Most people, including me, have wondered who the pharaoh of Exodus was, but the book does not mention the Pharaoh whose heart was always hardened. Throughout this post, I want to give more insight on this subject.
In the book of Exodus, God sends Moses to free the Israelites from enslavement in Egypt, and the Israelites had to endure 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before they could enter the Promised Land. First, when was the book of Exodus written? Some people think that the book of Exodus was written in 1446 B.C, while others believe that it was written around the year 1260 BC.
The reason that some people believe that the book of Exodus was written in 1260 B.C, is because they argue that in Exodus 1:11 Israel was working on a city called Rameses, and this points to the Exodus occurring during the reign of Rameses II. This could be true because Rameses II built a temple that was carved out of a hill. He became king of Egypt in 1394 BC and ruled for 66 years. He built the city of Pi-Rameses in the swamplands of the Delta. This city became the new capital of Egypt. In Kush, he built two rock cut temples of Abu Simbel. During his reign he had a problem with the Hittites, this state threatened Egypt’s Asian interests. So a battle took place in 1389 BC in Syria. He could possibly be one of the pharaohs that existed at the time of Moses, but the only evidence I found was the city he built.
There is evidence that Thutmose III (1485-1431) was ruling during the time of Moses because his mummy is the only one to predict plagues that spread through the Egyptian and Hittite empires. Plus his first born son, Amenemhet, died before he could take over for his father. Some people think Amenemhet died because of the tenth plague. So his second son, Amenhotep II, took over the throne. It is also said that his stepmother Hatshepsut was the one that found Moses in the river and that Thutmose II, her husband, was the Pharaoh when Moses fled to Midian for killing an Egyptian.
There is no way of knowing for sure of who was ruling during that time because of limited information, plus we do not know for sure whether the dates for Pharaohs are correct. But I hope this helped you get a better understanding of what pharaohs were around during the time of Moses.