(Deeds) after the manner of the people of Fir’awn and those before them": They treated as false the Signs of their Lord: so We destroyed them for their crimes, and We drowned the people of Fir’awn: for they were all oppressors and wrong-doers. (Surat al-Anfal:, 54)

Ancient Egyptian Civilisation, along with other city states established in Mesopotamia at the same time, is known to be one of the oldest civilisations in the world and it is recognised to have been an organised state with the most advanced social order of its age. The facts that they discovered writing around the 3rd millennium B.C. and used it, that they made use of the river Nile and were protected against dangers abroad on account of the natural setting of the country, greatly contributed to the Egyptians improving their civilisation. 

But this “civilised” society was one in which “the reign of pharaohs” prevailed, which is the system of denial mentioned in the clearest and most straightforward way in the Qur’an. They puffed up with pride, turned aside, and blasphemed. In the end, neither their advanced civilisations, their social and political orders, nor their military successes could save them from being destroyed. 

The Egyptian civilisation was based on the fertility of the River Nile. Egyptians had settled in the Nile valley due to the abundant water of this river, and because they could cultivate the land with the water supplied by the river without being dependent on rainy seasons. The historian Ernst H. Gombrich states in his writing that Africa is very hot and sometimes it does not rain there at all for months. For this reason, many areas in this huge continent are extremely dry. Those parts of the continent are covered with vast desert. Both sides of the River Nile are also covered with deserts, and it hardly rains in Egypt. But in this country, rain is not needed so much, because the River Nile runs right down the middle of the whole country. (17) 

The borders of Ancient Egypt during its most brilliant period. The country which grew around the River Nile succeeded in establishing an extremely powerful civilisation despite being surrounded by deserts and other natural impediments. It is the bountiful supply of water continuously provided by the River Nile, that underlie this fact. The systematically organised army, which was built up during a period of development lasting for centuries, allowed for the enlargement of the country so that it reached the borders of the states of Hittites and Mitanni.   So, whoever has control of the River Nile, which is of such great importance, is also able to control Egypt’s biggest source of commerce and agriculture. The Fir’awns were able to establish their dominance over Egypt in this way. The narrow and vertical form of the Nile valley did not allow residential units situated around the river to expand much, and therefore Egyptians formed a civilisation made up of small-scaled towns and villages instead of big cities. This factor also fortified the dominance the pharaohs had over their people.  King Menes is known to be the first Egyptian Pharaoh who united the whole of ancient Egypt, for the first time in history, in a united state around the 3rd millennium B.C.. In fact, the term “pharaoh” originally referred to the palace where the Egyptian king lived, but in time, it became the title of Egyptian kings. This is why the kings, who were rulers of Old Egypt started to be called “pharaohs”.  Being owners, administrators and rulers of the whole state and its lands, these pharaohs were accepted as reflections of the biggest god in the distorted polytheistic religion of old Egypt. The administration of Egyptian lands, their division, their income, in short, all the estates, services and production within the country’s borders were managed on behalf of the pharaoh.

The absolutism in the regime had furnished the pharaoh ruling the country with such a power that he could have anything he wished. Right at the establishment of the first dynasty, at the time of Menes who became the first King of Egypt by uniting Upper and Lower Egypt, the River Nile started to be delivered to the public through canals. Beside that, production was taken under control and the entire production of goods and services were assigned to the king. The king distributed and shared these goods and services in the proportions his people needed. It was not hard for the kings, who had established such a power in the region, to reduce the people to submission. The King of Egypt, or with his future name, the pharaoh, was looked upon as a holy being who held great power and met all the needs of his people: and he was transformed into a god. The Pharaohs definitely believed in time that they were indeed gods. 

Some of the words Fir’awn mentioned in the Qur’an used during his conversation with Musa prove that they held this belief. He tried to intimidate Musa by saying “If thou dost put forward any god other than me, I will certainly put thee in prison!” (Surat ash-Shuara: 29), and he said to the people around him “no god do I know for you but myself” (Surat al-Qasas: 38). He said all this because he regarded himself as a god. 
 

