Ancient Egyptian coins have Joseph’s name, likeness

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported several days ago that archeologists in Egypt have discovered coins from ancient Egypt that have the biblical Joseph’s name and likeness.  MEMRI got the report from Al Ahram, an Egyptian daily.  However, I could not find the original report to verify that.  These coins were in the possession of the Museum of Egypt but were stored in an area designated for charms.  Researchers and archeologists took a second look at the items and found that these charms were actually coins marked with their mint date and their value.  Historians thought until this discovery that ancient Egyptians only had a bartering system.  These coins prove that a monetary system was in existence and was thriving during the time of the Pharaohs.

Among the coins of the Pharaohs were coins that bore Joseph’s name as the minister of the treasury and his official likeness.  Dr. Sa’id Thabet, the leader of the research team, states that coins from the periods before, during, and after Joseph were made in several sizes and were minted using various materials like precious metals, ivory, and jewels.  The coins are either round or oval-shaped and, like modern coins, had two faces–an inscribed face with “the name of Egypt, a date, and a value,” and an engraved face with “the name and image of one of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs or gods, or else a symbol connected with these.”

Out of the coins carrying Joseph’s name and likeness, one of them stands out the most.  It “had an inscription on it, and an image of a cow symbolizing Pharaoh’s dream about the seven fat cows and seven lean cows, and the seven green stalks of grain and seven dry stalks of grain. …

“Joseph’s name appears twice on this coin, written in hieroglyphs: once the original name, Joseph, and once his Egyptian name, Saba Sabani, which was given to him by Pharaoh when he became treasurer. There is also an image of Joseph, who was part of the Egyptian administration at the time.”

So once again, science has caught up to what is accurately recorded in the Bible, showing that the Bible is not a collection of fairy tales and figurative language.  Although some of the Bible is figurative, such as parables, it is literal in its historical accounts of what happened in those days and, therefore, we should take God’s principles recorded in it by his chosen men as being the truth.  God has shown by this discovery that he is true to his word.

Source: MEMRI

–posted by Harry A. Gaylord–