DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5538#0083
THE BURIED CITIES OF ANCIEXT EGYPT. 63
not the voice of the Lord. Thus came they, even unto Tah-
panhes.
" Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tah-
panhes, saying,
" Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in mor-
tar, in the brickwork which is at the entry of Pharaoh's
house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah ;
"And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Xebuchadrezzar
the King of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne
upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his
royal pavilion over them.
" And he shall come, and shall smite the land of Egypt;
such as are for death shall be given to death, and such as are
for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to
the sword."
I quote from the Kevised Version; and it must be particu-
larly noted that there is an alternative reading given in the
margin, where the "brick-work" which is at the entry of
Pharaoh's House is rendered as the "pavement" or "square."
Upon what happened after this, the Bible is silent; and
beyond the scant record of this brief chronicle, we only know
that Tahpanhes and Daphnas were one and the same, and that
Tell Defenneh marks this interesting meeting-point of Egyp-
tian, Greek, Assyrian, and Hebrew history. Mr. Petrie went
therefore to Tell Defenneh to prove or disprove an accepted
identification. There, in the midst of an arid waste, half
marsh, half desert—far from roads, villages, or cultivated soil
—in view of an horizon bounded by the heron-haunted lagoons
of Lake Menzaleh and the mud-swamps of the plain of Pelu-
sium—he found three groups of mounds. These groups lay
from half a mile to a mile apart, the intermediate flat being
covered with stone chips, potsherds, and the remains of brick
foundations. These chips, potsherds, and foundations mark-
ed the site of an important city, in which the lines of the
streets and the boundaries of two or three large enclosures
were yet visible. Two of the mounds were apparently mere
not the voice of the Lord. Thus came they, even unto Tah-
panhes.
" Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tah-
panhes, saying,
" Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in mor-
tar, in the brickwork which is at the entry of Pharaoh's
house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah ;
"And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Xebuchadrezzar
the King of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne
upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his
royal pavilion over them.
" And he shall come, and shall smite the land of Egypt;
such as are for death shall be given to death, and such as are
for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to
the sword."
I quote from the Kevised Version; and it must be particu-
larly noted that there is an alternative reading given in the
margin, where the "brick-work" which is at the entry of
Pharaoh's House is rendered as the "pavement" or "square."
Upon what happened after this, the Bible is silent; and
beyond the scant record of this brief chronicle, we only know
that Tahpanhes and Daphnas were one and the same, and that
Tell Defenneh marks this interesting meeting-point of Egyp-
tian, Greek, Assyrian, and Hebrew history. Mr. Petrie went
therefore to Tell Defenneh to prove or disprove an accepted
identification. There, in the midst of an arid waste, half
marsh, half desert—far from roads, villages, or cultivated soil
—in view of an horizon bounded by the heron-haunted lagoons
of Lake Menzaleh and the mud-swamps of the plain of Pelu-
sium—he found three groups of mounds. These groups lay
from half a mile to a mile apart, the intermediate flat being
covered with stone chips, potsherds, and the remains of brick
foundations. These chips, potsherds, and foundations mark-
ed the site of an important city, in which the lines of the
streets and the boundaries of two or three large enclosures
were yet visible. Two of the mounds were apparently mere