Goshen of Genesis & Exodus is not in the Nile Delta

Goshen was not in the Nile Delta, by Sean Bambrough.

This article is a survey of the reasons why Goshen and Pithom and Raamses of Genesis and Exodus (in the Bible) can not be in the north-east Nile Delta of Lower/North Egypt as assumed by conventional scholars and by Rohl.
 
The first point to consider in this issue is to note all the few places names mentioned in the biblical text. List of Egyptian places mentioned in the stories of Joseph and Moses in the Bible and other early traditional sources:
On/Heliopolis (Genesis, Exodus (Lxx), Manetho, Apion).
Heroopolis (Genesis (Lxx), Josephus).
Goshen/Gesem/Kessan (Genesis, Exodus, MT, Lxx, Artapanus).
Eretz/Land of Rameses (Genesis, Exodus, Judith).
Bahr Iusef "Joseph's Canal".
Pithom (Exodus).
Pyramids (Josephus).
City of Raamses (Exodus, Numbers, Judith).
Nile (Exodus).
T-en-moshe/A-n-mosha "island/river-bank of Moses" (19th dyn).
Mera-vad-Musa "habitation/dwelling of Moses" opposite Memphis.
Memphis (Josephus).
Saba/Meroe (Josephus, Livingstone).
Zoan (Psalms).
Tanis (Judith).
Letopolis/Latopolis/Babylon (Josephus).
Succoth (Exodus, Numbers).

Goshen, Heroopolis, Ramses, Pithom, Zoan, Succoth are supposed by conventional scholars and by Rohl to match sites in the northeast Nile Delta of Lower/North Egypt. Goshen is supposed to match Qesem/Phacussa/Fakus or Persopdu/Phacus/Saft el-Hinna or Gasmu/Gesem (Qedarites). Heroopolis is supposed to be "Pithom"/Hero(o)(n)polis (Maskhuta or Retaba). Raamses is supposed to match Piramses-meriamun/Per-rames(i)su/Qantir or Avaris/Daba. Pithom is supposed to match Pi-tum / Pa-tmu / Patumus / Per-atum /Heroonpolis (Maskhuta or Tell er-Retaba). Zoan is supposed to be Tanis/San. Succoth is supposed to match Tjeku/Tel el Maskhuta.

However, there are several reasons why these northeastern Delta sites can not match the sites in Genesis and Exodus. We will now survey these reasons.

- Dates don't match:
- Too close to Succoth and the Egyptian border.
- Too far from Joseph and the Nile and Pharoah.
- Doesn't match "the best of the land".
- Doesn't fit "the land was filled" with the numerous Hebrews.
- Land not city.
- Bricks versus stones; shepherds versus knights.
- Pharaoh put Joseph's brothers over his cattle/livestock.
- Josephus says the Exodus started at Letopolis (Sokhem).
- Pyramids:
- Heroopolis.
- Jacob doesn't match.
- Names don't really match as well as made to seem.
- Meanings of names.
- Store cities:
- Hebrews/Israelites/Semites in Egypt (section not finished).
- Analogies.
- Sethroite nome doesn't match.
- Didn't cross the Nile river or Tumilat canal?
- Set apart from the Egyptians.
- Joseph went "up".
- Lion of Judah.

- Dates don't match:

Qesem/Phacus/Fakus is only from the 26th dynasty? This is way too late.
Though it is said that Kosen/Kosem/Ksm/Ks first occurs in the 12th dynasty in the Kahun papyri. In conventional chronology this is early enough for Joseph and Moses, but the conventional dates for the dynasties are too long/old. In Rohl's chronology it is early enough for Moses and maybe for Joseph, but Rohl has Joseph too late in overall Egyptian history so it is really too late for Joseph.

Persopdu/Saft el-Hinna dates to the TIP and Neo-Assyrian and Late Period and 30th dyn and Ptolemaic and Roman, which are all way to late.

The Gasmu are only from the 7th century bc or Persian period, again way too late.

Piramses(-meriamun) only dates from the 19th dynasty which is too late for Moses even in conventional chronology. It is true that the site was earlier the Avaris capital of the Hyksos, and that the city already existed when Hyksos first found it and rebuilt it, and that it had been founded at the start of the 12th dynasty, but it was not called Pi-ramses then. Of course Rohl's suggestion of an anachronism is possible but it seems pretty unlikely that Hebrews knew/heard and used a later name for the site 6 dynasties or 480 yrs after the exodus, and unlikely that they didn't also record any other previous name of the site, and there is no proof that they did know the later name. The 12th dynasty and Hyksos only match the dates of Joseph and Moses in conventional chronology or Rohl's chronology. But the conventional Egyptian dates are too long/old. Rohl's placement of Moses in the 13th dynasty is about right (though it is 1 dynasty later than our 12th dynasty placement), but his placement of Joseph in the 12th dynasty is too late, and so although Avaris/Piramses could match Raamses of Exodus in his chronology, it couldn't match Ramses of Joseph.

