0
According to Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews) Thermuthis is the adopted mother of Moses. "Thermuthis was the kings daughter. She was diverting herself by the banks of the river; and seeing a cradle borne along by the current, she sent some that could swim, and bid them bring the cradle to her. " She was also addressed as "O Queen"
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Thermuthis is a figure from Egyptian mythology who is said to have been a princess of ancient Egypt who saved the infant Moses from the Nile River. This story can be found in various sources, including the Quran and some Jewish texts.
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Where in the Bible is the name Thermuthis mentioned?
This name is no where in the Bible.
Who rescued Moses from the Ark of Bulrushes?
The Pharaoh's daughter Thermuthis (Bithiah), who discovered him while she was bathing. He was then adopted into the Royal Family.
Who was Moses' Egyptian mother?
His natural mother's name was Yocheved (Jochebed) and his natural father's name was Amram. Miriam was his sister who hid him in a 'miniature ark' (basket) and set him afloat on the river Nile. He was found there by the daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I. Although her name is never recorded in the Torah, the Jewish historian Josephus writing in the first century mentions her name as Thermuthis. **Thermuthis is not mentioned again but.... Thutmose I died and was succeeded by his son *Thutmose II who married Hatshepsut and she reigned with her husband. It is known that she was the 'real' power on the throne... When Thutmose II died, Hatshepsut then co-reigned with Thutmose II's son until her death. Thutmose II was NOT her natural son but a son from Thutmose I and another 'wife'?. It is known that Thutmose III was jealous of his stepmother Hatshepsut and after her death removed her name from every monument of Egypt. After Hatshepsut's death, it would follow logically that Thutmose III's hatred for Moses (since he was Hatshepsut's adopted son, and his probable fear that the now empty throne might be contested by Moses), caused him to persecute Moses, calling for his death for (what would be considered a 'minor' offence by a royal at the time) killing an overseer who abused an Israelite slave. (The Torah records that after Moses fled, a new pharaoh took the throne. Thutmose III.) So to come back to the question... Moses natural mother was Yocheved (Jochebed) and his adoptive Egyptian mother's name was ***Thermuthis. * It was not uncommon among royalty in ancient times for brother and sister (or half sister) to marry, in order to keep the bloodline pure. ** (maybe this WAS Thermuthis, or maybe Thermuthis made a pact with Hatshepsut to protect Moses in her reign from Thutmose III, hence his hatred for his stepmother, and consequent persecution of Moses after her death? ***It could very well be that Thermuthis and Hatshepsut is one and the same person, since it seems neither of them were capable of bearing a child of their own).
Was it Pharaoh Seti 1 that ordered the massacre of Hebrew baby boys?
Yes Because Seti was the father of princess Thermuthis. Whom found Moses in the basket in the reeds of the Nile river. While she & her maidens where bathing & adopted Moses & her own. Seti's successor was his son Ramses the 2 whom suffered the ten plagues of Egypt & whose first born son named Amun-Her-Khepeshef along with the equally other first born successors/sons of Egypt was slain by Azriel. The Hebrew god Yahweh's Destroyer Angel a.k.a the angel of death.
Who was the mother of Moses Bithia or Thermuthis?
The birth mother of Moses was Jochebed (poss. pronounced Joe-ker-bed), by her husband Amram, who was also her paternal nephew, though they were of similar age (in large families, this was and still is not uncommon to have nieces/nephews who are peers to or older than aunts and uncles). See Exodus Chapter 2, and Chapter 6. Moses was born in 1593 BC (1,513 years before the birth of Christ) also called BCE. He was the youngest of 3 children, Aaron being 3 years older (b.1596 BC) and Miriam being again, about 3-6 years older than Aaron (b.abt 1600 BC). Unfortunately, the Egyptian princess who was Moses' adoptive mother is unlikely to have been either of the two women mentioned above, although since Thermuthis is a claim made by the Jewish writer, Josephus, it has more possibility than Bithiah. She is not named in the Bible, and the massive problems with accurate dating of historical events (which is a global, pan-discipline issue, not limited to Egyptology), especially the further back in time you go, means that there a variety of candidates. Bithiah is "in the frame" as she is mentioned in Chronicles as a wife (one of two) of Mered, a Judah-tribe Israelite. There is nothing to link her to Moses in any way, and the "mythology" that has grown up around her over time is purely fictional. There is a possibility, though no evidence exists to support it, that Moses' adoptive mother