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History
The King commonly referred to as Apries (his Greek name), who's birth name was
Wah-ib-re, meaning "Constant is the Heart of Re". Apries, sixth was
the king of the Saite Dynasty and spent much of his reign at war with the Babylonian
ruler Nebuchadnezzar. Much
of this struggle was fought first in the Levant but also at Cyrene in Libya.
After suffering huge losses at the Battle of Cyrene, the Egyptian army under
Amasis revolted and Apries was forced to flee.
Names
Greek - Apries | Hebrew - Hophra | Egyptian - Wahibre
Apries is the name by which Herodotus (ii. 161) and Diodorus (i. 68) designate
Wahibre, Pharaoh-Hophra - Jeremiah 44:30. |
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Herodotus
Mentions Apries-Hophra and The City of Memphis
"So when Apries leading his foreign mercenaries,
and Amasis at the head of the army of Egyptians, in their approach to one another
had reached the city of Memphis, they engaged in battle".
- Herodotus Histories Book II
Hosea 9:6 For, lo,
they are gone because of destruction: Egypt
shall gather them up, Memphis shall
bury them: the pleasant places for their silver,
nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be
in their tabernacles. |
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Palace
of Apries at Memphis
More recently, in 1909, in the course of excavations carried on by the British
School of Archaeology in Egypt, the palace of King Apries, Pharaoh Hophra,
has been discovered on the site of Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt. Under
the gray mud hill, close to the squalid Arab village of Mitrahenny, which every
tourist passes on the way to Sakkhara, had lain for centuries Hophra's magnificent
palace, 400 ft. long by 200 ft., with a splendid pylon, an immense court, and
stonelined halls, of which seven have been found intact. With many other objects
of value there was found a fitting of a palanquin of solid silver, decorated
with a bust of Hathor with a gold face. It is said to be of the finest workmanship
of the time of Apries-Hophra, a relic of the fire, which, Jeremiah predicted
at Tahpanhes, the Lord of Hosts was to kindle "in the houses of the gods
of Egypt" (Jeremiah 43:12).
The main palace building was excavated in
two seasons between 1908 and 1910. It is located
on a massive artificial platform. Most of the
walls of the palace are constructed in mud-brick,
while important elements such as columns, pavements
and wall cladding (at least to a certain height)
are of limestone. Some of the capitals of the
columns still bore the name of king Apries,
who was therefore most likely the builder of
main parts of the complex. |
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King
Zedekiah and the Babylonian Chronicle
King Zedekiah is in this same chapter and verse of Jeremiah that the Pharaoh
Apries-Hophra is mentioned. We are going to compare the record of the Babylonian
chronicle clay tablet, as translated into English by scholars, with the account
recorded in the Bible. This tablet resides in the British Museum.
"He installed in his place a king Zedekiah of
his own choice, and after he had received rich
tribute, he sent them forth to Babylon."
- Babylonian Chronicle
"I gave Zedekiah king
of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon" - Jeremiah
44:30
This chronicle names all of the following
people and all of them are in the Bible! -
Jehoiachin - Zedekiah - Pharaoh
Necho - Nebuchadnezzar |
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