Abdiel and Joseph the Righteous

In 1980 Alain Zivie, an Egyptologist (an expert in the science of Egypt), began to excavate a rock-cut tomb at Saqqara, a place very near Cairo where the cemetery of the Pharaohs and their families lies. In a short time he understood that this tomb held something extraordinary, because he discovered that the tomb belonged to the Vizier (minister, in the Ottoman sense) 'Abdiel', his wife 'Taweret' and his son 'Huy'. Among the things found in the tomb was the list of the offices and functions he had held in his life. The tomb was next to the tombs of the Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.

This name 'Abdiel' is a Semitic name and is not found in the list of the great men of Egypt. ABDI-EL means 'the slave of God' or 'the servant of God'. At Pesach we read in the Haggadah the verse 'Avadim hayinu...', that is, 'Slaves we were...'. The form of this name resembles 'Daniel', which means 'God is my judge' (Dan = din), or 'Raphael', which comes from 'refua' and means 'God healed me', or 'Michael', which means 'Who is like God'.

What we know about this man is the list of titles and functions he held as Vizier. To begin with he is 'the president of the country', the Vizier who commands. This title is repeated many times. Other titles are 'the counsellor of Pharaoh', 'the president of all the land', 'the general of generals', 'the ambassador of the king' (in the military sense), 'the one responsible for the king's women', 'the one responsible for the education of the king's children', 'THE SERVANT OF ATEN'.

Aten is the single god that the Pharaoh Akhenaten, or Amenhotep IV, obliged the country to believe in. Akhenaten did not want polytheism, which means believing in many gods. Although he met much opposition from the priests (the clergy of Egypt at that time), his will was accepted during his life.

After he died, the priests, so as not to lose their powers, returned to polytheism. Akhenaten lived in the 14th century BCE and reigned between the years 1350 and 1330 BCE. His wife was the famous Nefertiti, the most beautiful of the queens of Egypt.

Two things make one believe that Abdiel and Joseph the Righteous could be the same person: his name Abdiel (Avad-El) and his belief in a single God. Although we know that Abdiel was an Egyptian, there were many foreigners who were officials of the state in the time of the Pharaohs. The name Abdiel is a Semitic name and a foreign one among the names of Egypt. Joseph, who was a foreigner, held high functions in the state of Egypt. Abdiel's belief in a single god makes us think of something else: whether it was he who stood behind the Pharaoh Akhenaten in believing in one God, or whether it was he who taught Akhenaten the belief in one God. Since he was responsible for the education and instruction of the Pharaoh's children, and since he was the Pharaoh's counsellor, we can rely on the second theory as well.

Source: Alain Zivie