The Ancient Egypt Miracles

Ancient Egypt was one of the most powerful and influential civilisations of the ancient world. With a history spanning more than 3,000 years, from around 3100 BC to around 30 BC, researchers are still studying and learning new things about the mysterious civilisation today, more than 2,000 years after it ended.

However, despite having such a long and influential history, this ancient civilisation has been shrouded in mystery and speculation to this day. And despite being one of the most studied civilisations in history, with hundreds (if not thousands) of years of research, the Quran shed light on secrets of the civilisation that were lost to humanity – secrets that researchers and archaeologists have only discovered within the last hundred years.

In this section, we will look at the revelations revealed in the Quran and compare them to other texts, such as the Bible and modern research.

The Weeping of the Heavens

Pharaoh Rameses II is among the most well-known rulers of Ancient Egypt, with a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley called ‘Ozymandias’ about the Pharaoh being called, “One of the greatest and most famous poems in the English language.”

Pharaoh was a tyrant, who enslaved and persecuted the Children of Israel (‘Children of Israel’ refers to the descendants of the Prophet Jacob (AS), who was also called ‘Israil’), and the Quran revealed the following verse about the death of Pharaoh and his followers:

فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَا كَانُوا مُنْظَرِينَ

Then neither the sky shed tears over them nor the earth. They were granted no respite.

(Surah Al-Dukhan – Chapter 44, verse 29.)

A recently discovered pyramid text has been deciphered and can help us to understand the meaning of this verse. The text reads, “The sky weeps for you,” “The earth weeps for you,” “When you ascend to Heaven as a star.”

The text claims that, when Pharaoh died, he was going to rise to Heaven and claim its supremacy by becoming a star. In the aforementioned verse of the Quran, the verse directly quotes the pyramid text and denies its claims.

The incredible thing about this miracle is that the language of Ancient Egypt, Hieroglyphics, was completely lost and unknowable when the Quran was revealed. Researchers only began making progress in the deciphering of the lost ancient language when the Rosetta Stone was discovered in the 18^th century – more than 1,000 years after the revelation of the Quran. So, how would the author of the Quran would have known what to quote when referring to Pharaoh, if the author is not an all-knowing Creator?

‘Pharaoh’ or ‘King’?

The term ‘Pharaoh’ is synonymous with the title of the supreme ruler of Ancient Egypt, but this wasn’t always the case.

Ancient Egyptian history is split into different time periods, and the use of Pharaoh (‘per-aa’ in Ancient Egyptian) only began being used as the title of the supreme leader later in the civilisation’s history, during the New Kingdom period.

Establishment – 3150 BC

Early Dynastic Period – 3150 BC to 2686 BC

Old Kingdom – 2686 BC to 2181 BC

Middle Kingdom – 2134 BC to 1690 BC

New Kingdom – 1549 BC to 1078/77 BC

Late Period – 664 BC to 332 BC

Ptolemaic Kingdom – 332 BC to 30BC

Disestablishment – 332/30 BC

Before the New Kingdom period, 'pharaoh' meant ‘great house,’ referring to the royal palace. Encyclopaedia Britannica states, “Pharaoh, (from Egyptian per ‘aa, “great house”), originally, the royal palace in ancient Egypt. The word came to be used metonymically for the Egyptian king under the New Kingdom.”

Like the Bible, the Quran discusses the Prophets Yahya (Joseph) (AS) and Musa (Moses) (AS), both of whom spend time in Egypt.

Scholars date Yahya’s (AS) time in Egypt as either the Middle Kingdom or the Second Intermediate period (the time between the Middle and New Kingdoms). This is before ‘Pharaoh’ was the title given to Ancient Egypt's supreme leader. In the Quran, the word ‘king’ is repeatedly used to refer to the leader – ‘Pharaoh’ is never used.

