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Pithom

Coordinates:30°33′7″N32°5′55″E/ 30.55194°N 32.09861°E/30.55194; 32.09861
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(Redirected fromTell el-Maskhuta)

30°33′7″N32°5′55″E/ 30.55194°N 32.09861°E/30.55194; 32.09861

Pithom is located in Egypt
Pithom
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Location of Pithom (as Tell El Maskhuta) inIsmailia Governorate,Egypt
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Pithom(Ancient Egyptian:pr-jtm;Biblical Hebrew:פִּתֹם,romanized:Pīṯōm;Koinē Greek:Ἡρώπόλις,romanized:HērṓpólisorἩρώωνπόλιςHērṓōnpólis,[2]andΠατούμοςPatoúmos) was an ancient city of Egypt. References in theHebrew Bibleandancient GreekandRomansources[3]exist for this city, but its exact location remains somewhat uncertain. Some scholars identified it as the later archaeological site ofTell el-Maskhuta(Arabic:تل المسخوطة,romanized:Tall al-Masḫuṭa).[4]Others identified it as the earlier archaeological site ofTell El Retabeh(Arabic:تل الرتابة,romanized:Tall al-Ratāba).[5]

Etymology

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The English name comes from Hebrewפיתום‎Pithomwhich was taken from theEgyptiantoponympr-(j)tm,"House ofAtum".Atum's cult center was inHeliopolis.[6]

Biblical Pithom

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Pithom is one of the cities which, according to theBook of Exodus1:11,was built for thebiblical Pharaohof the oppression by theforced labourof theIsraelites.The other city wasPi-Ramesses.TheSeptuagintadds a third, "On,which isHeliopolis."These cities are called by a term rendered in the Authorized Version" treasure cities "and in the Revised Version" store cities "(Hebrew:מסכְּנוֹת֙,romanized:miskǝnoṯ). The Septuagint renders itπόλεις ὀχυραί"strong [or" fortified "] cities." The same term is used for certain cities ofKing SolomoninI Kings9:19 (comp. alsoII Chronicles16:4).

Graeco-Roman Heroöpolis

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Approximate location of Canal of the Pharaohs

Heroöpolis was a large city east of theNile Delta,situated near the mouth of theRoyal Canalwhich connected theNilewith theRed Sea.Although not immediately upon the coast, but nearly due north of theBitter Lakes,Heroöpolis was of sufficient importance, as a trading station, to confer its name upon the arm of the Red Sea[7]which runs up the Egyptian mainland as far asArsinoë(near modernSuez)—the modernGulf of Suez.[8]It was the capital of the 8thnomeofLower Egypt.

Location

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Early on, the location of Pithom—just like the locations of other similar sites, such asTanis—had been the subject of much conjecture and debate.

The 10th-century Jewish scholarSaadia Gaonidentified Pithom's location in his Judeo-Arabic translation of the Hebrew Bible as theFaiyum,100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest ofCairo.[9]

Édouard NavilleandFlinders Petriewere looking for Pithom along theWadi Tumilat,an arable strip of land serving as the ancient transit route between Egypt and Canaan across the Sinai—the biblical 'Way ofShur'.[10]

Tell El Retaba

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Eight miles west of Tell El Maskhuta is the site of Tell El Retabeh. This is approximately the midpoint of Wadi Tumilat. The earliest find known from the site is the jasper weight of kingNebkaure Khety,but such an object might have been brought from elsewhere. Naville identified all these locations as being in the region ofTjeku(Sukkot), the 8th Lower Egyptnome.