According to the historian Herodotus, the Ancient Egyptians were the most “devout” people in the world. However, their religion was not the religion of Truth, but a perverse polytheistic one and they could not abandon their perverse religion because of their extreme conservatism. 
 

The religious beliefs of the Egyptians were mainly based on serving their gods. The “intermediaries” between these gods and people were the priests who were among the leaders of the society. Dealing with magic and witchcraft at the same time, the priests made an important class whom the Pharaohs used in order to keep the people in submission. The priests seen in the pictures with shaved heads, were presenting gifts to their gods, and were playing music and performing rites to please them.

The Ancient Egyptians were largely influenced by the natural environment in which they lived. The natural geography of Egypt protected the country against external attacks perfectly. Egypt was surrounded by deserts, mountainous lands and seas on all sides. Attacks likely to be made on the country had two possible routes and it was very simple for the Egyptians to defend those routes. Thus, the Egyptians remained isolated from the external world thanks to these natural factors. But passing centuries transformed this isolation into a dark bigotry. Thus the Egyptians acquired a viewpoint which was locked against new developments and novelties, and which was extremely conservative about their religion. The “religion of their ancestors” mentioned frequently in the Qur’an became their most important value. 

This is why Fir’awn and his close circle turned their backs on Musa and Harun when they announced the Religion of Truth to them, by saying. “Hast thou come to us to turn us away from the ways we found our fathers following - in order that thou and thy brother may have greatness in the land? But not we shall believe in you!” (Surah Yunus: 78)

The religion of Ancient Egypt was divided into branches, the most important of which were the official religion of the state, the beliefs of the people and belief in life after death. 

According to the state’s official religion, Fir’awn was a holy being. He was a reflection of the people’s gods on earth and his purpose was to dispense justice and protect them on earth. 

The beliefs widespread among people were extremely complicated, and the elements in item which clashed with the state’s official religion were oppressed by the reigns of the Pharaohs. Basically, they believed in many gods, and these gods were usually depicted as having animal heads on human bodies. But it was also possible to meet with local traditions which differed from region to region. 

Life after death made up the most important part of Egyptian belief. They believed that the soul went on living after the body died. According to this, the souls of the dead were brought by particular angels to the God who was a Judge and forty-two other witness judges, a scale was set in the middle and the heart of the soul was weighed in this scale. Those with more goodness passed on to a beautiful setting and lived in happiness, those with more wickedness were sent to a place where they were subject to great torments. There, they were tormented throughout eternity by a strange creature called the “The Dead Eater”.

The belief of the Egyptians in the Hereafter clearly shows a parallelism with the monotheistic belief and the religion of Truth. Even their belief in the hereafter alone proves that the religion of truth and the message had reached ancient Egyptian civilisation, but that this religion was later corrupted, and monotheism was turned into polytheism. It is already known that warners calling people to the unity of Allah and summoning them to be His slaves were sent in Egypt from time to time, as they were to all the earth’s peoples at one time or another. One of these was the prophet Joseph whose life is told in detail in the Qur’an. The history of Joseph is also extremely important because it includes the arrival of the Children of Israel in Egypt and their settlement there. 

On the other hand, in the historical resources, there are references to some Egyptians who invited people to monotheistic religions even before Musa. One of them is the most interesting pharaoh in the history of Egypt, that is, Amenhotep IV . 

The Egyptian pharaohs were generally brutal, oppressive, belligerent and ruthless people. In general they adopted the polytheistic religion of Egypt and deified themselves through this religion. 
 

IV. Amenophis But there is a pharaoh in Egyptian history who is very different from the others. This pharaoh defended belief in a single Creator and was subjected to great resistance by the priests of Ammon, who profited from the polytheistic religion, and some soldiers who supported them, and so he was finally killed. This pharaoh was Amenhotep IV who rose to power in the 14th Century B.C..  When Amenhotep IV was enthroned in 1375 B.C., he came across a conservatism and traditionalism which had been lingering for centuries. Until then, the structure of the society and the relations of the public with the royal palace had carried on without any change. The society kept all its doors firmly shut to all external events and religious innovations. This extreme conservatism, also remarked by ancient Greek travellers, was caused by the natural geographical conditions of Egypt as we have explained above.

