To what has already been said about the points tending to show that Joseph was viceroy in Egypt under one or more of the Hyksos or Shepherd kings, may be added the fact that, when his father and brethren came to settle in the land, they were instructed to say that they were shepherds, though it is at once added that "shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians." The only thing, to all appearance, that can be argued from this is, that however the native Egyptians might be inclined to look upon the new-comers, the ruler of the land (who is also represented as being pleased that Joseph's brethren had come) had no objection to them on that account. In support of the contention that the period of Joseph was the Hyksos period, it must also be pointed out that this new viceroy introduced at least one measure which might be regarded as somewhat harsh. He appropriated the surplus produce of the seven years of plenty, and when the years of famine came, he compelled the Egyptians to buy back, "even to their own impoverishment,"(52) what they had themselves previously parted with for nothing. The reason for this, however, seems to be clear. The Pharaoh upon the throne was of the same race as himself, and he and all Semitic foreigners in the land, including his father and brethren, were dependent on the same state of things continuing. What he then did would have the effect of placing the native Egyptians still more in the power of their ruler, consolidating the dynasty of Semites to which he belonged, and going far, therefore, to ensure the permanency of its rule. In acting as he did, Joseph was only doing what any other man in his position and of his race would have done.
As has been frequently pointed out, famines occurred from time to time in Egypt, and records of them are in existence. Even before the time of the Hyksos kings, a failure of the waters of the Nile to rise to their ordinary height would bring great want and distress. At such times the governors of the various provinces of the kingdom gloried, as Ebers says, in helping their subjects, and saving them from distress. Thus Ameni or Amen-em-ha, whose tomb is at Benihasan, praises himself in the following words--