The El Arish Stone: Pharaoh’s Forgotten Account of the Exodus
Tucked away in a modest museum in Isma’ilya, northeast of Cairo, lies a remarkable artifact known as the El Arish Stone. Made of black granite and weighing nearly two tons, this stone measures four feet long and two and a half feet wide. Its discovery dates back to 1887, when it was found on a farm in El Arish. At the time, it was being used as nothing more than a water trough for cattle. It wasn’t until archaeologist Frances Llewellyn Griffith examined it that its historical significance was uncovered. The stone bore inscriptions in hieroglyphics, which Griffith dated to the 30th Dynasty (circa 380–360 BC) during the Ptolemaic period. However, the content of the inscriptions appears to reference events from around 1500 BC, aligning closely with the biblical timeline of the Exodus.
What sets the El Arish Stone apart is that it seems to recount a version of the Exodus narrative—from an Egyptian point of view. The stone describes a series of disasters: a violent storm, prolonged darkness, and even the parting of a sea. One hieroglyph is especially striking: three waves and two knives, which Egyptologist James Hoffmeier suggests could be interpreted literally as the “parting of the sea.”
Despite some erosion caused by its years of use as a watering trough, 74 lines of the inscription remain legible, primarily on the stone’s right and back sides. One figure mentioned in the text may correspond to Moses, who is referred to as the “Prince of the Desert,” while the Israelites are called “evildoers.”
The narrative even recounts that Pharaoh pursued a woman—likely Queen Tefnut, thought to be the Egyptian princess who raised Moses—as she fled with the departing Hebrews. This matches a Talmudic tradition (Sotah 12a), which claims that Pharaoh’s daughter joined the Israelites and later married Caleb, the son of Yefuneh.
The El Arish Stone also appears to reference some of the biblical plagues, such as darkness and fierce storms. It even names a location called “Pekharti,” which is remarkably similar to “Pi-Hahiroth”, mentioned in Exodus 14:2 and 14:9—the exact place where the Israelites camped before the miraculous parting of the Red Sea.
One of the most fascinating elements comes from a linguistic parallel between the stone’s inscription and the Book of Genesis. When Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons in Genesis 48:16, he prays that they “increase like fish in the land,” coining a unique Hebrew word—“Idgu” (meaning “fishify”). Later, in Exodus 13:19, the Israelites carry Joseph’s bones with them during the Exodus. Interestingly, the El Arish Stone states that when the “evildoers” left Egypt, they took “Dagai” with them—a name that closely resembles the Hebrew word used for Joseph’s descendants. This surprising detail may reflect a shared cultural memory preserved both in Egyptian and Hebrew traditions.
The El Arish Stone stands as a largely forgotten, yet potentially significant artifact that corroborate the Exodus narrative. It recounts a sea parting, plagues, a desert prince, and the departure of a group labeled “evildoers”—parallels too striking to ignore. Whether viewed as hard evidence or cultural memory, the stone offers a rare glimpse into what may be the Egyptian version of one of the Bible’s most dramatic events.
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