Scholars date Musa (AS) to the New Kingdom period, when 'Pharaoh' was now being used as the title of Ancient Egypt's leader, and in the revelation of Musa’s (AS) time in Egypt, the Quran only uses ‘Pharaoh’ (‘Firawn’ in Arabic) to refer to Egypt’s ruler, never using ‘king.’

This shows that the Quran uses the accurate and correct titles for the rulers of Ancient Egypt throughout the different periods. The only other readily available source of information about Ancient Egypt at the time of the Quran’s revelation would have been the Bible, and many Christians and those who deny Islam and the Quran use the argument that the Quran copied from the Bible – but this accusation is built on a weak foundation, because in the Bible, ‘Pharaoh’ is used to refer to the leader of Egypt in the story of Yahya (AS), which is historically inaccurate.

The Quran cannot have copied the Bible, because the Quran corrects the Bible.

The Size of the Exodus out of Egypt

The bible states that during the Exodus, the number of Israelites was huge.

In Exodus 12:37, the Bible states, “The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.” Factoring the women and children into the total count, the number of Israelites could realistically be in the millions.

However, this claim of a huge nation is problematic, when looking at other information provided by the Bible.

Firstly, the Bible claims that Pharaoh appointed two midwives to deliver baby boys born of Israelite women. Exodus 1:15 to 1:16 states, “(15) The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, (16) “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”

Appointing two midwives for a task such as this would only be sufficient if the Israelites were small in number and gave birth to a manageable number of babies. Two midwives would not be enough for a large nation, potentially in the millions.

Secondly, after the Exodus, the Bible claims that God informed the Israelites that they would not be granted the land of their enemies immediately, because there would be too many wild animals.

Exodus 23:29 to 23:30 states, “(29) But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. (30) Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”

This excerpt seems to claim that the Israelites are so few in number that the wild animals would overcome them if they were to settle into the land straight away, and even states that the animals will steadily be driven out of the land until the Israelites have a large enough population to control the land.

This does not seem consistent with Exodus 12:37, which claims that there around 600,000 Israelite men, and an untold number of women and children.

The statements in Exodus 23:29 and 23:30 only make sense if the Israelites were small in number, not large, like the Bible claims.

In contrast to the Bible, the Quran states that the Israelites were small in number. The Quran states:

(53) فَأَرْسَلَ فِرْعَوْنُ فِي الْمَدَائِنِ حَاشِرِينَ

إِنَّ هَٰؤُلَاءِ لَشِرْذِمَةٌ قَلِيلُونَ (54)

(53) Then Pharaoh sent heralds to the cities (to mobilise troops) (54) saying: "These (Israelites) are only a small band of people.

(Surah Ash-Shu’ara – Chapter 23, verses 53 to 54.)

We can see that the Quran fixes the contradictions regarding the number of Israelites in the Bible.

Capital Punishments

The Quran states that crucifixion was a punishment used in Ancient Egypt from the time of Musa (AS) all the way to the time of Yahya (AS).

Nowadays, ‘crucifixion’ is synonymous with the Roman cross, however, in different points in time, there were different forms of crucifixion.

Professor of Archaeology David Chapman writes the following in ‘Ancient Jewish and Christian Perception of Crucifixion,’ “… in studying the ancient world the scholar is wise not to differentiate too rigidly the categories of “crucifixion,” “impalement,” and “suspension” … Hence any study of crucifixion concepts in antiquity must grapple with the broader context of the wide variety of penal suspension of human beings.”

In Quranic verses referring to crucifixion, such as verse 41 in Surah Yusuf (فَيُصْلَبُ, ‘will be crucified’) and verse 49 in Surah Ash-Shu’ara (وَلَأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ, ‘I will crucify you’), contain the root word ‘ص ل ب’ (‘ṣād lām bā’). Arabic dictionaries state that this root word has several meanings including ‘to harden/stiffen’ and ‘to extract oily matter from bones.’

This word does not strictly refer to death by being hung on a Roman cross, instead it refers to any method of execution that causes the body to harden/stiffen and results in the leaking of bodily fluids. This includes hanging on a Roman cross, impalement, and suspension are included in this root word, with no distinction being made between them.

