THE "RAMESES" OF THE BIBLE WHO AND WHAT IS IT?

A scribe during the time of king Merneptah (1213-1203 BCE), son of Rameses II, wrote a didactic hymn about the origin of the toponyms 

Pa-Horus, 

Pe-Tufy, and

 Pr-hwt-hrt (Pi-Hahirot), 

and indirectly of

 "Rameses," 

which the succeeding generations of Egyptians have never mentioned again. 

The said Egyptian inscription was discovered in 1839 and now known  "Papyrus Anastasi III" and on display in the British Museum. 

This inscription directly corroborates with what Moses (Torah) named 

"yam suf " ('the Reeds' Sea'),

Pihahiroth,

and 

" Rameses." 

The inscription says that ...

" The Tufy (Reeds) comes to papyrus reeds and the pe-Hr ([Waters-of])-Horus to rushes. Twigs of the orchards and wreaths of the vineyard [were visited by the] birds from the Cataract region. It means upon [plants they nestle and for food] 

pe-Yam (the Sea)

with begi-fish and būri-fish, and even their hinterlands provide it. The Great-of-Victories youths are in festive attire every day; sweet moringa-oil is upon their heads having hair freshly braided. They stand beside their door. Their hands bowed down with foliage and greenery of

Pi-Hahirot ( pr-hwt-hrt )

and flax of the Waters-of-Horus. The day that one enters

Rameses

(wsr-m3'-r' stp-nr') l.p.h." 

- Egyptian inscription: Papyrus Anastasi 3:3 (BM 10246,3)

The scribe is telling that the name of the place "pe-Tufy" was derived from papyrus reeds, since "tuf " in Egyptian language means "reeds," from which Moses (Torah) borrowed the Hebrew term 

" suf " or "suph."  

In Exodus 2:3 and Isaiah 19:6 it is understood as "flags by the river's brink" among the reeds, whereas in Jonah 2:5 it is described to be a water-plant or water-grass. 

Tufy is described as near or connected to a yam (sea). 

In the Bible, that place near Pihahirot in Rameses is called "yam suf. " 

Exodus 10:19 is implying that 

"yam suf " ("Reeds' Sea") 

is at the border of Raamses, the city of the Pharaoh in Egypt-proper. Hebrews considered the said sea as a wall, as the Kishon river of king Jabin (fl. 1213 BCE) was an effective 'wall' against invading enemies and the way king Rameses II made in capital city many lakes and canals to be 'defense walls' against invaders and escaping people.

 

" Are you better than Amun of No [Thebes], that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her 

hōmātāh [wall]

 was from the sea? " - Nahum 3:8

In Nahum 2:5 that "hōmātāh " means " defense wall."

"Yam," on the other hand, is literally meant "a body of water " (for example, lake, sea, ocean, pond, and the like).

Near the area is Pr-hwt-hrt, read with silent " - r - " and silent mid " - t - " by the Hebrews.

The papyrus Anastasi III says that youths who were always in festive attires were picking leaves and plants from Pi-Hahirot in the day when they would enter the place called "Rameses [the Great]." 

This gives us clear evidence that the toponym "Rameses" in the Bible refers to an area named after

 king Rameses II (1279-1213 BCE).

 It also tells us that there were regular feasts for youths in Rameses. No wonder why among the first victims of the onset of a pandemic in Africa that Late Bronze Age were youths of Rameses.

By reading the said papyrus we can understand that "pe-Yam " ('the Sea') with Tufy (Suf), and Pi-Hahirot were in Rameses. That is exactly what we can also learn from Moses (Torah).

" And the children of Israel removed from 

Rameses, 

and pitched in Succoth. And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. 

And they removed from Etham, and 

turned again unto 

Pihahiroth, 

which is before Baalzephon: and they pitched before Migdol. And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the 

yam [sea] 

into the wilderness, and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah. " - Numbers 33:5-8

With Egyptian Papyrus Anastasi III, we are so sure that the report of the Bible are historically, geographically, and epigraphically correct with regards to Yam Suf, Pihahiroth and "Rameses." 

And that "Rameses" is not just a short form of "Pi-Rameses" but likely an area in which included Pi-Rameses, Pihahiroth, and Yam Suph. 

In later time, probably around 1177 BCE, the "land of Rameses" and west northward (in the area later called Tanis) were combined and called "Zoan" in the Bible. 

Tanis is likey the "Hanes" in Isaiah 30:4.

Sources: Papyrus Anastasi III; the Bible (Exodus, Numbers)