There is much debate about who Moses is and when he lived, but Nefertiti is usually associated with him. The word Moses is a title meaning ‘leader’ and could have been a title associated with many people over many millennia. The fact that the Moshe in Peru ran the drug trade and Egyptian mummies have Peruvian cocaine is important. The article in National Geographic continues:

"We have not yet been able to identify the Deir el-Balah fortress with a particular representation on the Karnak relief. Two of the fortresses shown along the Ways of Horus are designated as towns 'which His Majesty built newly'. Considering the close connections between Egypt and Canaan during the XIX Dynasty, it is possible that our fortress with the thick walls and corner towers, was built during the reign of Seti I, who ruled New Kingdom Egypt and its empire in Canaan from about 1318 to 1304 B.C.

On the basis of the pottery found in the fortress, we believe that it flourished during the reign of Seti's son, Ramses II (about 1304-1237 B.C.), to whose reign we date the anthropoid burials as well. Our fortress, and cemetery provide a vivid demonstration of Egypt's power and prosperity in this period, a time of close Egyptian control over the coastal route. Moreover, ceramic analyst Bonnie Gould has determined that 80 percent of the locally made vessels were Egyptian in both shape and ware.

AN EXODUS RIDDLE SOLVED {Actually no solution at all.}

The Ways of Horus holds much interest for scholars. As long ago as 1920 the noted Egyptologist Alan Gardiner optimistically predicted that future excavations along its route 'would reveal many of the fortresses depicted in the Karnak sculptures.' Our evidence, together with excavations by the Ben-Gurion University, has made his prophecy come true.

Once we discerned the meaning and function of the settlement at Deir el-Balah, we were able to understand a passage in the Bible that has long puzzled scholars. It is believed that during the reign of Ramses II the Israelite Exodus from Egypt took place. But the route chosen by the Israelites is rather cryptically described. 'And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt. (Exodus 13:17)'

The problem with the passage is chronological; the Philistines had not yet arrived to settle along the coast. The solution to its meaning lies in an anachronism--though the Bible speaks of ‘the way of the land of the Philistines', it is describing the very same road that the Egyptians called the Ways of Horus.

As the Bible observes, this route to the Promised Land was far shorter than the route the Israelites eventually took. But our excavations at Deir el-Balah revealed the wisdom of this choice, for by escaping into the desert, the Israelites avoided the powerful fortresses of the very pharaoh from whom they had fled.