Now two things have changed. On the one side, the Israelites (Semites) now are so numerous as to be thought to pose a potential national security threat to their Egyptian (Hamitic) host country. The stage is thus partly set for the sort of ethnic and religious troubles that in our time have torn Bosnia apart. On the other side, a new dynasty comes to rule Egypt, different from the one that welcomed Joseph’s family to Egypt. This new dynasty does not “know Joseph.” Perhaps this means that, unlike