Imposed on people by the pharaohs, the official religion required an unconditional faith in everything old and traditional. But Amenhotep IV did not adopt the official religion. The historian Ernst Gombrich writes; 

He (Amenhotep IV) broke with many of the customs hallowed by an age-old tradition. He did not wish to pay homage to the many strangely shaped gods of his people. For him only one god was supreme, Aton, whom he worshipped and whom he had represented in the shape of the sun. He called himself Akhenaton, after his god, and he moved his court out of reach of the priests of the other gods, to a place which is now called El-Amarna(18) 

After the death of his father, young Amenhotep IV was subjected to great pressure. This oppression was caused by the fact that he developed a religion based on monotheism by changing the traditional polytheistic religion of Egypt, and attempting to make radical changes in all fields. But the leaders of Thebes did not allow him to convey the message of this religion. Amenhotep IV and his folk moved away from the city of Thebes and settled in Tell-El-Amarna. Here, they established a new and modern city named “Akh-et-aton”. Amenhotep IV changed his name which meant the “Contentment of Amon” to Akh-en-aton, which meant “Submitting to Aton”. Amon was the name given to the greatest totem in Egyptian polytheism. According to Amenhotep, Aton is the “creator of the heavens and earth”, their equating the name with Allah. 

Disturbed by these developments, the priests of Amon wanted to snatch Akhenaton’s power by profiting from an economic crisis in the country. Akhenaton was finally killed by being poisoned by conspirators. Succeeding pharaohs were careful to stay under the influence of the priests. 

After Akhenaton, pharaohs with a military background came to power. These again caused the old traditional polytheism to become widespread and spent a considerable effort to return to the past. Nearly a century later, Ramses II, who was to have the longest rule in the history of Egypt, came to the throne. According to many historians, Ramses was the pharaoh tormenting the Children of Israel and fighting against Musa.(19) 

Because of their deep bigotry, the ancient Egyptians would not abandon their idolatrous beliefs. Some persons came to them who announced the message of worshipping only Allah, but the people of the Fir’awn always turned back to their perverted beliefs. Finally, Musa was sent by Allah as a messenger (rasul) to them, both because they had adopted a system of falsehood contrary to the religion of truth, and also because they had enslaved the Children of Israel. Musa was instructed both to invite Egypt to the religion of truth, and to save the Children of Israel from slavery and show them the right way. In the Qur’an, it is stated; 

We rehearse to thee some of the story of Prophet Musa and Fir’awn in Truth, for people who believe. Truly Fir’awn elated himself in the land and broke up its people into sections, depressing a small group among them: their sons he slew, but he kept alive their females: for he was indeed a maker of mischief. And We wished to be Gracious to those who were being depressed in the land, to make them leaders (in Faith) and make them heirs, To establish a firm place for them in the land, and to show Fir’awn, Haman, and their hosts, at their hands, the very things against which they were taking precautions. (Surat al-Qasas: 3-6)

Fir’awn wanted to prevent the Children of Israel increasing in number, by killing all new-born male babies. This was why, by inspiration from Allah, Musa’s mother placed him in a basket and left him in the river. This was the way that led him into the palace of Fir’awn. In the Qur’an, the verses on the subject are as follows; 

So We sent this inspiration to the mother of Musa: “Suckle (thy child), but when thou hast fears about him, cast him into the river, but fear not nor grieve: for We shall restore him to thee, and We shall make him one of Our messengers.” 
Then the people of Fir’awn picked him up (from the river): (It was intended) that (Musa) should be to them an adversary and a cause of sorrow: for Fir’awn and Haman and (all) their hosts were men of sin. 
The wife of Fir’awn said: “(Here is) joy of the eye, for me and for thee: slay him not. It may be that he will be use to us, or we may adopt him as a son.” And they perceived not (what they were doing)! (Surat al-Qasas: 7-9)

Considered to be the Fir’awn mentioned in the Qur’an according to many historians, Ramses II is seen killing some of the slaves he has captured. As these wall pictures also reveal, the pharaohs had themselves idealised and depicted as strong warriors. They were presented as tall heroes with wide shoulders who could overcome a number of people at one time. Since they saw themselves as divine beings, they tried to seem superior to all other people.

