View source for Tahpanhes

{{coord|30|51|38|N|32|10|17|E|display=title}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                     = Tahpanhes
| other_name               = Tehaphnehes<br/>Daphnae, Taphnas (ancient Greek)<br/>Tell Defenneh
| settlement_type          = Ancient city
| pushpin_map              = Egypt
| pushpin_label_position   = bottom
| pushpin_mapsize          = 300
| pushpin_relief           = 300
| pushpin_map_caption      = Location in Egypt
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = {{flag|Egypt}}
| unit_pref                = Imperial
| area_footnotes           = 
| area_total_km2           = 
| area_land_km2            = 
| timezone                 = [[Egypt Standard Time|EST]]
| utc_offset               = +2
| timezone_DST             = +3
| utc_offset_DST           = 
| coordinates              = {{coord|30|51|38|N|32|10|17|E|region:EG|display=inline}}
| elevation_footnotes      = <!--for references: use <ref> </ref> tags-->
| elevation_m              = 
| elevation_ft             = 
}}
 
'''Tahpanhes''' or '''Tehaphnehes''' ({{Langx|phn|𐤕𐤇𐤐𐤍𐤇𐤎|translit={{sc|tḥpnḥs}}}};<ref>[[Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften|KAI]] 50 ([[Phoenician papyrus letters|Phoenician papyrus letter]])</ref> {{langx|he|תַּחְפַּנְחֵס|translit=Taḥpanḥēs}} or {{langx|he|תְּחַפְנְחֵס|translit=Tǝḥafnǝḥēs}}{{Efn|The [[Masoretic Text]] uses the prior spelling in all occurrences except Ez. 30:18, where the latter is found.}}) known by the Ancient Greeks as the ([[Pelusium|Pelusian]]) '''Daphnae''' ({{langx|grc|Δάφναι αἱ Πηλούσιαι}})<ref>{{cite book|author=Herodotus|title=Histories|year=1907|url=https://archive.org/details/histories00hero_1|chapter=II.30,107}}</ref> and '''Taphnas''' ({{lang|grc|Ταφνας}}) in the [[Septuagint]], now '''Tell Defenneh''', was a city in [[ancient Egypt]]. It was located on [[Lake Manzala]] on the Tanitic branch of the [[Nile]], about 26&nbsp;km (16 miles) from [[Pelusium]]. The site is now situated on the [[Suez Canal]].

== Name ==
The meaning of the name remains uncertain although it appears to be of an [[Egypt|Egyptian]] origin. Biblical scholar [[John L. McKenzie]] refers the name to ''T-h-p-nhsj'' meaning ''Fortress of the Nubian'', while [[William F. Albright|William Albright]] adds it means ''Fortress of [[Panehesy (name)|Pinehas]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKenzie |first1=John |authorlink1=John L. McKenzie |title=The Dictionary Of The Bible |date=1995 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=9780684819136 |page=865 |edition=Reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aE7EyQ_HQAMC&pg=PA865 |language=English}}</ref> [[Georges Daressy|Daressy]] and [[Wilhelm Spiegelberg|Spiegelberg]] connect the name with the hieroglyphic word ''Tephen''.<ref name = Budge1056/><ref name = Gauthier41/>
{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|{{hiero|tpḥn<ref name = Budge1056>{{cite book |last1=Wallis Budge |first1=E. A. |title=An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. Vol II |date=1920 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft/page/1056 1056] |url=https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft}}</ref><ref name = Gauthier41>{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol .6 |date=1929 |page=41 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1929/page/n23}}</ref>|<hiero>ti-p-H-nw:niwt</hiero> '''or''' <hiero>ti-pr-H-nw:niwt</hiero>|align=center|era=pt}}
|{{hiero|ṯbn(t)<ref name = Gauthier73/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wallis Budge |first1=E. A. |title=An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. Vol II |date=1920 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft/page/1059 1059] |url=https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft}}</ref>|<hiero>T-b-n:F16-t:niwt</hiero>|era=nk|align=center}}
|{{hiero|ṯbn(t)<ref name = Gauthier73>{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 6 |date=1929 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1929/page/n40 73] |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1929}}</ref>|<hiero>T-b-n:t*Z5-niwt</hiero>|era=lp|align=center}}
|}

==History==
[[Psammetichus I|King Psammetichus]] (664–610 BC) established a garrison of foreign mercenaries at Daphnae, mostly [[Caria]]ns and [[Ionia]]n Greeks ([[Herodotus]] ii. 154).