Excavations at the Tell El Retabeh have shown that the site was first settled during theSecond Intermediate Period of Egypt.Following the expulsion of theHyksosduring the reign ofAhmose I,a short-lived Egyptian settlement followed but ended in the middle of the 18th Dynasty. At the beginning of the19th Dynasty of Egypt,a newer settlement was established, andRamesses IIbuilt new fortifications, a Temple of Atum and many other structures. The site was inhabited also under the 20th Dynasty, the Third Intermediate Period (11th–7th century BC) and the Late Period (7th–4th century BC).[11][12]

Some scholars, such asManfred BietakandKenneth Kitchen,have argued that this was the ancient Pithom.[10]This opinion goes back to the 19th century, whenAlan Gardinerfirst identified Pithom with the site of Tell El Retaba, and this was later accepted byWilliam F. Albright,[13]and Kenneth Kitchen.[14]AlthoughJohn van SetersandNeil Asher Silbermanargue that Tell El Retaba was unoccupied during the period when we find monuments relating to a town called Pithom,[15]this claim has been disputed byJames K. HoffmeierandGary Rendsburgbased on recent findings at the site.[16]

The jointPolish-Slovakexpedition has carried out a systematic research at Tell El Retaba since 2007.[17]It is conducted with the cooperation of several institutions: Institute of ArchaeologyUniversity of Warsaw,thePolish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw,theSlovak Academy of Sciencesand the Aigyptos Foundation.[11]

More recent analyses have demonstrated that the designation for the temple of Atum,pr-itm,can be found in inscriptions at both sites—both at Tell El Retaba and at Tell El Maskhuta. This seems to demonstrate that the name 'Pithom' was used originally for the earlier site, Tell El Retaba, before it was abandoned. When the newer city of Tel El Maskhuta was built, the same name was applied to it as well, as the temple of Atum was moved to El Maskhuta. Thus, in effect, 'Pithom' was moved to a new location, a phenomenon that is attested for some other cities as well, such asMigdol.[18]

Wadi Tumilat Project – Tell El Maskhuta

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In the spring of 1883, Naville believed he had identified Pithom as the archaeological siteTell El Maskhuta.The site of Pithom, as identified by Naville, is at the eastern edge of Wadi Tumilat, southwest ofIsmailia.Petrie agreed with this identification. John S. Holladay Jr., a more recent investigator of the site, also supports this opinion. Alternatively, the recent Italian excavators have suggested identifying the site as the ancient city of Tjeku (BiblicalSukkot).[19]

Here was found a group of granite statues representingRamesses II,two inscriptions namingPr-Itm(Temple of Atum), storehouses and bricks made without straw. Recent excavations have also uncovered a significantNew Kingdomtomb at the site.[19]The excavations carried on by Naville for theEgypt Exploration Funduncovered a city wall, a ruined temple, and the remains of a series of brick buildings with very thick walls and consisting of rectangular chambers of various sizes, opening only at the top and without any entrances to one another.

Modern excavations at Tel El Maskhuta were carried out by theUniversity of Toronto'Wadi Tumilat Project' under the direction of John S. Holladay Jr. They worked over five seasons between 1978 and 1985. These excavations have shown that the history of Tel El Maskhuta is quite complex. There was a Middle Bronze IIB settlement there (18th–17th centuries BC), associated with theHyksos,followed by a long break until the late 7th century BC, when there was rebuilding.[20]