Fir’awn’s wife prevented the murder of Musa and adopted him. This way, Musa spent his childhood in Fir’awn’s palace. With the help of Allah, his own mother was brought to the palace as his wet-nurse. 

When he had become an adult, one day Musa intervened when he saw one of the children of Israel being tormented by an Egyptian and he struck the Egyptian one blow upon which the Egyptian died. Despite the fact he was living in the palace of Fir’awn, and he had been adopted by the Queen, the chiefs of the city decided that his punishment was to be death. Hearing this, Musa ran away from Egypt and came to Madyan. At the end of the period he passed there, Allah spoke directly to him and Allah gave him the station of prophethood. He was ordered to return to Fir’awn and convey the message of Allah’s religion to him. 

Musa and Harun went to Fir’awn in obedience to Allah’s command and conveyed him the message of the religion of truth. They asked him to stop tormenting the Children of Israel and let them go with Musa and Harun. It was unacceptable to Fir’awn that Musa, whom he had kept near him for years and who most probably was to have been his successor on the throne, stood up to him and talked to him in this manner. For that reason, Fir’awn accused him of ingratitude; 

(Fir’awn) said: “Did we not cherish thee as a child among us, and didst thou not stay in our midst many years of thy life? And thou didst a deed of thine which (thou knowest) thou didst, and thou art an ungrateful (wretch)!” (Surat ash-Shuara: 18-19)

Fir’awn was trying to play on Musa’s sentiments and affect his conscience. It was as if he was saying that since it was he and his wife who had brought him up, it was Musa who should obey them. Moreover, Musa had killed an Egyptian. All these acts required heavy penalties according to the Egyptians. This emotional atmosphere which Fir’awn tried to create, was also directed at influencing the leaders of his people, so that they would also agree with Fir’awn. 

On the other hand, the message of the religion of truth proclaimed by Musa undermined Fir’awn’s power, and reduced him to the level of ordinary people. From then on, it would be revealed that he was not a god, and moreover he would be compelled to obey Musa. Besides, if he set the Children of Israel free, he would loose some important manpower and thus could fall in great distress. 

For all these, Fir’awn did not even listen to what Musa said. He tried to make fun of him, and attempted to change the subject by asking meaningless questions. At the same time, he was tried to represent Musa and Harun as anarchists and accuse them of being politically motivated. Finally, neither Fir’awn nor the leaders of the people within his close circle, except for the magicians, obeyed Musa and Harun. They did not follow the religion of truth shown to them. Therefore Allah first of all sent some disasters to them. 

Fir’awn and his close circle were so  deeply engaged in their polytheism and their idolatry, that is “the religion of their ancestors”, that they never considered leaving it. Even two of the main miracles of Musa, his hand appearing white and his rod turning into snake, were not enough to make them move away from their superstitions. Moreover, they expressed this openly. They said “Whatever be the Signs thou bringest, to work therewith thy sorcery on us, we shall never believe in thee.” (Surat al-Araf: 132)

Because of their conduct, Allah sent them a number of disasters as “separate miracles” to make them taste the torment in this world, before the eternal torment of the next world. The first of these was drought and scarcity of crops. In relation to the subject, it is written in the Qur’an: “We punished the people of Fir’awn with years (of droughts) and shortness of crops; that they might receive admonition.” (Surat al-Araf: 130). 