Pithom &/or Succoth candidate Maskhuta dates to the Hyksos period (MBA, "18-17th" centuries) and late 7th century. This could only match Joseph or Moses in conventional chronology, but the conventional dates are too long/old. In new chronologies which place Moses in the 12th/13th dynasty it is too late to match Joseph and Moses.

Pithom candidate Retaba dates to the 19th dynasty, which is too late for Moses even in conventional chronology. Moreover Retaba was unoccupied during the period of the monunments relating to a town "Pithom".

Tanis is only really prominent from the (15th/16th &) 19th & 21st/22nd/23rd dynasty onwards. The 19th dynasty is too late for Moses even in conventional chronology. The 15th/16th dynasty is only early enough for Joseph and Moses in conventional chronology, but the conventional Egyptian dates are too long/early when comparing with sources like the Bible and Herodotus etc, and the conventional Biblical dates are too low/late. In new chronologies which place Moses in the 12th-13th dynasty the 15th/16th dynasty is too late for Moses.

The bible says Hebron was built 7 years before Zoan. In the bible Hebron was founded somewhere between/before Abraham or Kohath or Moses or Joshua or Caleb or Samson or David and Absalom. Archaeologically Hebron is attested by the EBA, though the site was almost devoid in the LBA. Tanis was not around before the 19th dynasty and can hardly fit Zoan being built 7 yrs after Hebron. Though there were 2 statues of Pepy (6th dyn) and Mermeshoi (13th dyn) found at Tanis, which could fit with our Moses in the (6th? &/or) 12th (&/or 13th) dynasty, but the statues could have been moved there later, and this is pretty scanty evidence for Tanis being around then. Zoan is more likely to match Ankh-tawy (Memphis) or Tjenu/Thinis which were around in the 1st dynasty, and this would make better sense of the saying that Hebron was founded 7 yrs before Zoan.

Thuku/Zeku/"Succoth" is found in a 19th dynasty record. I don't know if it dates from before then.

- Too close to Succoth and the Egyptian border.
The northeast Delta is too close to Succoth and the Egyptian border to match Goshen and Raamses. Why did they need directions to Goshen (Genesis 46:28)? Exodus says they traveled from Raamses to Succoth, this surely couldn't be such short distance as that between Piramses and Maskhuta. (Besides which that route required travelling south-east, and crossing the Tumilat canal.)

- Too far from Joseph and the Nile and Pharoah.
Goshen was near Joseph (Gen 45:10), and only a chariot ride away from Joseph (Gen 46).
The northeast Delta is too far from the capitals of the Egyptian dynasties before the too late dynasties (see list of capitals below). To have Joseph and Moses running back and forward between the capital and the northeast Delta seems unlikely.

Exodus says the baby Moses was put in the Nile and found there by a daughter of Pharaoh. This would seem to imply the main trunk of the Nile rather than one of the 7 mouths in the Delta. It also implies that it wasn't far from the royal palace.

List of dynastic capitals and centers:
Naqada 00 dyn.
Nekhen/Hierakonpolis 0 & 2nd dyn.
Thinis/This 1st-2nd dyns.
Memphis/Noph 1st & 3rd-8th & 15th/16th & 25th dyns.
Abydos 1st & 12th-13th & Abydos (13/15/17-16/18th) & 18th dyns.
Sakkarah 3rd-6th & 8th & 10th? & 13th dyn.
Meidum 3rd-4th dyn.
Dahshur 3rd/4th-5th & 12th-13th dyn.
Zawyet el Aryan 3rd-4th dyn.
Giza 4th dyn.
Abu Roash 4th dyn.
Heliopolis/On [Joseph &] 5th & 12th dyn.
Elephantine 5th &/or 6th & 26th/27th dyn.
Abusir 5th dyn.
Abu Gorab 5th dyn.
Dara 8th/FIP.
Heracleopolis 9th-10th & 23rd dyns.
Siut/Lycopolis 9th/10th & 12th-13th dyns.
Thebes/Diospolis/Noamon 11th-13th & 17th-23rd & 25th dyns.
Lower Nubia 11th-12th dyn.
Beni Hasan 12th & 18th dyn.
Lisht 12th dyn.
Lahun/Kahun 12th dyn.
Hawara 12th dyn.
Moeris/Faiyum 12th dyn.
Itjtawy south of Memphis near Faiyum 12th-13th dyn.
Avaris/Daba 12th & 15th/16th & 19th dyn. *
Mazghuna 12th/13th dyn.
Xois 14th dyn. *
Amarna/Akhetaten 18th dyn.
Tanis [6th? & 13th? & 15th/16th? &] 19th & 21st-23rd dyns. *
Piramses/Qantir 19th dyn. *
Bubastis 22nd dyn. *
Leontopolis 23rd & 33rd dyn. *
Hermopolis 23rd dyn.
Sais ["8000 yrs" & 15th/16th? &] 24th & 26th & 28th dyns. *
Napata 25th dyn.
Meroe ["Moses"? &] 25th dyn.
Naucratis 26th dyn. *
Mendes 29th dyn. *
Sebennytus 30th dyn. *
Alexandria 32nd-33rd dyn. *
Rosetta 33rd dyn. *
Philae/Sehel 33rd dyn.