Archaeological evidence shows that Ancient Egyptians crucified people by impalement on a stick. An entry in an Egyptian to German dictionary of hieroglyphics called ‘Die Sprache Der Pharaonen Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch’ contains a hieroglyph of an impaled man – a method of execution used throughout the periods of Ancient Egypt.

The Abbott Papyrus mentions an oath that includes impalement, “He took an oath of being beaten and of being impaled…”

The earliest evidence for the crucifixion by impalement is Papyrus Boulaq 18, dated to the Second Intermediate period (between the Middle and New Kingdom periods). It states, “A blood has occurred with wood… the comrade was put on the stake.”

Using the evidence of the Abbott Papyrus and the Papyrus Boulaq 18, we can see that impalement on a stick was an execution method used during the New Kingdom and as early as the Second Intermediate period. These time periods cover both Musa (AS) and Yahya (AS) – showing that the Quran is historically accurate.

As well as mentioning crucifixion, the Quran also reveals that Pharaoh used the threat of mutilation:

قَالَ آمَنْتُمْ لَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ آذَنَ لَكُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُ لَكَبِيرُكُمُ الَّذِي عَلَّمَكُمُ السِّحْرَ فَلَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ ۚ لَأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ مِنْ خِلَافٍ وَلَأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ

Pharaoh said: "You accepted the word of Moses even before I granted you the leave to do so. Surely he is your chief who has taught you magic. Soon shall you come to know. I shall cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides and shall crucify all of you."

(Surah Ash-Shu’ara – Chapter 26, verse 49.)

It is known that capital punishment became more sever with the coming of the New Kingdom period, the time of Musa (AS) – in fact, mutilation is specifically associated with the New Kingdom period. The Turin Judicial Papyrus states, “Persons to whom was done punishment by severing their noses and ears, on account of them ignoring the good instructions said to them.”

This information about crucifixion and mutilation are not in the Bible.

(A Jewish commentary called the Midrash Shemot Rabbah makes a mention of Pharaoh threatening Musa (AS) with burning and crucifixion, but it was compiled hundreds of years after the revelation of the Quran.)

Identity of ‘Pharaoh’

The name of the Pharaoh during the time of Musa (AS) is not mentioned in the Quran or the Bible. In order to identify the Pharaoh, we have to use the details provided in the scriptures.

Both the Quran and Bible mention the Israelites being taken into slavery before Musa (AS) was born. Semites were only used for slave labour during the New Kingdom period in Ancient Egypt. By placing Musa (AS) during the New Kingdom period, we have a lost of 33 possible Pharaohs.

Both scriptures mention an exodus (‘a mass departure of people’) of the Israelites out of Egypt.

The Merneptah Stele is an artifact that records the first explicit mention of Israel, and the artifact is dated to around 1208 BC. It makes mention of a place called Canaan (a region in the Southern Levant, specifically mentioning the Israelites in relation to Canaan – this indicates that the Exodus had already taken place by 1208 BC. The Merneptah Stele was created during the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah, meaning that the Exodus must have taken place before the time of Pharaoh Merneptah (because he was alive and in power after the Israelites had resettled in Canaan.

The creates a boundary from the start of the New Kingdom period to the reign of Ramses II (who was the last Pharaoh before Merneptah), meaning we are left with 18 Pharaohs who may have been the Pharaoh during the time of Musa (AS) – according to the Quran and Bible.

The Bible claims there were two Pharaohs in power. The first of whom dies while Musa (AS) was hiding in Midian. Exodus 2:15 and Exodus 2:23 state, “When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well… During that long period, the king of Egypt died…” The new Pharaoh who took over, continued his predecessor’s persecution of the Israelites, and it was this second Pharaoh who drowned when Musa (AS) crossed the sea.