This construction at the end of the 7th century may have been carried out by PharaohNecho II,possibly as part of his uncompleted canal building project from the Nile to the Gulf of Suez.[15][21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Gauthier, Henri (1925).Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 2.p. 59.
  2. ^Bard, Kathryn A.,ed. (11 March 1999).Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt.Taylor & Francis.ISBN978-0-203-98283-9.
  3. ^Straboxvi. 759, 768, xvii. 803, 804;Arrian,Exp. Alex.iii. 5, vii. 20;Joseph.Ant. Jud.ii. 7. § 5;Plin.v. 9. § 11, vi. 32. § 33;Mela,iii. 8;Steph. B.s. v.;Ptol.ii. 1. § 6, iv. 15. § 54
  4. ^Killebrew, Ann E. (October 2005).Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanite.Society of Biblical Literature. p. 152.ISBN978-1-58983-097-4.
  5. ^Mitchell, T. C.(29 July 1988).Biblical Archaeology: Documents for the British Museum.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-36867-4.
  6. ^Hart, George (2005),The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses,Psychology Press,ISBN0-415-34495-6.
  7. ^Ἡρωοπολίτης κόλπος,Ptol. v. 17. § 1,Latin:Heroopoliticus Sinus
  8. ^Theophrast.Hist. Plant.iii. 8.
  9. ^Saadia Gaon,Tafsir(Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch), Exodus 1:11; Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentaries on the Torah(ed.Yosef Qafih),Mossad Harav Kook:Jerusalem 1984, p. 63 (Exodus 1:11) (Hebrew)
  10. ^abIsrael: Ancient Kingdom Or Late Invention?Daniel Isaac Block, ed. B&H Publishing Group, 2008. p. 113ISBN0805446796
  11. ^ab"Tell el-Retaba".pcma.uw.edu.pl.Retrieved2020-07-28.
  12. ^Hudec, Jozef; Hulková, Lucia; Dubcová, Veronika; Wodzińska, Anna (2020)."Formation of an Empire. Results of the Season 2017 in Tell el-Retaba".Ägypten und Levante.29:15–52.doi:10.1553/aeundl29s15.ISSN1015-5104.
  13. ^Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1994).International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: K-P.Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 876.ISBN978-0-8028-3783-7.
  14. ^Kitchen, Kenneth A.(1999).Ramesside Inscriptions, Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments Volume II: Ramesses II, Royal Inscriptions.Wiley-Blackwell. p. 270.ISBN978-0-631-18435-5.
  15. ^abSeters, John Van, "The Geography of the Exodus", in Silberman, Neil Ash (editor),The Land That I Will Show You: Essays in History and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East in Honor of J. Maxwell Miller,Sheffield Academic Press, 1997, p. 261-262,ISBN978-1850756507,[1]
  16. ^Hoffmeier, James K.; Rendsburg, Gary A. (March 2022)."Pithom and Rameses (Exodus 1:11): Historical, Archaeological, and Linguistic Issues (Part I)".Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections.33(1): 1–19.ISSN1944-2815.
  17. ^Aigyptos FoundationSlovak Egyptological team
  18. ^James K. Hoffmeier,Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition.Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 64,ISBN0198035403
  19. ^abCapriotti Vittozzi, Giuseppina; Angelini, Andrea (2017)."The Tell el-Maskhuta Project".In Rosati, Gloria; Guidotti, M. Cristina (eds.).Proceedings of the XI International Congress of Egyptologists, Florence, Italy 23-30 August 2015.Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 82.ISBN978-1-78491-601-5.
  20. ^Holladay, John S. Jr., "Tell el-Maskhuta: preliminary report on the Wadi Tumilat Project, 1978-1979", ARCE Reports 6, Cities of the Delta 3, Undena, 1982.ISBN0890030847
  21. ^Neils Peter Lemche (2000)."Is It Still Possible to Write a History of Ancient Israel?".In V. Philips Long (ed.).Israel's Past in Present Research: Essays on Ancient Israelite Historiography.Eisenbrauns. p. 398.ISBN978-1-57506-028-6.

Bibliography

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  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1854–1857). "Pithom".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.London: John Murray.
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Singer, Isidore;et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Pithom".The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
  • Sarna, Nahum M. “Exploring Exodus: The Oppression,” Biblical Archaeologist, Volume 49: 1986 (2001 electronic ed.)
  • M.I. Bakr and H. Brandl, "Various Sites in the Eastern Nile Delta: Tell el-Maskhuta", in: M.I. Bakr and H. Brandl, with F. Kalloniatis (eds.),Egyptian Antiquities from the Eastern Nile Delta(= Museums in the Nile Delta, vol. 2). Cairo/Berlin 2014, pp. 78 and 266-267, cat. 72.ISBN9783000453182.
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