As you can see from the list of capitals and centers above there is no capital or centre in the Delta (the asterisked ones) until the 14th dynasty (excluding the two 6th & 13th dynasty statues at Tanis, and excepting Heliopolis which is on the boundary between the Delta and the rest of Egypt, and excepting Avaris of the 12th dynasty which was not a capital then). Only in the old conventional chronology is the 14th dynasty early enough for Joseph and Moses, but the conventional chronology is too long/old. Even in Rohl's chronology the 14th dynasty comes after Joseph and Moses.

Joseph's bones were placed in a "coffin", and Moses later took the bones of Joseph. Joseph was more likely buried somewhere between Abu Roash to Giza/Cairo to Abusir to Sakkara/Memphis to Dahshur to Lisht to Meidum.

- Doesn't match "the best of the land".
The northeast delta doesn't seem a great match for the best of the land in my opinion.

- Doesn't fit "the land was filled" with the numerous Hebrews (Exodus 1:6-10).
The Hebrews could hardly have filled the land if they were only in the far northeast Delta. Rather it seems to imply a more central location.
Moreover, could 600000 Hebrew/Israelite & mixed multitude men plus women and children fit in Qesem/Fakus & Avaris/Daba/Qantir/Piramses? Sure the site of Avaris covers 2 square kilometers or 250 hectares, and there was a garrison of 240000 Hyksos troops there, but it still doesn't seem a majorly strong match for the land was filled with the Hebrews.
Of course scholars say 600000 might be 600 heads, but the census numbers in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy do seem to confirm a number like 600000.

- Land not city.
Goshen and Rameses were called lands in Genesis. Qesem/Fakus is a city not a land (though its name was later also used for the Nome, but this is way too late). Piramses/Qantir/Avaris/Daba was only a city not a land, though Avaris' name is supposed to mean "house of the region" (though Bey has it as meaning "house of the leg"), and though Avaris covered 2 square kilometers in Hyksos times.

- Bricks versus stones; shepherds versus knights.
Raamses was built with bricks made by shepherd Hebrew slaves (Exodus)? Piramses was built by stones hauled by Apiru senen "knights".
True, they did find bricks made without straw at Retaba in the northeast delta, but see the sections on Dates don't match (above) and Store cities (below) for reasons why Retaba can't be Pithom.
For a better match for the bricks in Exodus we find that brick buildings are especially prominent in the FIP and Middle Kingdom.

- Pharaoh put Joseph's brothers over his cattle/livestock, which might not match the north-east delta?
There are 6 Egyptian nomes associated with cattle: Cow's thigh (2nd nome of Lower Egypt), Cattle land (3rd nome of Lower Egypt), Mountain bull land (6th, Lower), Black bull land (10th, Lower), Heseb bull land (11th, Lower), Calf and cow land (12th, Lower).
Pharaoh's cattle might even possibly be Egyptians rather than animals, since in Egyptian the cattle of Re/Ra is humankind or Egyptians?

- Josephus says the Exodus started at Letopolis (Sokhem). Of course Josephus might not be reliable, but his information seems to agree with a number of other evidences for Goshen being in Middle Egypt rather than in the northeast Delta.

Of the 17 sites listed at the start of this article, 8 sites are supposed to be in the northeast delta (Heroopolis, Goshen, Rameses, Raamses, Zoan, Tanis, Pithom, Succoth), but they are all disputable. 6 sites are in Middle Egypt (On/Heliopolis, Letopolis, Mera-vad-Musa, Memphis, Pyramids, Joseph's canal). 1 site is between Middle and Upper Egypt (T-en-moshe). 1 site is in Kush/Nubia/Sudan/Ethiopia (Saba/Meroe). 1 site is anywhere in Egypt (Nile), though probably not the Delta.
Though of the 17 sites only 8 are in the Massoretic text of the canonical Bible (On, Goshen, Rameses, Pithom, Raamses, Nile, Zoan, Succoth), the other 9 are in less reliable extra-Biblical sources (Judith (Tanis), Septuagint (Heroopolis, Heliopolis), Josephus (Heroopolis, Pyramids, Memphis, Meroe, Letopolis), Manetho (Heliopolis), Apion (Heliopolis)).

