View source for Pithom

{{Short description|Ancient human settlement}}
{{Coord|30|33|7|N|32|5|55|E|display=title}}
{{Location map|Egypt|label=|marksize=6|mark=Red_pog.svg|relief=yes|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=30|lat_min=33|lat_sec=07|lon_dir=E|lon_deg=32|lon_min=05|lon_sec=55|position=right|width=200|float=right|caption=Location of Pithom (as Tell El Maskhuta) in [[Ismailia Governorate]], Egypt}}
{{Hiero|1=pr-jtm<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 2 |date=1925 |page=59 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1925_2/page/n31/mode/2up}}</ref> |2=<hiero>pr:Z1-i-t:tm-im:t*niwt</hiero>| align=right|era=egypt}}

'''Pithom''' ({{langx|egy|pr-jtm}}; {{langx|hbo|פִּתֹם|Pīṯōm}}; {{langx|grc-x-koine|Ἡρώπόλις|Hērṓpólis}} or {{lang|grc|Ἡρώωνπόλις}} {{Transliteration|grc|Hērṓōnpólis}},<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Bard |editor-first1=Kathryn A. |editor-link1=Kathryn A. Bard |title=Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt |date=11 March 1999 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-98283-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNdgScxtirYC |language=en}}</ref> and {{lang|grc|Πατούμος}} {{Transliteration|grc|Patoúmos}}) was an ancient city of Egypt. References in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] sources<ref>[[Strabo]] xvi. 759, 768, xvii. 803, 804; [[Arrian]], ''Exp. Alex.'' iii. 5, vii. 20; [[Josephus|Joseph.]] ''Ant. Jud.'' ii. 7. § 5; [[Pliny the Elder|Plin.]] v. 9. § 11, vi. 32. § 33; [[Pomponius Mela|Mela]], iii. 8; [[Stephanus of Byzantium|Steph. B.]] ''s. v.''; [[Ptolemy|Ptol.]] ii. 1. § 6, iv. 15. § 54</ref> exist for this city, but its exact location remains somewhat uncertain. Some scholars identified it as the later archaeological site of '''Tell el-Maskhuta''' ({{langx|ar|تل المسخوطة|translit=Tall al-Masḫuṭa}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Killebrew |first1=Ann E. |title=Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanite |date=October 2005 |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |isbn=978-1-58983-097-4 |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtAmmwapfVAC&q=Biblical+peoples+and+ethnicity:+an+archaeological |language=en}}</ref> Others identified it as the earlier archaeological site of '''Tell El Retabeh''' ({{langx|ar|تل الرتابة|translit=Tall al-Ratāba}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=T. C. |author1-link=T. C. Mitchell |title=Biblical Archaeology: Documents for the British Museum |date=29 July 1988 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-36867-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WD92jUwjWFQC&dq=pr+itm+pitom&pg=PA40 |language=en}}</ref>

==Etymology==

The English name comes from Hebrew {{lang|he|{{script|Hebr|פיתום}}}} {{Transliteration|he|Pithom}} which was taken from the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] toponym ''pr-(j)tm'', "House of [[Atum]]". Atum's cult center was in [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]].<ref name="autogenerated1">{{citation |last=Hart |first=George |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses |year=2005 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=0-415-34495-6}}.</ref>

==Biblical Pithom==

Pithom is one of the cities which, according to the [[Book of Exodus]] {{bibleverse-nb||Exodus|1:11|31}}, was built for the [[Pharaohs in the Bible#In the Book of Exodus|biblical Pharaoh]] of the oppression by the [[forced labour]] of the [[Israelites]]. The other city was [[Pi-Ramesses]]. The [[Septuagint]] adds a third, "''On'', which is [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]." These cities are called by a term rendered in the Authorized Version "treasure cities" and in the Revised Version "store cities" ({{langx|he|מסכְּנוֹת֙|miskǝnoṯ}}). The Septuagint renders it {{lang|grc|πόλεις ὀχυραί}} "strong [or "fortified"] cities." The same term is used for certain cities of [[King Solomon]] in [[Books of Kings|I Kings]] 9:19 (comp. also [[Books of Chronicles|II Chronicles]] 16:4).

