Ancient Hebrews

We know from Egyptian history that the "shepherd kings" who ruled the land in Joseph's day, were driven out after long warfare, and there came a new dynasty of native Pharaohs.  These Egyptian rulers had no love for the Ancient Hebrews, who were Asiatic foreigners.

For a time, however, little attention was attracted to the Hebrews, until the promise of God began to be fulfilled and their numbers increased amazingly.  In the course of perhaps two centuries, they became a nation.  Then fear of them arose in Egyptian minds.  A "new king," probably the haughty and successful conqueror Ramses II, feared the Israelites might suddenly rise and seize upon the entire land, as the earlier "shepherd kings" had done.  So he forced the unfortunate foreigners into bondage.

Great building works were begun in northeastern Egypt, where the Hebrews dwelt, and they were forced into hard toil under that tropic sun, digging canals, and erecting walls and cities.

On this page you'll find nine images of the Ancient Hebrews in Egypt taken from my collection of antique Bibles and story books. You're welcomed to use these pictures of the Ancient Hebrews in your artistic creations. Click on the illustrations of the Ancient Hebrews below to see more details about saving a free Ancient Hebrew image or about purchasing the images of Ancient Hebrews at a higher resolution.