- Pyramids:
Josephus and other sources mention pyramids in connection with the treasure cities of Pharoah in Exodus, and/or Joseph's storehouses in Genesis. Although these extra-bibilcal sources might not be reliable there is some possible support for the Hebrews in Egypt being connected with the pyramids. The eternal mountains of Joseph in Genesis 49 might be pyramids. Herodotus said the pyramids were named after the shepherd Philitis who dwelt at Giza in the 4th dynasty. Khufu/Cheops probably matches Jacob. The Hebrews made bricks in Exodus, and brick buildings are especially prominent in the FIP and Middle Kingdom, including the 12th dynasty pyramids. The pyramid town of Lahun/Kahun was suddenly abandoned and is considered by a number of scholars to be connected with the exodus.
If the Hebrews in Egypt were connected with pyramids, then we note that there are no pyramids in the northeast Delta except for a dubious claim of 17 pyramids found in Tanis. The pyramids were mostly between Abu Roash to Giza/Cairo to Abusir to Sakkara/Memphis to Dahshur to Lisht to Meidum, in Middle Egypt.

- Heroopolis.
Hero(o)(n)polis is known to have been on the east of the Nile Delta, but this place name doesn't occur in the Massoretic Text, it only occurs in the Septuagint and Josephus which sources are not necessarily reliable. The sources don't say that the Hebrews settled at Heroopolis, rather Josephus only says that is where Joseph & Jacob met and that they afterwards "travelled on slowly".
Bey's map has Heliopolis in the nome of Heroopolites.
Palmer thinks that Heroopolis is really "city of Heroes" or "city of the Horuses/hawks" or "city of the dual Horus (and Set)" which he seems to place in the Memphis or Giza or Heliopolis/On area. Though I have had the impression from sources that Heroopolis was named after the god Heron (identified with Set/Seth in one or some sources, though one source says Hero might be Atum).

- Jacob doesn't match.
As far as I know there is no Jacob match for the sites in the northeast Delta.
Meanwhile our Goshen location in Middle Egypt does have a Jacob match. Jacob pretty surely matches Khufu/Cheops who was in the Giza area. Also Jacob seemingly probably also matches the shepherd Philitis "lover of righteousness" who dwelt at Giza in the 4th dynasty according to Herodotus.
Khufu/Cheops and Philitis are much better matches for Jacob than Yaqub-har and Yakobaam of the Hyksos period.

- Names don't really match as well as made to seem.

The biblical name Rameses/Raamses has no Pi-/Per- (and no -meriamun) (while the bible does supposedly have a Pi- in Pithom). Moreover, Piramses(-meriamun) wasn't called that until the 19th dynasty which is too late for Moses unless it is an anachronism which is unlikely (see 'Dates don't match' above).
The biblical name 'Raamses' is also maybe spelt a little different to the ramses of Pi-ramses?
Rameses in Genesis was the name of a land not a city.

Piramses is not the only possible candidate for Rameses of Genesis and Raamses of Exodus. Although the identity of Rameses/Raamses is difficult to find we have the following possible candidates:
Name Ramses found on blocks of 3rd & 4th dyn buildings (3rd-4th or "19th" dyn).
Shemsu Hor / Heruemshemsu / Raemshemsu/Raemshusha/Reemshusha ("the worshippers of Re", Memphis or On, 0/1st-3rd dyn).
Pyramid(s) (Abu Roash to Meidum, 3rd-12th dyn).
Thebes "founded by Ra according to same plan" as Piramses.
The temple of (city of) sun/Ra of Sesostris 1 (Heliopolis/On, 12th dyn).
Ranmaat/Nema(at)re/Labari (Amenemhet 3 & Labyrinth/Lahun, 12th dyn).
Piramses-meriamun (Qantir/Avaris/Daba, 19th dyn).
Per-rameses-meriamun/Chenem-waset/Amara (Nubia).
Ayn Shams/Ain Shems ("eye of the sun", Cairo or Heliopolis).
Letopolis (in Josephus seems to match Rameses in Exodus)?

Ra's/Re's reign began in the 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 5th dynasty (Raneb/Nebra, Rahotep, Reufu/Ufura, Redjedef, Sera/Sare, Rauser, 5th dyn sun kings).