==Graeco-Roman Heroöpolis==
[[File:Canal of the Pharaohs Map-en.svg|thumb|Approximate location of Canal of the Pharaohs]]
Heroöpolis was a large city east of the [[Nile Delta]], situated near the mouth of the [[Canal of the Pharaohs|Royal Canal]] which connected the [[Nile]] with the [[Red Sea]]. Although not immediately upon the coast, but nearly due north of the [[Bitter Lakes]], Heroöpolis was of sufficient importance, as a trading station, to confer its name upon the arm of the Red Sea<ref>{{lang|grc|Ἡρωοπολίτης κόλπος}}, Ptol. v. 17. § 1, [[Latin]]: ''Heroopoliticus Sinus''</ref> which runs up the Egyptian mainland as far as [[Arsinoe (Gulf of Suez)|Arsinoë]] (near modern [[Suez]])—the modern [[Gulf of Suez]].<ref>Theophrast. ''Hist. Plant.'' iii. 8.</ref> It was the capital of the 8th [[nome (Egypt)|nome]] of [[Lower Egypt]].

==Location==
Early on, the location of Pithom—just like the locations of other similar sites, such as [[Tanis, Egypt|Tanis]]—had been the subject of much conjecture and debate.

The 10th-century Jewish scholar [[Saadia Gaon]] identified Pithom's location in his Judeo-Arabic translation of the Hebrew Bible as the [[Faiyum]], {{convert|100|km|0|abbr=off}} southwest of [[Cairo]].<ref>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)</ref>

[[Édouard Naville]] and [[Flinders Petrie]] were looking for Pithom along the [[Wadi Tumilat]], an arable strip of land serving as the ancient transit route between Egypt and Canaan across the Sinai—the biblical 'Way of [[Shur (Bible)|Shur]]'.<ref name="Block">[https://books.google.com/books?id=EFYp8I3icisC&pg=PA113 ''Israel: Ancient Kingdom Or Late Invention?'']  Daniel Isaac Block, ed. B&H Publishing Group, 2008. p. 113 {{ISBN|0805446796}}</ref>

===Tell El Retaba===
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 king [[Nebkaure Khety]], but such an object might have been brought from elsewhere. Naville identified all these locations as being in the region of [[Sukkot (place)|Tjeku]] (Sukkot), the 8th Lower Egypt [[nome (Egypt)|nome]].

Excavations at the Tell El Retabeh have shown that the site was first settled during the [[Second Intermediate Period of Egypt]]. Following the expulsion of the [[Hyksos]] during the reign of [[Ahmose I]], a short-lived Egyptian settlement followed but ended in the middle of the 18th Dynasty. At the beginning of the [[19th Dynasty of Egypt]], a newer settlement was established, and [[Ramesses II]] built 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).<ref name="PoSlovak">{{Cite web|title=Tell el-Retaba|url=https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/en/2019/01/12/tell-el-retaba-2/|access-date=2020-07-28|website=pcma.uw.edu.pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Formation of an Empire. Results of the Season 2017 in Tell el-Retaba |journal=Ägypten und Levante |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1553/aeundl29s15 |last1=Hudec |first1=Jozef |volume=29 |pages=15–52 |last2=Hulková |first2=Lucia |doi=10.1553/aeundl29s15 |year=2020 |issn=1015-5104 |last3=Dubcová |first3=Veronika |last4=Wodzińska |first4=Anna}}</ref>

