Elephantine
An island in the Nile at Aswan, below the First Cataract, on the southern border of ancient Egypt. In the fifth century BC a garrison of Judeans lived there with a temple of their own, known from Aramaic papyri found on the island.
Elephantine is an island in the Nile at Aswan, just below the First Cataract. The Aramaic papyri found there call it Yeb, “the fortress”, and name Syene, the modern Aswan on the east bank, as a second fortress. A letter of 407 BC from the Judeans who lived on the island says that their temple of YHW stood there before Cambyses came to Egypt, and that the priests of Khnum and the chief official of the place had it destroyed in the fourteenth year of Darius (Elephantine petition to Bagohi recto 4–14); see the temple at Elephantine. The papyri cited in this wiki came from excavations on the island directed by Otto Rubensohn and Friedrich Zucker and are kept in Berlin and Cairo. Ezekiel names Syene in marking the extent of Egypt (Ezekiel 29:10).
What happened here
- 410 BC to 407 BC, firm dateThe Judean Temple at Elephantine
Papyri from an island on Egypt’s southern border show a garrison of Judeans with a temple of their own. Egyptian priests and the local commander destroy it in 410 BC, and in 407 BC the community asks the governor of Judah to back its rebuilding.
Primary sources
Scripture
The Elephantine Petition to Bagohi (TAD A4.7)
- Elephantine petition to Bagohi recto 4–14elephantine.smb.museum