Pharaoh who Knew not Joseph

Supposed to be Menephtah, son of Rameses the Great. Rider Haggard adopts this hypothesis. After Rameses the Great came a period of confusion in Egypt, and it is supposed the Pharaoh who succeeded was a usurper. No trace of the destruction of Pharaoh and his host has been discovered by Egyptologists.

His wife was Asia, daughter of Mozahem. Pharaoh cruelly maltreated her for believing in Moses. He fastened her hands and feet to four stakes, and laid a millstone on her as she lay exposed to the scorching sun; but God took her, without dying, into Paradise. (Sale: Al. Koran, lxvi. note.)

Among women, four have been perfect: Asia, wife of Pharaoh; Mary, daughter of Imran; Khadījah, daughter of Khowailed (Mahomet’s first wife); and Fatima, Mahomet’s daughter. Attributed to Mahomet.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.