The Bible provides a timeline of these events: The incident of the burning bush encounter with God took place when Musa (AS) was 80 years old (Exodus 7:7 – “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.”). So, from Musa’s (AS) birth until the exodus, there was an 80-year period where two Pharaohs ruled Ancient Egypt.

However, there is a huge problem if we compare this Bible narrative to the timeline of the Pharaohs. The Bible claims there was an 80-year period where exactly two Pharaohs ruled, from the birth of Musa (AS) to the exodus. But if we consider the number of years that each Pharaoh ruled in the boundary we have established, we can see that there is no 80-year period where only two Pharaohs ruled. Any 80-year period would give you three different rulers who had power.

Compared to the Biblical narrative, the Quran states that only one Pharaoh ruled during the time of Musa (AS) – from Musa’s (AS) birth all the way to the exodus.

The Quran states that Musa (AS) fled Midian at the age of maturity.

وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَاسْتَوَىٰ آتَيْنَاهُ حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ

When Moses reached the age of full youth and grew to maturity, We bestowed upon him wisdom and knowledge. Thus do We reward those who do good.

(Surah Al-Qasas – Chapter 28, verse 14.)

The Quran defines the age of maturity as 40 years old.

وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا ۖ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا ۖ وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي ۖ إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

We have enjoined man to be kind to his parents. In pain did his mother bear him and in pain did she give birth to him. The carrying of the child to his weaning is a period of thirty months. And when he is grown to full maturity and reaches the age of forty, he prays: “My Lord, dispose me that I may give thanks for the bounty that You have bestowed upon me and my parents, and dispose me that I may do righteous deeds that would please You, and also make my descendants righteous. I repent to You, and I am one of those who surrender themselves to You.”

(Surah Al-Ahqaf – Chapter 46, verse 15.)

The Quran also states that, when Musa (AS) was in Midian, he spent 8 to 10 years in the service of his father-in-law, before going back to Egypt to face Pharaoh.

قَالَ إِنِّي أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُنْكِحَكَ إِحْدَى ابْنَتَيَّ هَاتَيْنِ عَلَىٰ أَنْ تَأْجُرَنِي ثَمَانِيَ حِجَجٍ ۖ فَإِنْ أَتْمَمْتَ عَشْرًا فَمِنْ عِنْدِكَ ۖ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَيْكَ ۚ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ

Her father said to Moses: "I want to marry one of these two daughters of mine to you if you serve me for eight years. But if you complete ten years, that will be of your own accord (but not an obligation). I do not intend to treat you harshly. If Allah wills, you will find me an upright man."

(Surah Al-Qasas – Chapter 28, verse 27.)

This means that Musa (AS) was at least 48 years old when the Exodus took place.

The only Pharaoh who had a reign that lasted 48 years or more as the supreme ruler of Egypt was Ramses II – who reigned for approximately 66 years.

The Quranic revelations align perfectly with the historical evidence and fixes the chronological issues found in the Bible.

Analysis of Ramses II

Let’s compare the accounts of the life and religion of Ramses II to the claims made by the Quran about the Pharaoh during the time of Musa (AS).

The Quran claims that the Pharaoh of Musa (AS) lived a life of excess and extravagance:

فَمَا آمَنَ لِمُوسَىٰ إِلَّا ذُرِّيَّةٌ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ عَلَىٰ خَوْفٍ مِنْ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَئِهِمْ أَنْ يَفْتِنَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ لَعَالٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَإِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْمُسْرِفِينَ

None but a few youths of Moses' people accepted him, fearing that Pharaoh and their own chiefs would persecute them. Indeed Pharaoh was mighty in the land, he was among those who exceed all limits.

(Surah Yunus – Chapter 10, verse 83.)

This claim has been proven by archaeological discoveries, which claim that he was in fact the grandest of the Pharaohs. In ‘Chronicle of the Pharaohs,’ archaeologist Peter Clayton wrote, “[Ramses II’s] genuine building achievements are on a Herculean scale.”