Tsoan/Zoan and Taan/Zean/Djan/Djanet/Sant/Tanis/Djan/Tsan/San are not necessarily as close a possble names match as seems. Besides which Tanis is not prominent until the 19th dynasty which is too late.
Tso'an/Zoan might rather match Ankh-tawy/Anekh-tauy (Memphis) or Tjenu/Thinis/This or An/On (Heliopolis). Or Zoan "place of departure" could be the place where the exodus started (Raamses in Exodus, Letopolis in Josephus). Or Hoeh suggested that 'field of Zoan' was a name for Egypt rather than refering to the city.

Goshen/Gesem/Kessan and Qesem/Phacus/Fakus are not necessarily so close as appears. Fakus/Phacus only has 3 letters the same. The Biblical name has no Ph-/F- prefix. Fakus has no -en, though the -em in Qesem could possibly match the -en of Goshen. Hebrew G might not match Egyptian Q/C/K? Hebrew sh might not match Egyptian s? The Septuagint's 'Gesem' for Goshen may not be reliable and it might have been influenced by Qesem. We have also already said in the Dates don't match section that Qesem seems to be too late for the Goshen. One scholar also says that "Ezekiel & Jeremiah, who actually traveled through the eastern Delta, make no mention of a Goshen."

There are one or two other possible candidates for Goshen. Consider this list of all possible candidates for Goshen/Gosen/Goson/Gsn (Hebrew/Massoretic) / Gesem (Greek/Septuagint) / Kessan (Artapanus) :
Mt Kassios.
Gasmu/Gashmu/Gesem/Gsm/Geshmu/Geshem/Qasim/Jashim (Qedarites).
Qesem/Kesem/Gesem/Paqas/Phakousa/Phacus(sa)/Faqous/Faqus.
Mistress of Qes.
Khasut/Khesun/Khesauu/Xois.
An/On (Heliopolis, might match the -en of Goshen).
Ausim/Khem/Sokhem/Sekhem (Letopolis/Latopolis).
Djoser?
Khere-ohe (Fostat / Old Cairo/Kahira).
Giza/Gizah/Jizah/Jizzah/Giseh/Gise/Gizeh/'gi:ze/Guizeh/Er-ges-her (nearby Cairo).
Agouza/Agooza (Giza).
(Ro-)She-Khufu.
Kahun (Lahun).
Feshn.
Qis (near Akhetaten/Amarna).
Qasa/Kasa (Cynopolis).
Qis/Qos/Gosu/Cusae.
Qesi (Apollinopolis).
Gesy/Qus.
Nekhen/Hierakonpolis.
Qoseir/Kosseir.
Al Uqsor/Luxor/Luqsor (Thebes).
Gerf Hussein (Nubia).
Kush (Nubia).
Khozam/Iushenshen.
Khent/Shent/Fent (Upper/South Egypt).
The best candidates in the above list are Giza or Agouza or Ro-she-khufu or Sokhem in Middle Egypt, or the conventional Qesem/Fakus or Gasmu/Gesem in the northeast Delta.
Eretz Goshen is similar to Er-ges-her (Giza/Gizeh).

It is not certain that the etymology of Pithom is Pi-/Per- and -Atum.
The date of both Pithom candidates Maskhuta and Retaba are too late for Moses in new chronologies that have Moses in the 12th-13th dynasty.
Maskhuta can't be both (Heroonpolis and) Pithom and Succoth.
There are acually a number of candidates for Pithom including:
Pi-tum / Pa-tmu / Patumus / Per-atum / Heroonpolis (Maskhuta or Tell er-Retaba).
Pr Itmw / Per Atum / *Par-'Atama (the temple of (Ra-)Atum in Heliopolis in the reign of Kheper-ka-ra Senusret 1).
Pium/Piom/Faiyum (Pasebek/Shedet/Crocodilopolis/Arsinoe).
Pium/Pion/Faiyum (Moeris).
Itjtawy/Ithtowy (unlocated 12th dyn co-capital).
Tithoes (Labyrinth).
King Thom (in the El-Arish inscription).
Khartoum.
Meidum.

Succoth "tents, booths, huts" could be Tjeku/Maskhuta, though there are a number of candidates including:
Tell el-Maskhuta (Wadi Tumilat).
Tckenu.
Thuku/Zeku/"Succoth" (19th dyn, refs Bey, Keller).
Pa-zetku (Bey).
Tjeku.
Thaku.
Zuko.
T'ukot/Thukot/"Succoth" (ref Bey).
Sekhet-za (Tharu, ref Velikovsky).
Suez/Suways (north tip of gulf of Suez).
Berket el Hadj "pool of the pilgrims" (ref Hoeh).
Sakkarah (near Memphis).
Suakkim.
Sukkiims (ref 2 Chron 12).
Tsukhi.
(Some of the above place names might be different versions of the same place. Some of the sources were not clear on the locations.)

- Meanings of names.

