The Qur'an as the Criterion · History Made Coherent
Pharaoh's body preserved as a sign
Handle with care. Handle with care: do not identify any specific mummy as the Exodus Pharaoh, and do not present Bucaille's claims as established science.
In short
- 1.The Qur'an: today We will save you in your body, that you may be a sign to those after you (Q 10:92).
- 2.He believes only as he is drowning, and it is refused (Q 10:90-91).
- 3.Egyptian royal mummies are among the most visited objects in the world.
The claim being examined
The Bible has Pharaoh's army drown, and says nothing about his body being kept.
The Islamic position
The Qur'an says God would save his body so that he might be a sign for those who come after.
Analysis
Q 10:90-92 narrates Pharaoh's final moments: overtaken by the sea, he declares belief in the God of the Children of Israel, and is told it is too late — "now? when you disobeyed before and were of the corrupters. So today We will save you in your body, that you may be to those who succeed you a sign." The Arabic nunajjika bi-badanika, We will save you in your body, is unusual and specific. The Bible's account in Exodus 14 has the waters return over the chariots and horsemen and states that not one of them remained; it says nothing about the corpse being preserved. What can be claimed responsibly: Egyptian royal mummies from the relevant periods were recovered in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries — including the Deir el-Bahari cache in 1881 and the tomb of Amenhotep II in 1898 — and are today publicly displayed in Cairo, which is a striking fit with "a sign to those who succeed you". What cannot be claimed: that any particular mummy has been identified as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Maurice Bucaille's widely repeated account of examining the body of Merneptah is a popular Muslim citation, but his conclusions are not accepted in Egyptology, and the identity of the Exodus Pharaoh remains disputed among scholars. Say the verse, say what exists, and stop there.
Side by side
| The Bible | Exodus 14:28 | The waters return over the chariots and horsemen; not one of Pharaoh's host remained. Nothing is said about his body. |
|---|---|---|
| The Qur'an | 10:90-92 | Pharaoh declares belief as he drowns and is refused; God says his body will be saved so that he may be a sign to those who come after. |
From the Qur'an
فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً
So today We will save you in your body, that you may be a sign to those who succeed you.
آلْآنَ وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ وَكُنتَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ
Now? And you had disobeyed before and were of the corrupters.
From the Bible
Hebrew
The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.
Read it in their BibleSources
Qur'an 10:90-92 · Exodus 14:28 · Deir el-Bahari royal cache (1881); tomb of Amenhotep II (1898) · Qur'an 10:92
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