In ‘The Temples of Per Ramesses,’ another archaeologist, Eric Uphill, wrote, “[The palace of] Ramses was probably the vastest and most costly royal residence ever erected by the hand of man.”

In ‘Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II,’ Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen wrote, “Certainly in his buildings for the [idols] Ramses II surpassed not only the eighteenth dynasty but every other period in Egyptian history.”

When addressing the religion of the Pharaoh of Musa (AS), the Quran says that Pharaoh was arrogant and exulted himself to the position of god.

فَحَشَرَ فَنَادَىٰ (23)

(24) فَقَالَ أَنَا رَبُّكُمُ الْأَعْلَىٰ

(23) and [Pharaoh] gathered his people and declared: (24) “I am the supreme lord of you all.”

(Surah An-Naziat – Chapter 79, verses 23 to 24.)

Modern archaeological discoveries have corroborated this. Ramses II built the ‘Great Temple’ at Abu Simbel to honour himself. At the entrance, there are four colossal statues of Ramses II, which dwarf the statue of Ra, the idol associated with the horizon in Ancient Egyptian mythology. In the temple, there is also an image of Ramses II making a sacrifice to himself.

The Body of the Pharaoh

The Quran states the following about the Pharaoh of Musa (AS), who was Allah drowned in the sea:

فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً ۚ وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا لَغَافِلُونَ

We shall now save your corpse that you may serve as a sign of warning for all posterity, although many men are heedless of Our signs.

(Surah Yunus – Chapter 10, verse 92.)

The Quran makes an explicit statement that the body of the Pharaoh will be preserved as a sign and warning for future generations. With regards to other nations destroyed mentioned in the Quran, the same claim has never been made; instead, when mentioning these other nations, the Quran states that the abandoned buildings and ruins are the signs and warnings for future generations. The claim about the body of a tyrant being preserved is specific to the Pharaoh of Musa (AS).

Ramses II’s preserved body was discovered by archaeologists in 1881, and the mummy has been on display in Cairo Museum, seen by countless peoples over the century.

In a documentary, Sir Tony Robinson says that the body of Ramses II is, “One of the few Pharaohs whose body has survived largely intact.”

After Ramses II died, priests hid his body in a secret location in 1000 BC, due a grave-robbing problem. Nothing was known about Ramses II’s body for almost 3,000 years, between its burial in 1000 BC and its discovery in 1881 – which was more than 1,200 years after the revelation of the Quran, which was fully revealed in the year 632. During this almost 3,000-year period, the body could have been damaged, stolen, or remained lost forever in its secret location.

This verse is not only historically accurate, but it is a huge prophesy.

The Plagues Upon Ancient Egypt

The Bible tells us about a series of plagues that Gob sent upon Ancient Egypt. Exodus 7:14 to 9:12 claims that the first six of these plagues are:

First – The River Nile is turned to blood,

Second – Masses of frogs,

Third – Mosquito swarms,

Fourth – Fly swarms,

Fifth – The death of pasturing livestock, and

Sixth – Boils on people and animals.

At first glance, this series plagues seems random, but the Quran sheds light on these events. The Quran states about the divine punishments of Egypt the following:

فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الطُّوفَانَ وَالْجَرَادَ وَالْقُمَّلَ وَالضَّفَادِعَ وَالدَّمَ آيَاتٍ مُفَصَّلَاتٍ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا وَكَانُوا قَوْمًا مُجْرِمِينَ

Then We afflicted them with a great flood and locusts, and the lice, and the frogs, and the blood. All these were distinct signs and yet they remained haughty. They were a wicked people.

(Surah Al-Araf – Chapter 7, verse 133.)

The first punishment mentioned by the Quran is a flood that is not mentioned in the Bible. This flood is an important detail because is explains the 6 seemingly random and unrelated plagues mentioned in the Bible. A flood would cause a lot of red earth to enter the Nile River, making it appear blood-like, deadly to fish, and undrinkable – as described in the Bible. This phenomenon is historically accurate, as recorded by a Middle Kingdom Egyptian sage, “See, the river is blood, One shrinks from [other] people, And thirsts for water,” (‘Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage’).