The Biblical name for the land of Goshen is Eretz Goshen. Eretz means "land" in Hebrew. For the 2nd part of the name, Goshen, the meaning of this name is unknown but suggested meanings of Goshen include "drawing near", or "place of light/plenty/comfort", or gesem/jsm "to labour, cultivated", or gsm "stormy sea", or gasam "storm/downpour", or (pa-)qas "pouring forth, inundated land", or "the action of spewing forth", or "large flood waters", or "the body", or "craftsmans enclosed quarters", or "skilled craftsmen, or stone brick masons + an enclosed city, or large private land of the pharaoh", or Egyptian gsaaz "borderland"? Or possibly Goshen might be related to Indo-European go "cow" or "ray" since Joseph's brothers were placed over Pharaoh's cattle? The bible calls Goshen the best of the land which might be connected with the name's meaning?
Some of these meanings could fit the conventional northeast Delta location placement, but some could fit our Middle Egypt placement.
Of our Goshen candidates in Middle Egypt the suggested meanings of Giza/Gizeh are Egyptian/Arabic Er-ges-her "beside the high", or Egyptian/Arabic "border", or Arabic al-Jizzah "the valley/plateau", or Persian diz "fortress/castle".
The meaning of Agouza is said to be Arabic "an old woman".

Rameses/Raamses means "Ra/sun born, son of thesun/Ra". This better fits the Heliopolis area than the northeast Delta. The only way that it could fit the north-east Delta is that that area is the easternmost (rising sun) district of Egypt.

Pithom is supposed to mean p- "house, city" (or "the") + Atum or Thom, but this etymology is uncertain, and even if the meaning might be correct it doesn't only fit Pitum in the northeast delta but it can also fit Heliopolis in Middle Egypt.

Zoan means "place of departure" which we have already addressed in the previous Names don't match section.

Babylon (in Josephus) means "gateway of god" or "babble, confusion, mixture".

The meaning of Succoth/Sukkot is "tents, huts, booths".

- Store cities:
Because there were some granaries/silos and storeouses at Tanis and Pitum/Retaba (and Maskhuta?) conventional scholars think that it means these sites match the treasure cities in 'Exodus' chapter 1. Moreover the storehouses at Retaba are connected with bricks made without straw like in Exodus. However the storehouses at Tanis and Pitum can't match the biblical ones for a number of reasons. Firstly as we have already said, the dates of the storehouses at Tanis and Pitum/Retaba are too late for Moses even in conventional chronology. The biblical words arei miskenoth might mean either "treasure cities" (AV) or "store cities" (RV) or "strong/fortified cities" (Lxx). Even if the "store cities" meaning is possibly correct there were other store sites in Egyptian history including:
"huge quantities of ... stores ... found in Sesostris' funerary temple" (12th dyn).
"many rooms" or "3000 apartments, half of them underground" of the Labyrinth (12th dyn).
Josephus said the Hebrews built pyramids, which would also fit with our placement of the Hebrews in Egypt from the 2nd/3rd/4th to the 12th/13th dynasties.
Incidentally the models of granaries in Old Kingdom tombs may mean Joseph can't be later than the Old Kingdom (3rd-6th dyns).

- Hebrews/Israelites/Semites in Egypt.
For some strange reason conventional scholars think that Joseph was in the Hyksos period because they think that this is the only time when a Semite/foreigner could have been raised to high office (because the Hyksos were Semites/foreigners). Yet the Bible gives no indication of Pharaoh being a Semite or foreigner.
Conventional scholars also seem to think that the Hebrews were in Egypt during the Hyksos period because it is seemingly/supposedly the only period of major presence of foreigners & Semites in Egypt before the Late Period. But the conventional scholars only have the Hebrews entering during the Hyksos period while they have the exodus in the 19th dynasty. There is no evidence of a presence of 600000 Hebrews in Egypt during the 15th/16th to 19th dynasties. The Apiru/Habiru of the 19th dynasty do not match the Hebrews because the Hebrews were shepherds and slaves who made bricks while the Apiru were senen "knights" who hauled stones.
Rohl seems to equate the Hebrews with the Canaanites/Asiatics of Avaris of the 12th dynasty. However the description of these Canaanite/Asiatic immigrants doesn't seem to match the biblical Hebrews/Israelites very well, and they are also too late for Joseph who was surely some time before the 12th dynasty (which is too late for Joseph). The Asiatics of Avaris also worshipped Set & Hadad & Hathor & Asherah, which seems to conflict with the biblical Hebrews.
Contrary to conventinal scholars' and Rohl's claims Avaris and the Hyksos period are not the only times and places in Egyptian history having a presence of foreign Asiatics. List of candidates for Hebrews in Egypt before the 15th dynasty, and Hebrews in Canaan before the 19th dynasty:
Set race (Predynastic Upper/Lower Egypt & 2nd dynasty).
An alleged tomb picture of an Asiatic family entering Egypt in the reign of Khasekhemwy (2nd dyn, ref Palmer).
Ontiu/Intiu "the People of the Pillar" (1st/2nd-6th dyn)?
The 4th dynasty pyramid builders seem foreign (Manetho, Herodotus).
The shepherd Philitis at Giza (4th dynasty).
Asiatics in the 1st Intermediate Period (Clayton).
Increase in Levantine names in the reign of Amenemhet 2 (Clayton).
Canaanites/Asiatics at Avaris (12th dyn, abandoned after epidemic in 13th dyn).
Possibly-Hebrew slaves in pectoral of Mereret.
The sudden abandonment of Lahun/Kahun may match the exodus.
The companions of Apophis in the El-Arish inscription, &/or The adversaries of Re(-Harakhty) versus Horus (Behdeti / Horus of Edfu)?
A classical source implies that the Hebrews were "the capitive shepherds not the king shepherds".
The Hyksos are now believed to have infiltrated gradually before the 15th dynasty.
The amelut sagaz Mesh or Habiru of the Amarna Letters may match Hebrews of David's time.
The Israelites are already in Canaan in the Merneptah Stele.