Egyptians had based their agricultural system on the River Nile and, therefore, they were not influenced by changes in natural conditions. But an unexpected disaster befell them because Fir’awn and his close friends were proud and arrogant towards Allah and denied His prophet. Most probably, for various reasons, the level of the River Nile sank a great deal and irrigation canals running off from the river did not carry enough water to agricultural areas. Extreme heat caused the crops to dry up. Thus, the disaster came on Fir’awn and his circle from a very unexpected direction, from the River Nile upon which they relied. This drought dismayed Fir’awn who previously used to address his people as follows “O my people! Does not the dominion of Egypt belong to me, (witness) these streams flowing underneath my (palace)? What! see ye not then?” (Surat az-Zukhruf: 51)

However, instead of “taking heed”, as shown in the verses, they held all that had happened was because of ill fortune brought by Musa and the Children of Israel. They were overcome by such a conviction because of their superstitions and the religion of their ancestors. Because of this, they chose to suffer from great distress, but what befell them was not limited to these. This was just a beginning. Afterwards, Allah sent to them a series of disasters. These disasters are described as follows in the Qur’an; 

So We sent (plagues) on them: Wholesale death, Locusts, Lice, Frogs, And Blood: Signs openly self-explained: but they were steeped in arrogance - a people given to sin. (Surat al-Araf: 133)

These disasters Allah sent on Fir’awn and the people around him who also denied were also described in the Old Testament in agreement with the Qur’an: 

And there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
(Exodus, 7:21)
And if thou refuse to let [them] go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs.
(Exodus, 8:2-3)

And the LORD said unto Moses, “Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.” 
(Exodus, 8:16)

And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous [were they]; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. 
(Exodus, 10:14)

Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This [is] the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. 
(Exodus, 8:19)

Awful disasters kept happening to Fir’awn and his close circle. Some of these disasters were caused by the objects worshipped as gods by the idolatrous people. For example, the River Nile and frogs were sacred for them and had been deified by them. As they expected guidance from their “gods” and called for their help, Allah punished  them through their own “gods” so that they could see their mistakes and pay for the wrongs they had done. 

According to interpreters of the Old Testament, the “blood” was the turning of the River Nile into blood. This was explained as a metaphor for the River Nile’s turning solid red. According to an interpretation, what gave the river this colour was a type of bacteria. 

The Nile was the main source of life for the Egyptians. Any harm done to this source could mean death for the whole of Egypt. If the bacteria had covered the River Nile so fully as to turn it red, this would cause every living thing using this water to be infected by these bacteria. 

Recent explanations of the cause for the red colouring of water has favoured protozoan, zooplankton, both salt - and fresh - water algal (phytoplankton) blooms, and dinoflagellates. All of these various blooms -- plant, fungal or protozoan -- deoxygenate water and produce noxious toxins for both fish and frogs. 

Citing the Exodus account in the Bible, Patricia A. Tester of the National Marine Fisheries Service, writing in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science , noted that while fewer than 50 out of approximately 5,000 known phytoplankton species are toxic, those which possess toxins can be dangerous to aquatic life. In the same publication, Ewen C. D. Todd of Health Canada, referring to historic and prehistoric data, cited nearly two dozen examples of specific phytoplanktons causing various outbreaks throughout the world. W. W. Carmichael and I. R. Falconer listed diseases associated with fresh-water blue-green algae. Aquatic ecologist Joann M. Burkholder, of North Carolina State University, described a dinoflagellate, Pfiesteria piscimorte (found in estuary waters) that is capable of, as the species name implies, killing fish. (20)

In Fir’awn’s time, this kind of chain of disasters appears to have occurred. According to this scenario, when the Nile was contaminated, fish also died, and the Egyptians were deprived of an important source of nutrition. Without predator fish, the frogs could initially breed freely in both ponds and the Nile and thus overpopulate the river, eventually escaping the anoxic, toxic, and putrefying environment by migrating to land, hence dying on land and decomposing along with the fish. The Nile and adjacent lands thus became fouled, and the waters dangerous to drink or to bathe in. Moreover, the extinction of frog species causes bugs such as locusts and lice to reproduce excessively. 

Finally, no matter how the disasters took place, and what effect they left, neither Fir’awn, nor his people turned to Allah by paying heed, and they went on in their arrogance. 