The rest of the Bible’s plagues can be easily explained as a consequence of the flood.

Masses of frogs (the second plague) – They are known to fill the land after the Nile floods. The death of the frogs recorded in the Bible can be caused by anthrax contamination carried by rotting fish.

Mosquito swarms (the third plague) – They would proliferate after the Nile floods because the pools of water left over by the flooding would allow them to overbreed.

Fly swarms (the fourth plague) – Caused by the massive death of frogs on the land.

Pasturing livestock death (the fifth plague) – Explainable by anthrax that would have been brought onto the land by frogs.

Boils on humans and animals (the sixth plague) – May have been caused by insect bites – the stable fly has a particularly nasty bite.

As we can see, the Quran’s mention of a flood explains the plagues mentioned in the Bible, giving the seemingly random and unconnected events a point of interrelatedness across all six plagues.

The Sale of Yusuf (Joseph) (AS)

The Quran tells us that Yusuf (AS) was sold for a paltry amount while in Egypt:

وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍ بَخْسٍ دَرَاهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍ وَكَانُوا فِيهِ مِنَ الزَّاهِدِينَ

Later they sold him for a paltry sum - just a few dirhams; they did not care to obtain a higher price.

(Surah Yusuf – Chapter 12, verse 20.)

The Arabic phrase used is ‘دَرَاهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍ’ which contains the words ‘dirham’ (دَرَاهِمَ) (which is a unit of silver) and ‘ma’dud’ (مَعْدُودَةٍ) (which means countable/limited). Hence, the Quran is making the claim that Yusuf (AS) was sold for a small amount of countable silver. There is a lot of historical evidence to corroborate that standardised units of silver were used in transactions in Ancient Egypt – small pieces of silver, known as sh’ty were used in trade.

The Tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep is dated to the Old Kingdom period. It has a scene depicting a market with goods for sale – for example, cubits of cloth are shown to be for sale for 6 sh’ty.

The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus is dated to the Second Intermediate Period and is discusses the relative value between gold, silver, and lead, in terms of sh’ty. Small silver bars with the name of Pharaoh Tutankhamun have been dated to the New Kingdom period and have been inscribed with hieroglyphics that state, “Tutankhamun, ruler of Heliopolis in Upper Egypt.”

Until recently, historians have believed that the minting of precious metals was a Greek invention, but these Ancient Egyptian discoveries have forced historians to rethink to revise their understanding of the use of coins in the ancient world. How is it possible that this was revealed in the Quran more than 1,400 years ago?

In Genesis 37:28, the Bible states that this sale takes place with ‘Midianites’ (an early Arabic tribe) outside of Egypt: “So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.” This is a contrast to the Quran which states that the sale took place inside Egypt – further evidence that the Bible could not have been used as a source for the Quran, because it is the Bible that has historical errors about the use of coins.

For example, the Bible claims that a gold coin called a ‘daric’ was used at the time of King David. 1 Chronicles 29:7 states, “They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold…” Historians note that the daric is named after the Persian leader Darius the Great, who lived hundreds of years after King David. The Jewish Encyclopaedia (1905) acknowledges this error in volume IX on page 350, stating, “A notable instance of anachronism (something chronologically out of place) occurs in 1 Chronicles 29:7… gold darics, coins which were nit struck before the time of King Darius I, I.E., more than 400 years after David…”

The Mystery of Haman

The Quran reveals a conversation between the Pharaoh of Musa (AS) and someone called Haman:

وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ يَا هَامَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحًا لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الْأَسْبَابَ(36)

(37) أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ فَأَطَّلِعَ إِلَىٰ إِلَٰهِ مُوسَىٰ وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ كَاذِبًا ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَصُدَّ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ ۚ وَمَا كَيْدُ فِرْعَوْنَ إِلَّا فِي تَبَابٍ

(36) Pharaoh said: “Haman, build for me a lofty tower that I may scale the highways (37) the highways to the heavens and have a look at the God of Moses, although I am certain that Moses is a liar.” Thus, Pharaoh's evil deed was made to seem fair to him, and he was barred from the Right Path. Pharaoh's guile only led him to his own perdition.