According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], the Jews from [[Jerusalem]] fled to this place after the death of [[Gedaliah]] and settled there for a time ([[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] [[Jeremiah 2:16|2:16]]; [[Jeremiah 43:7]],8,9; [[Jeremiah 44:1|44:1]]; {{bibleverse-nb||Jeremiah|46:14|HE}}; [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] {{bibleverse-nb||Ezekiel|30:18|HE}}). After Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC, the Jewish refugees, including [[Jeremiah]], came to Tahpanhes ([[Jeremiah 43]]–[[Jeremiah 44|44]]).
[[File:Tell Dafana (Tahpanhes)-Qasr Bint al-Yahudi-3D.jpg|thumb|369x369px|Artistic 3D reconstruction of the fort "Qasr Bint al-Yahudi" belong to the time between Psammetichus and Amasis]]
A platform of [[brickwork]], which has been tentatively described as the pavement at the entry of [[Pharaoh]]'s palace, has been discovered at this place. "Here," says the discoverer, [[William Flinders Petrie]], "the ceremony described by Jeremiah {{bibleverse-nb||Jeremiah|43:8-10|HE}}; 'brick-kiln' (i.e. pavement of brick) took place before the chiefs of the fugitives assembled on the platform, and here [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] spread his royal pavilion".<ref>William Flinders Petrie, “Tanis II., Nebesheh, and Defenneh,” Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 4. London: Trübner & Co., 1888).</ref>


When [[Naucratis]] was given the monopoly of Greek traffic by [[Amasis II]] (570–526 BC), the Greeks were removed from Daphnae and its prosperity never returned; in Herodotus' time the deserted remains of the docks and buildings were visible.

According to the [[Phoenician papyrus letters]], Phoenicians settled in the site.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=קצנשטיין |first=ה. יעקב |last2= |first2= |date=1978 |title='מחנה הצורים' אשר בנוף בארץ מצרים (The Camp of the Tyrians at Memphis) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23617920 |journal=ארץ-ישראל: מחקרים בידיעת הארץ ועתיקותיה |language=he |volume=14 |pages=163 |issn=0071-108X}}</ref>

The site was discovered by [[Flinders Petrie|Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie]] in 1886; it was then known by natives as Qasr Bint al-Yahudi, the "Castle of the Jew's Daughter".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gcoCAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22castle+of+the+jew%27s+daughter%22&pg=PA82 Volume 14], ''[[The Antiquary (magazine)|The Antiquary]]'', 1886</ref> There is a massive fort and enclosure; the chief discovery was a large number of fragments of pottery, which are of great importance for the chronology of vase-painting, since they must belong to the time between Psammetichus and Amasis, i.e. the end of the 7th or the beginning of the 6th century BC. They show the characteristics of Ionian art, but their shapes and other details testify to their local manufacture.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Daphnae |volume=7 |page=825}}</ref>

Egyptologist Noël Aimé-Giron proposed to identify Tahpanhes with the biblical location of [[Baal-zephon]] based on the [[Phoenician papyrus letters#Saqqara letter (KAI 50)|Saqqara letter]].<ref>Noël Aimé-Giron, ‘Baʿal Saphon et les dieux de Tahpanhes dans un nouveau papyrus Phénicien’, ASAE (1941): 433–460.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Tell Nebesha]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
{{reflist}}

==References==
*WMF Petrie, "Tanis II., Nebesheh, and Defenneh" (the ''Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund'', 1888)
*{{eastons|title=Tahpanhes}}
{{Phoenician cities and colonies|state=Egypt}}

[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Egypt]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Egypt]]
[[Category:Phoenician colonies]]