Some scholars, such as [[Manfred Bietak]] and [[Kenneth Kitchen]], have argued that this was the ancient Pithom.<ref name="Block" /> This opinion goes back to the 19th century, when [[Alan Gardiner]] first identified Pithom with the site of Tell El Retaba, and this was later accepted by [[William F. Albright]],<ref>{{cite book | last = Bromiley | first = Geoffrey W. | title = International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: K-P | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co | year = 1994 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Zkla5Gl_66oC&pg=PA876 | isbn = 978-0-8028-3783-7| page = 876 }}</ref> and Kenneth Kitchen.<ref>{{cite book | last = Kitchen | first = Kenneth A. | author-link = Kenneth Kitchen  | title = Ramesside Inscriptions, Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments Volume II: Ramesses II, Royal Inscriptions | publisher =  Wiley-Blackwell | year = 1999 | url =  https://books.google.com/books?id=8b6GI3DaJJwC&q=naville+pithom+Tjeku+kenneth+kitchen&pg=PA266  | isbn = 978-0-631-18435-5| page = 270 }}</ref> Although [[John Van Seters|John van Seters]] and [[Neil Asher Silberman]] argue that Tell El Retaba was unoccupied during the period when we find monuments relating to a town called Pithom,<ref name="Seters">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}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YzQe_4Waz34C&dq=Per-Atum+Toronto+excavations&pg=PA261]</ref> this claim has been disputed by [[James K. Hoffmeier]] and [[Gary Rendsburg]] based on recent findings at the site.<ref name="HoRe">{{cite journal |title=Pithom and Rameses (Exodus 1:11): Historical, Archaeological, and Linguistic Issues (Part I) |journal=Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections |url=https://www.academia.edu/97588266 |last1=Hoffmeier |first1=James K. |date=March 2022 |issue=1 |volume=33 |pages=1–19 |last2=Rendsburg |first2=Gary A. |issn=1944-2815}}</ref>

The joint [[Poland|Polish]]-[[Slovakia|Slovak]] expedition has carried out a systematic research at Tell El Retaba since 2007.<ref>[http://aigyptos.sk/en/tel-el-retabi Aigyptos Foundation] Slovak Egyptological team</ref> It is conducted with the cooperation of several institutions: Institute of Archaeology [[University of Warsaw]], the [[Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw]], the [[Slovak Academy of Sciences]] and the Aigyptos Foundation.<ref name="PoSlovak" />

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 as [[Migdol]].<ref>James K. Hoffmeier, [https://books.google.com/books?id=SMZnDgFxiTUC&pg=PA64 ''Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition.''] Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 64, {{ISBN|0198035403}}</ref>

===Wadi Tumilat Project – Tell El Maskhuta===
In the spring of 1883, Naville believed he had identified Pithom as the archaeological site [[Tell el-Maschuta|Tell El Maskhuta]]. The site of Pithom, as identified by Naville, is at the eastern edge of Wadi Tumilat, southwest of [[Ismailia]]. 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 (Biblical [[Sukkot (place)|Sukkot]]).<ref name="Italian">{{cite book |title=Proceedings of the XI International Congress of Egyptologists, Florence, Italy 23-30 August 2015 |last1=Capriotti Vittozzi |first1=Giuseppina |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-78491-601-5 |last2=Angelini |first2=Andrea |editor-last=Rosati |editor-first=Gloria |page=82 |chapter=The Tell el-Maskhuta Project |editor-last2=Guidotti |editor-first2=M. Cristina |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TIbwswEACAAJ&pg=PA82}}</ref>

Here was found a group of granite statues representing [[Ramesses II]], two inscriptions naming ''Pr-Itm'' (Temple of Atum), storehouses and bricks made without straw. Recent excavations have also uncovered a significant [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] tomb at the site.<ref name="Italian" /> The excavations carried on by Naville for the [[Egypt Exploration Society|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.

Modern excavations at Tel El Maskhuta were carried out by the [[University 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 the [[Hyksos]], followed by a long break until the late 7th century BC, when there was rebuilding.<ref>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.{{ISBN|0890030847}}</ref>

This construction at the end of the 7th century may have been carried out by Pharaoh [[Necho II]], possibly as part of his uncompleted canal building project from the Nile to the Gulf of Suez.<ref name="Seters" /><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=V. Philips Long |title=Israel's Past in Present Research: Essays on Ancient Israelite Historiography |year=2000|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-1-57506-028-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJjgv3PmvkIC&q=Pithom+7th&pg=PA398|author=Neils Peter Lemche|chapter=Is It Still Possible to Write a History of Ancient Israel? |page=398}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of ancient Egyptian towns and cities]]
*[[List of ancient Egyptian sites]], including sites of temples

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{SmithDGRG|title=Pithom}}
*{{JewishEncyclopedia|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=P&artid=357|article=Pithom}}
* 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.&nbsp;78 and 266-267, cat. 72. {{ISBN|9783000453182}}.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Archaeological sites in Egypt]]
[[Category:Ruins in Egypt]]
[[Category:Torah cities]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Egypt]]
[[Category:Tells (archaeology)|Tell el-Maskhuta]]
[[Category:Wadi Tumilat]]