(Surah Ghafir – Chapter 40, verses 36 to 37.)

It is important to note that Pharaoh was not asking Haman to build a tower so that he could literally go up to the sky; instead, this is a reference to the Egyptian belief that after death, the Pharaoh would ascend to Heaven, taking his place among their idols. As covered in ‘The Weeping of the Heavens’ section, the author of the Quran knew about the ancient pyramid texts, that spoke about the beliefs of rising to the heavens.

Egyptian monuments were used to hold the bodies of the pharaohs after they died and acted as a bridge between this world and the afterlife. They were filled as religious texts that were meant to help the pharaoh ascend to the heavens. Therefore, the person in charge of building these monuments, had to be both skilled in architecture and have vast religious knowledge.

In order to find a figure who would have had the architectural knowledge and religious knowledge to build such a monument, we will focus on archaeological evidence from the time of Ramses II – being the pharaoh of the time of Musa (AS).

A statue in the Egyptian museum of Munich contains the biographical account of the life of a high priest called Bakenkhonsu. In his own words, Bakenkhonsu wrote, “I am one truly reliable, useful to this lord, who performs beneficent deeds within his temple, I being principle chief of works in the estate of Amun… I erected obelisks of granite stone, whose tops reached to the sky.”

Bakenkhonsu says that he served pharaoh in two ways: performing rituals in a temple and by being the chief architect. As it turns out, Bakenkhonsu was one of the greatest architects in all of Ancient Egypt, being responsible for the building of the Temple of Amun in Karnak – one of the largest religious structures ever made.

Having established the necessary grounds for Bakenkhonsu being an architect great enough to build a monument meant to help the pharaoh ascend into the heavens, we can also see that he the religious devotion and knowledge too. In the same statue, Bakenkhonsu writes, “I was a third prophet of Amun for 15 years. I was a second prophet of Amun for 12 years. He appointed me high priest of Amun for 27 years.” These passages tell us that Bakenkhonsu served the Ancient Egyptian idol called Hamun, who became popular in the New Kingdom period. By the time of his death, Bakenkhonsu had been a priest for deacdes, having served Ramses II throughout his reign – and both of them are contemporaries who died around the same time.

The mention of Haman in the Quran related to Bakenkhonsu because Bakenkhonsu referred to himself as the ‘high priest of Amun.’ The phrase in hieroglyphics is ‘ham nata tapiy amana’ – with ‘ham’ literally means servant and ‘amana’ is the articulation of the idol Amun; and Bakenkhonsu was ‘ham amana,’ or ‘servant of Amun.’

The Qurans mention of ‘Haman’ may simply be the Arabic version of ‘ham amana.’

In summary, Bakenkhonsu was a senior ranking figure under Ramses II, acting as high priest and chief architect; he served in the temple of the idol Amun, attaining the title of ‘ham amana.’ All of this evidence fits perfectly to the Quranic revelation.

Note: The Bible also mentions someone called ‘Haman’ (as mentioned in Esther 3 to 8] but the only similarity is the name. the Biblical Haman served a Persian king and has no resemblance to the Egyptian Haman mentioned in the Quran – the information of the Haman mentioned in the Quran is completely missing from the Bible.

Yet again, it is evident that the Quran reveals huge that the author has extensive knowledge of the Ancient Egypt – information which was completely lost to humanity for thousands of years before and after the revelation of the Quran, while also fixing mistakes present in the Bible. Therefore, the Quran cannot have used the Bible as source material.

The Quran openly states its originals, and therefore the source of all of the information revealed in it:

تَنْزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

This Book, beyond all doubt, was revealed by the Lord of the Universe.

(Surah As-Sadja – Chapter 32, verse 2.)