Exodus 2:5

The daughter of Pharaoh. In Jewish tradition she is called Thennouthis, Merris, or Bithia. The diversity of the names and their absence from Egyptian records renders the tradition worthless.

A reasonable deduction from Biblical chronology based on 1 Kings 6:1 and other supporting statements (see GC 399) is that the Exodus took place about the middle of the 15th century B.C. This date leads to the conclusion that Moses grew up under Thutmose I (1525-1508 B.C.), Thutmose II (1508-1504 B.C.), and Queen Hatshepsut (1504-1482 B.C.). Hatshepsut was a remarkable woman. She had been the only legitimate child of Thutmose I and was married to her half brother Thutmose II in order that he might legitimately succeed his father upon the throne. But the legitimate marriage of Thutmose II, like that of his father, again failed to provide a male heir. When Thutmose II died, after a reign of only four years, the priests of Amen, in a sudden coup, crowned an illegitimate son of Thutmose II, who was at that time a mere boy and served in the temple as a minor priest. Inasmuch as Thutmose III, as he was later known, was too young to reign, his aunt Hatshepsut acted as regent for 22 years. Her reign was a peaceful one. She built great temples and erected huge obelisks. Expeditions were sent to Punt, probably the coast of Somaliland in East Africa, for trading purposes, and to Sinai and Nubia to mine copper, turquoise, and gold. Supported by a powerful prime minister, Senenmut, Hatshepsut occupied the throne for 22 years; then she and Senenmut disappear from the record. Succeeding her, Thutmose III erased her name from all monuments in an attempt to eradicate the memory of her from the history of Egypt. This fact lends weight to the supposition that he removed her from the throne, and that she and Senenmut died violent deaths.

When Moses was born Hatshepsut was merely the daughter of Thutmose I. Moses’ birth occurred many years before her marriage to her half brother Thutmose II, and more than 20 years before she began her personal reign, after the death of her husband.

To wash herself. Angels led the princess to where Moses lay (PP 243). That a princess should bathe in the open river is certainly not in accord with the customs of the modern Mohammedan East, where it is now done only by women of the lower class. But it was in harmony with the customs of ancient Egypt. A bathing scene from an ancient Egyptian tomb pictures an Egyptian woman of rank attended by four female servants. It is also in agreement with the views held in ancient Egypt about the sanctity of the Nile, and that its water imparted fruitfulness and guaranteed a long life. It was for this reason that the Nile was worshiped as a god.