- Analogies.
Peratum/Pitum in the northeast delta and Pium in the Faiyum area are both associated with lakes.
Avaris/Hutwaret/Hauar in the northeast Delta and Hawara in the Faiyum area are said to have cognate names.
Avaris was abandoned after epidemic; Kahun/Lahun was suddenly abandoned.
H-ym "the sea" in Exodus is similar to Pium/Faiyum "the sea".

- Sethroite nome doesn't match.
A possible support for Goshen being in the northeast Delta is that the nome there was called the Sethroite nome or the Arabian nome. Set/Seth or "Typhon" was a god assoicated with foreigners. However, in the bible the land of Goshen or land of Rameses is said to be the best of the land, which hardly fits a place associated with Set. Rameses' name is linked with the god Ra/Re not Set. The one place associated with Ra in the list of Egyptian nomes is Heliopolis/On. True Ra/Re is associated with Atum as Atum-Ra or Ra-Atum, and Atum is associated with Pitum in the northeast delta, but that is a weak match.
The 2nd Nome of Lower Egypt around Letopolis/Sokhem was called Travellers land.
It is true that the Hebrews were more likely in the north than the south of Egypt. But Middle Egypt is only just below the Delta and is easily within possibility.

- Didn't cross the Nile.
The bible doesn't say that the Hebrews crossed the Nile in the exodus, so this is possible support for Goshen being on the right/east side of the Nile. However, this could fit anywhere along the whole Nile, not just the northeast Delta. Though it is not definite that they didn't cross the Nile just because it doesn't mention it. As we have already said, the Pharaoh ordering the Israelite babies to be thrown in the Nile, and the baby Moses being placed in the Nile probably better fit the main trunk of the Nile river rather than one of the 7 mouths/heads in the Delta.

- Set apart from the Egyptians.
There is an argument that Goshen was set apart from the Egyptians because shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians (and also because the land of Goshen was uneffected by a couple of the plagues). This supposedly supports the northeast Delta location theory. However, there are also possible evidences that Goshen was not set apart: Goshen was the best of the land; Goshen was near Joseph; Pharaoh placed Joseph's brothers over his cattle/livestock; Joseph and Moses couldn't have run back and forward between the capital and the northeast Delta; Moses was placed in the Nile not far from the palace; the Hebrews had Egyptian slave masters over them in the fields; the Hebrews borrowed of the Egyptians and stripped them; the exodus route may imply a greater distance between Raamses and Succoth.

- Joseph went "up".
Joseph went up to report to pharaoh in Genesis 46:31. This might mean Goshen was lower or north of the capital. But this doesn't just apply to the northeast Delta, there are also sites in Middle Egypt below the capital.
Hoeh thinks that because Joseph went "up" (Gen 46:29) that Goshen is north of the capital. However the word "up" could mean any of a few different possible meanings. In our Western European tradition up/top is North. In Egyptian up/top was south (because the Nile flows from south to north, and the sun is mainly south of Egypt). In biblical Jerusalem is up. In Hebrew and Semitic east is front, west is behind/back. In Hebrew right is favoured. The Hebrew negev "south" matches the Egyptian Nekheb in Upper/South Egypt. Besides which some translations just say went to not went up to. And the two ups of verses 29 and 31 contradict.

- Lion of Judah.
Jacob mentions the crouching Lion of Judah in Genesis 49. This has no match in the north-east Delta, but it does have a possible match in Middle Egypt. Jacob surely matches Khufu/Cheops, and the lion of Judah might match the Sphinx.

