Who is the Pharaoh of the exodus?

Question

Prophet Moses guided the Jewish people out of Egypt. The Pharaoh chased them to the Red Sea area and followed them through the open water of the sea. While Prophet Moses and the Jewish people crossed safely to the east shore of the Red Sea, the Pharaoh and his soldiers drown in the Red Sea water.

Who is this Pharaoh?

Answer 1

I want to answer your question, but first, I need to correct something. In Exodus 14, no where in the text does Pharaoh enter into the Red Sea. Verse 28 states the "hosts of Pharaoh" but no where does the Author explicitly state that Pharaoh was "drowned" in the Red Sea. In fact, there are several other textual/historical reasons for why this is not the case.

But to answer your question, Kenneth Kitchen in On the Reliability of The Old Testament provides several convincing arguments as to why, Rameses in Exodus could be identified with Rameses II of the Twelfth & Thirteenth Centuries. He notes that in several passages Egypt is referred to as the "Land of Rameses" (Gen. 47:6,11), that slaves built store cities for Rameses (Ex. 1:11), and the Israelites journeyed from a place called "Rameses" which is then contrasted with other places (Ex. 12:37 ; cf. Num. 33:3,5). This is significant because the Rameses of the OT is identified as a builder of cities and a ruler of a vast city. There were eleven Pharaohs named Rameses and only two built cities. Only one of these built a city which he named after himself and only one was Pharaoh at a time in close proximity to the drafting of the Pentateuch (First Five Books of the OT). Some scholars have erroneously suggested that a city named Tanis was called Pi-Rameses, but this has been debunked by several scholars.

The Second major argument is the cult of Rameses II which circulated for several centuries. It is very clear from archeological evidence that the city Rameses which Rameses II built had religious significance. In Exodus, YWHW repeatedly remarks, "they/he shall know I am the Lord." It is clear through the plagues, which challenged the gods of Egypt, and the very challenge of the "arm of YWHW" towards the "arm of Pharaoh," was a religious challenge. It makes little sense with other Rameses who held little cultic/religious significance to be identified as the Pharaoh in Exodus.

There are several more arguments, if you are interested, I would recommend reading the book, specifically pgs. 255-56, in which he specifically discusses Rameses II. This all of course assumes the reliability of the OT account. But your question does not focus on that topic, only which Pharaoh of Egypt was more than likely the Pharaoh identified in Exodus.

Answer 2

Ramses II seems to be the major belief as to the Exodus Pharoah