. Donadoni, Ed., The Egyptians: 221-253. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Janssen, R. M. and J. J. Janssen. 1990. Growing Up in Ancient Egypt. London: Rubicon Press.

Redford, D. B. 1970. A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50). Supplements to Vetus Testamentum 20. Leiden: Brill.

Szpakowska, K. M. 2000. The Perception of Dreams and Nightmares in Ancient Egypt: Old Kingdom to the Third Intermediate Period. Ph. D. Dissertation (Unpublished). Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. University of California Los Angeles: Los Angeles.

_______________. 2003. Behind Closed Eyes: Dreams and Nightmares in Ancient Egypt. CPW Studies in Egyptology. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales.

I hope this assists.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg