Ar-Rayyan ibn al-Walid
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Ar-Rayyān ibn al-Walīd (Arabic: الريان بن الوليد), also called Nahrāūs, is a legendary king from medieval Islamic lore who is said to have been one of the Amalekite rulers of Egypt.[1][2][3] According to the historians who transmitted stories of him, he was the king whom the biblical prophet Joseph served under.[1][2][4] Medieval Arab historians credited him with the construction of the Babylon Fortress.[5]
The name Ar-Rayyan is an Arabic male name which is derived from the similarly named gate of paradise in Islamic lore, where the pious who fasted a lot would enter on the Day of Resurrection. It has an alternative origin as a Persian name; being the plural form of the word Rāy which means "kings."[6]
Ar-Rayyan was reportedly the second of a line of Amalekite kings, succeeding his father who had conquered Egypt.[5][7][8] It is also related that before the arrival of Joseph, Ar-Rayyan was a formerly competent and wise ruler who became dominated by his passions and left the government to be handed to Potiphar.[7] After the imprisonment of Joseph, Ar-Rayyan had a dream which no one, not even the high priests, could interpret, except for Joseph who told him that a famine would be coming and advised him on how it could be prevented.[1][7] Impressed, the king made Joseph as his chief advisor and also became an adherent to the Judaic monotheism preached by Joseph.[1][9] Ar-Rayyan died of old age and was succeeded by his son Dārim, who, unlike his father, was an idolator and fell into tyranny.[7][8] An alternative version of the tradition states that Ar-Rayyan was succeeded by a king named Qabus, who was an idolator and a tyrant. Regardless, both traditions agree that the succeeding king was a stubborn tyrant.[10]
There have been attempts to identify Ar-Rayyan with historical figures. Egyptian historian and museum curator Ahmad Kamal identified Ar-Rayyan with the Hyksos ruler Khyan, basing his identification off the reading of Khyan's cartouche as Ne Re Ous, which, according to Kamal, was "strikingly similar" to Nahrāūs.[11] On the other hand, archeologist Hossam Abdolfotouh identifies him with Seti I from the Nineteenth Dynasty, while his son and successor Darim/Qabus is identified with Ramesses II, with the later Pharaoh of the Exodus being identified as Ramesses V instead.[12]