Pithom

Pithom (, Ptol. v. 17. § 1, Latin: "Heroopoliticus Sinus") which runs up the Egyptian mainland as far as Arsinoë (near modern Suez) (polytonic|κόλπος Ἡρώων); the modern Gulf of Suez. (Theophrast. "Hist. Plant." iii. 8.) It was the capital of the Heroopolite nome (the 8th nome of Lower Egypt) later renamed the Arsinoite nome. (Orelli, "Inscr. Lat." no. 516.)

Location

The location of Pithom has been the subject of much conjecture and debate. In the spring of 1883 Édouard Naville believed he had identified it as the archaeological site Tell-el-Maskhuta. The site of Pithom, as identified by Naville, is to the east of Wadi Tumilat, south-west of Ismaïlia. Here was formerly a group of granite statues representing Ramesses II, two inscriptions naming Pr-Itm, storehouses and bricks made without straw. The excavations carried on by Naville for the Egypt Exploration Fund uncovered 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. Naville identified it as being in the region of Tjeku, the capital of the 8th Lower Egypt nome. Excavations carried out over five seasons between 1978 and 1985 have shown that Tell el-Maskhuta dates only to the end of the 7th century, and may have been built by Pharaoh Necho II, possibly as part of the major canal building project from the Nile to the Gulf of Suez. Although it was known as Pithom until Roman times, it was clearly not the Pithom of the Bible. [Seters, 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, ISBN-978-1850756507, [http://books.google.com/books?id=YzQe_4Waz34C&pg=PA261&dq=Per-Atum+Toronto+excavations&num=100&ei=GNJDSKCnDYSKjAH9tK2IBQ&client=firefox-a&sig=TpwezmGvgw26wJiNJPEPWNcpRVo#PPA261,M1] ]

This identification was challenged by Sir Allen Gardiner, who identified Pithom with Tell er-Rebata, an identification which was later accepted by William F. Albright. [cite book | last = Bromiley | first = Geoffrey W. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: K-P | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | year = 1994 | location = | pages = 876 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=r7QTYwYvvx0C&pg=PA876&dq=The+Store-City+of+Pithom+and+The+Route+of+the+Exodus+straw&num=100&ei=OA1ESKWzDJ2yjAHvsb2_Cw&client=firefox-a&sig=s-BDdpex8Fsfd8VUoZeE6dy8Lpk | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0802837837 ] More recently the Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen endorsed the identification of Pithom with Tell er-Rebata. [cite book | last = Kitchen | first = Kenneth A. | authorlink = Kenneth Kitchen | coauthors = | title = Ramesside Inscriptions, Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments Volume II: Ramesses II, Royal Inscriptions | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | year = 1999 | location = | pages = 270 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=8b6GI3DaJJwC&pg=PA266&dq=naville+pithom+Tjeku+kenneth+kitchen&ei=SQRESKq8M5WmigH68ZmJBQ&client=firefox-a&sig=OMQ6KxGBa8qotRvayZJkjdRI-Q8#PPA270,M1 | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0631184355 ] John Van Seters points out that the archeological excavations mentioned above show Tell er-Rebata to have been unoccupied during the same period when we find monuments relating to a town called Pithom.

References

*SmithDGRG
*JewishEncyclopedia
* Sarna, Nahum M. “Exploring Exodus: The Oppression,” Biblical Archaeologist, Volume 49: 1986 (2001 electronic ed.)

External links

* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/volume10/V10p063003.jpgJewish Encyclopedia article]