was Queen Ahhotep I of the 17th Dynasty - see below. History relies on "fixed" or "pivotal dates" (ones that everyone agrees with) to work out timelines before or after that date, and for the bible there are only 2, arguably 4: 29 AD (also called CE), 539 BC and some would include 763 BC and 664BC. This means it is very complicated to try and be exact, especially when so much evidence has been lost - sacked cities, destroyed archives, burned libraries, etc. There are several "competing chronologies" that give timelines for Egyptian history, and new discoveries are always being made, but these are sometimes proven or disproven and that can take months or years. According to Exodus, Moses had flee Egypt aged 40 in 1553 after murdering an Egyptian who was attacking a Hebrew, and "Pharaoh" tried to execute him for the crime. Sometime between 1553 and 1514, that Pharoah died and a new, but still oppressive pharaoh came to power. The Pharaoh ruling in 1513BC was killed in the Red Sea, but since Moses was 80 at that time, his adoptive mother would be long dead, along with her Pharaoh father, and her siblings, as were his birth parents. Interestingly, some scholars posit a "low" or "short Chronology, which has Pharaoh Tutmoses I of the 17-18th Dynasty acceding the throne in 1526BC, and dying in 1513. He was succeeded by his daughter, the famous female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, which could explain why the Israelites were not pursued still by a vengeful male Pharaoh after the Red Sea. If accurate, this would make the Pharaoh who tried to execute Moses in 1553 BC, Tutmoses I's grandfather, Ahmose I, and the Pharaoh who was reigning in 1593 BC may have been Intef VI or VII. During the period immediately before Moses birth there was civil unrest in Egypt, with several different (but equally valid) pharaohs ruling from different capitals. Again, interestingly, Ahmose I was only Pharaoh because his elder brother, Pharaoh Kamose, disappears from history after a 3 year reign, apparently killed in battle during a successful attempt (started by his father, whose own year of death is similarly uncertain, but was violent) to drive out the foreign Hyksos (not the Israelites) rulers of North Egypt. Moses was claimed to have been a great military and political leader until he fled aged 40 from Egypt. It is also possible to infer a connection due to the fact that "mose(s)" derives from the Egyptian meaning "born of" - tutmoses was "born of the god Tut or Thoth". Upon fleeing Egypt, Moses would certainly have dropped the prefix part of his name to leave Moses. If Kamose = Moses, then it is highly unlikely he ruled as Pharaoh, but was probably co-Regent with one of his stepmothers (Pharoahs had a Great Royal Wife, major queens, secondary wives (princesses) and concubines), the brilliant Ahhotep I, who was mother of Ahmose I, but not Kamose. It appears that when Ahmose I's father Tao II was killed fighting the Hyksos, Ahmose was only 7 years old. Moses adoptive mother was called the "daughter" rather than the "wife" of Pharoah in 1593 BC (she married a brother/half-brother, as was customary), this gives scope for Moses/Kamose to be her "eldest" "child", and Ahmose to be a younger one. In Egyptian royalty, an adopted child was viewed as equal to a biological child, with in-laws, stepsiblings and assorted such all being "valid" members of the Royal Family. If Ahmose I assumed the throne around 1570 (d.1546, according to one chronology) at the age of 10, then after his mother and Kamose stepped aside, if Kamose = Moses, as he grew up, he would probably have seized the chance in 1553 to "get rid" of a potential rival and a Regent more popular, intelligent and competent than he was, and Moses' rash act in killing the Egyptian gave him an excuse. Essentially, one possible chronology is: 1593 = Pharoah, Tao I, daughter Ahhotep, adoptive mother of Moses, son Tao II after 1593 - then Pharoah Tao II, who marries sister Ahhotep, by whom he has 7 children, not including "Kamose" 1573 - Tao II killed, co-regency of Ahhotep I and Kamose (Moses??) 1570 - Ahmose I, Ahhotep I's son, assumes throne, Kamose "disappears" from royal authority, but is not confirmed to have been killed, no tomb yet found, unlike his co-regent, Ahhotep I. 1553 - Ahmose I tries to execute Moses who flees to Midian 1546, Ahmose I dies, succeeded by son Amenhotep I 1526 - Amenhotep I dies, succeeded by son Tutmose I 1513 - Exodus, Tutmose I killed, succeeded by daughter, Hatshepsut However, this is all speculation, as there are so many conflicting chronologies, all of which have both supporting evidence and anti-evidence, that at this time there is no way to determine who was ruling as Pharoah, or Pharaohs (Ahmose I contemporary was Pharaoh Khamundi of the 15th (Hyksos) Dynasty in Lower Egypt) in the critical years of 1593, 1553, and 1513 BC. I am sorry that this is a long and somewhat long-winded answer, but in short = nobody knows the answer, and it is unlikely to have been either woman listed.