- Judith 1:9 says "and the river of Egypt, and Taphnes, and Ramesse, and all the land of Gesem, until you come beyond Tanis and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt, until you come to the borders of Ethiopia." But this doesn't help much because it may be confounding Goshen and Raamses and Zoan with Qesem and Piramses and Tanis, and the exact location is not really easy to determine from these verses (it seemingly could be anywhere up to Memphis).

So in conclusion the north-east Delta is ruled out for all the half a dozen to a dozen reasons we have surveyed above, and we find that the Middle Egypt area is more likely.

References:
Apion.
Artapanus.
Amarna Letters.
Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, 1 Chronicles, Psalms, Judith).
VSW Bambrough.
H Brugsch-Bey.
Stephen of Byzantium.
SC Compton 'Exodus Lost'.
Peter Clayton Chronicle of Pharaohs.
Collins Atlas.
David Down.
Encyclopedia Britannica.
El-Arish inscription.
Fellaheen tradition.
Rabbi Saadia Gaon.
Herman Hoeh 'Compendium of History'.
Herodotus The Histories.
F Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, Against Apion.
Jewish Encyclopedia.
Werner Keller 'Bible as History'.
Kahun papyri (12th dyn).
Livingstone.
Lemesurier.
Manetho (33rd dyn).
Massoretic Text.
Merneptah Stele.
Gerald Massey Book of Beginnings.
Alan Millard Treasures from Bible Times.
RA Stewart Macalister.
W Max Muller.
E Naville.
Oxford Companion to the Bible, & Cyclopedic Bible Concordance.
Robert Palmer NC group posts and correspondence.
Peutinger table.
F Petrie.
Ptolemy.
Pectoral of Mereret (12th dyn).
Alleged picture & glyphs in a tomb from reign of Khasekhemwy (2nd dyn).
David M Rohl.
D Redford.
Adrian Room Brewer's Dictionary of Names.
J van Seters.
Septuagint (33rd dyn).
Strabo.
Tales of the Magicians (Westcar Papyrus).
I Velikovsky Ages in Chaos.
Ron Wyatt.
Wikipedia.

Conventional chronology:
11th/12th dyn - patriarchs ca 1900s-1700s
15th/16th dyn - Joseph/Jacob ca 1700s
18th dyn Amarna - Canaan still Canaanite not Hebrew
19th dyn - Moses/Exodus ca 1300/1200s.
20th dyn - Saul/Philistines
21st dyn - David ca 1000s
22nd dyn - Shishak ca 900s.
22nd dyn - Zerah.
25th dyn - So, Tirhakah.
26th dyn - Nechoh, Hophra ca 600.
27th/31st dyn - Persians.
32nd - Greco-Macedonian.
33rd Ptolemies - Seleucids, Maccabees.
Romans.

Rohl's chronology (excluding Mesopotamian) :
10th dyn - Abraham 1800s
(11th? &/or) 12th dyn - Joseph 1600s
13th dyn - new king, slavery starts 1500s
(12th? &/or) 13th dyn - Moses, exodus 1400s.
15th/16th dyn - Anakim/Joshua 1200s-1100s
18th dyn Amarna - David 1000s.
18th dyn - Gezer/Solomon
19th dyn - Shishak 900s-800s
19th-20th dyn - Arza (1 Kings 16).
21st & 22nd dyns contemp.

Our tentative chronology (excluding some) :
1st dyn - Zoan/Hebron?
1st (or 2nd?) dyn - Abraham ca 2000s/2300s
(2nd? or) 3rd-4th (or 5th?) dyn - Joseph ca 1800s (Wyatt etc)
FIP Asiatics
11th dyn - Elim
(6th? &/or) 12th (&/or 13th) dyn - Moses, Zoan ca 1400s
14th or 17th - Jabin/Sisera?
15th/16th dyn Hyksos - between exodus & David (Velikovsky)
18th dyn - David ca 1000s (Rohl)
19th dyn - Shishak ca 1000s/900s (Rohl).
19th or 21st-23rd dyn - princes of Zoan?
19th-23rd or 25th princes of Noph?
20th dyn - Jehoshaphat?
21st & 22nd dyns contemp (Rohl).
22nd-23rd dyn - Phoenician, Assyrian (Moscati, Rohl, Weigall, Bey)?
(21st? or) 22nd/23rd or 25th dyn - So (Velikovsky, Wiki)
(22nd/23rd? or) 25th dyn - Tirhakah
26th dyn - Nechoh, Hophra.
27th/31st dyn - Persians
32nd dyn - Greco-Macedonian
33rd dyn Ptolemies - Seleucids, Maccabees
Romans.