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Elephantine
Aramaic YEB
Elephantine is an island in the Nile near
Aswan, named for its
peculiar rock formations resembling (vaguely)
elephants. It was the site of an ancient military
base which, during the Persian empire and evidently
much earlier, was manned by Jews. Papyri from
Elephantine preserve some details about these
Hebrew soldiers and their daily life, to the
extent that individual owners' names can be
associated with excavated houses.
What most distinguishes Elephantine from other Jewish
enclaves abroad is its temple (actually more nearly
resembling the Tabernacle described in the Torah
than the Temple in Jerusalem.) This building,
which has also been excavated, should not be imagined
as a mere synagogue; it had priests who performed
animal sacrifices. Nor did it represent a pagan or
syncretist cult; the papyri include correspondence
between the authorities of the Jerusalem and
Elephantine temples. A number of scholars have
suggested that such temples were common in Judah
and Israel before the time of Josiah and his
"centralising reforms." The temple at
Arad is another example.
The Elephantine temple was destroyed in 410 BC,
apparently at the instigation of the priests of
Khnum, the local deity. It was rebuilt soon afterwards.
The date of its final abandonment is unknown.
Some people have suggested
a connection between Elephantine and the
Ark of Axum.
Norman Hugh Redington
-
Wikipedia entry
- R. A. Lobban:
Historical Dictionary of Ancient and
Medieval Nubia, p. 152.
- Rex Keating:
Nubian Twilight, (1962).
New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1962.
- Stephen G. Rosenburg:
The Jewish Temple at Elephantine.
From Near Eastern Archaeology, 67:1(4)2004.
- The Papyri:
-
Papyri from Elephantine
in the West Semitic Research Archive:
Descriptions of all the papyri (many more than
those translated below).
--- WSR
-
Quit Claim of Peu, an Egyptian, after his
divorce from Mibtahiah daughter of Mahseiah.
Edited by K. C. Hanson, 2004.
Text, copyrighted translation, commentary, bibliography.
--- West Semitic Documents
-
Hananiah:
Passover Letter to the Judahite Garrison, 419 BCE.
Edited by K. C. Hanson, 2002.
Text, copyrighted translation, commentary, bibliography.
--- West Semitic Documents
-
Petition of the Priests of Elephantine
to Authorize Temple Reconstruction, 407 BCE.
Sent to Bagoas, Persian governor of Judah.
Edited by K. C. Hanson, 2002.
Text, copyrighted translation, commentary, bibliography.
--- West Semitic Documents
-
Michael R. Jenkins:
Recent Christian Period Finds on Elephantine Island.
From Bull. Austral. Cent. Egyptol. 9(61)1998.
--- Ma'at
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