Fir’awn and his close circle were so hypocritical that they thought to deceive Musa and, thus, Allah (Allah forbid!). When the dreadful penalty fell upon them, they at once called for Musa and asked him to save them from it: 

Every time the penalty fell on them, they said: “O Musa! on your behalf call on thy Lord in virtue of his promise to thee: If thou wilt remove the penalty from us, we shall truly believe in thee, and we shall send away the Children of Israel with thee.” But every time We removed the penalty from them according to a fixed term which they had to fulfil,- Behold! they broke their word! (Surat al-Araf: 134-135)

Allah explained to Fir’awn and his close circle through Musa that which they had to take heed of, and thus warned them. In response, they rebelled and accused him of being possessed and untrue. Allah prepared a humiliating end for them. He revealed to Musa what was to happen. 

By inspiration we told Musa: “Travel by night with my servants; for surely ye shall be pursued.” 
Then Fir’awn sent heralds to (all) the Cities, 
(Saying): “These (Israelites) are but a small band, 
And they are raging furiously against us; 
But we are a multitude amply fore-warned.” 
So We expelled them from gardens, springs, 
Treasures, and every kind of honourable position; 
Thus it was, but We made the Children of Israel inheritors of such things. 
So they pursued them at sunrise. 
And when the two bodies saw each other, the people of Musa said: “We are sure to be overtaken.” 
(Surat ash-Shuara: 52-61)

In such circumstances, when the Children of Israel thought that they were trapped, and Fir’awn’s men thought that they were about to catch them, Musa said, never loosing faith in Allah's help: “By no means! my Lord is with me! Soon will He guide me!” (Surat ash-Shuara: 62)

At that moment, Allah saved Musa and the Children of Israel by dividing the sea. Fir’awn and his men were drowned under the waters which closed over them after the Children of Israel had safely crossed. 

Then We told Musa by inspiration: “Strike the sea with thy rod.” So it divided, and each separate part became like the huge, firm mass of a mountain. 
And We made the other party approach thither. 
We delivered Musa and all who were with him; 
But We drowned the others. Verily in this is a Sign: but most of them do not believe. And verily thy Lord is He, the Exalted in Might, Most Merciful. 
(Surat ash-Shuara: 52-68)

Musa's rod had miraculous qualities. Allah had turned it into a snake in His first revelation to him, and then this same rod had turned into a snake again and swallowed the sorceries of Fir’awn’s magicians. Now, Musa divided the sea with the same rod. This was one of the greatest miracles given to the prophet Musa. 

There is no common agreement on the place where Musa divided the sea. Since no detail is given on the subject in the Qur’an, we cannot be sure of the correctness of any of the views on the subject. Some sources show the Mediterranean shores of Egypt as the place where the sea was divided. In the Encyclopedia Judaica, it is said;

The majority opinion today identifies the Red Sea of the Exodus with one of the lagoons on the shores of the Mediterranean (21)

David Ben Gurion said that the event could have taken place during the reign of Ramses II, possibly after the Kadesh defeat. In the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament, the event is said to have happened in Migdol and Baal-Zephon, which are located to the north of the delta.(22)
 

The above migration map is prepared on the supposition that the point where Musa crossed the sea is on the Mediterranean coast.   In the map above, the points where Musa is likely to have passed are specified. As seen, the 1st and 2nd possible crossing points are on the Red Sea, and the 3rd point is on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.

This view is based on the Old Testament. In the translations of the Book of Exodus chapter from the Old Testament, it is said that Fir’awn and his men were drowned in the Red Sea. But according to those who hold this view, the word translated as “The Red Sea” is really “The Sea of Reeds”. The word is identified with the “Red Sea” in many sources, and used for that location. However, “The Sea of Reeds” is actually used to refer to the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. In the Old Testament, while mentioning the route followed by Musa and those following him, the words Migdol and Baal-Zephon are mentioned, and these are located to the north in the Nile Delta, on the shore of Egypt. The Sea of Reeds, by implication, supports the possibility that the incident may have happened on the Egyptian shores, because in this region, in agreement with the meaning of the name, reeds are produced thanks to the delta alluvions.