DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14391#0023
STORE-CITY OF PITHOM AND
THE EOUTE OE THE EXODUS
9
which it is engraved formed part of a wall in
white calcareous stone, situate not very far
from the entrance, in the line of the dromos,
and near some Roman brickwork, which very
likely was a gate. The inscription was en-
graved by two different hands.1 It seems to
me very clear that after the letters LO, which
Prof. Mommsen reads LO(CUS),2 the writer
intended to engrave EROPOLIS, but stopped
short after the letter P, the remainder being
finished by another hand. Whatever doubt may
remain as to the meaning of the first two lines of
the inscription, the last two are perfectly clear,
ERO CASTRA, the camp of Ero. 'Hpco, Hero,
says Stephanus Byzantinus, is an Egyptian city,
which Strabo calls "Hpa>wv ttoXw, Heroopolis.
The second inscription3 is more interesting,
because it gives the distance from ERO to
CLVSMA. If I had not found the other, it
might have been doubtful whether we were at
the starting-point ERO, especially as the dis-
tance given entirely disagrees with the numbers
of the Itinerary of Antonine. A small fragment
with the Greek word HPOT is also an evidence
of the site of the city of Heroopolis.
A very interesting confirmation of the iden-
tity of Pithom and Heroopolis is found in that
passage of Genesis (xlvi. 28) which relates that
Jacob, going to Egypt, " sent Judah before
him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto
Goshen." Here the Septuagint, who, as M.
Lepsius rightly observes, must have known the
geography of Egypt, differ from the Hebrew
text, and translate, instead of Goshen, near
Heroopolis in the land of Ramses, k<x#' ^Hpaav
tt6\iv ets yrjv Pajxecrcrr]. The Coptic version,
however, which was translated from the Septu-
agint, keeps the old name of the city, and
has, near Pithom the city in the land of Ramses,
g,«s.nE©cxm 'f-BAKi <£>ert nK*g,i rtp<5JU<sxcH.
1 Plate XI. a.
2 Uber einer neu aufgefundenen Reisebericht, p. 7.
3 PL XI. b.
This striking coincidence shows that at the
time when the Coptic version was made the
old name had not yet been obliterated; Hero-
opolis was still for the natives the abode of the
god Turn, who very likely was still worshipped
there.
Abou Keycheyd, or as it is called now Tell el
Mashhidah, was the site of Heroopolis. The
famous French geographer d'Anville,4 with his
admirable acuteness, had already guessed the
truth. More recently Quatremere, Champol-
lion, Dubois Ayme, Le Pere, and Linant Bey,5
adopted the same view, -which has however been
opposed in the most contemptuous terms by
Dr. Schleiden,6 the originator of the theory of
the Mediterranean Exodus. M. Lepsius7 places
Heroopolis at Magfar, three miles from Maskhu-
tah. M. Brugsch in his earlier works supported
the identity of Heroopolis and Pithom, which
he translated " fortress ;" but in his memoir on
the Exodus, following Schleiden's system, he
placed Pithom near lake Menzaleh, and Hero-
opolis near Suez, but on the other side of the
gulf.8 This great discrepancy of opinion among
such numerous and high authorities shows how
difficult it is to reconstruct the ancient geo-
graphy of Egypt upon the scanty information
given by Greek and Roman authors, and how
absolutely necessary it is to make excavations,
in order to come to some definite results.
Several interpretations have been proposed for
the name of Heroopolis. M. Lepsius derives it
from the god 'Hpa> or 'Hpcov, who, as Champol-
lion and Wilkinson rightly observe, is the
equivalent of Turn in the inscription of the
4 "Memoires sur l'Egypte," p. 121 et seq.
6 " Memoires sur les principaux travaux executes en
Egypte," p. 158.
0 "Die Landenge von Sues," p. 120 et seq.
7 " Chronologie," p. 345.
8 Since this was written a very interesting article by M.
Brugsch, in the " Deutsche Revue," has brought forward
before the German public the discovery of Pithom-Hero-
opolis.
0
THE EOUTE OE THE EXODUS
9
which it is engraved formed part of a wall in
white calcareous stone, situate not very far
from the entrance, in the line of the dromos,
and near some Roman brickwork, which very
likely was a gate. The inscription was en-
graved by two different hands.1 It seems to
me very clear that after the letters LO, which
Prof. Mommsen reads LO(CUS),2 the writer
intended to engrave EROPOLIS, but stopped
short after the letter P, the remainder being
finished by another hand. Whatever doubt may
remain as to the meaning of the first two lines of
the inscription, the last two are perfectly clear,
ERO CASTRA, the camp of Ero. 'Hpco, Hero,
says Stephanus Byzantinus, is an Egyptian city,
which Strabo calls "Hpa>wv ttoXw, Heroopolis.
The second inscription3 is more interesting,
because it gives the distance from ERO to
CLVSMA. If I had not found the other, it
might have been doubtful whether we were at
the starting-point ERO, especially as the dis-
tance given entirely disagrees with the numbers
of the Itinerary of Antonine. A small fragment
with the Greek word HPOT is also an evidence
of the site of the city of Heroopolis.
A very interesting confirmation of the iden-
tity of Pithom and Heroopolis is found in that
passage of Genesis (xlvi. 28) which relates that
Jacob, going to Egypt, " sent Judah before
him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto
Goshen." Here the Septuagint, who, as M.
Lepsius rightly observes, must have known the
geography of Egypt, differ from the Hebrew
text, and translate, instead of Goshen, near
Heroopolis in the land of Ramses, k<x#' ^Hpaav
tt6\iv ets yrjv Pajxecrcrr]. The Coptic version,
however, which was translated from the Septu-
agint, keeps the old name of the city, and
has, near Pithom the city in the land of Ramses,
g,«s.nE©cxm 'f-BAKi <£>ert nK*g,i rtp<5JU<sxcH.
1 Plate XI. a.
2 Uber einer neu aufgefundenen Reisebericht, p. 7.
3 PL XI. b.
This striking coincidence shows that at the
time when the Coptic version was made the
old name had not yet been obliterated; Hero-
opolis was still for the natives the abode of the
god Turn, who very likely was still worshipped
there.
Abou Keycheyd, or as it is called now Tell el
Mashhidah, was the site of Heroopolis. The
famous French geographer d'Anville,4 with his
admirable acuteness, had already guessed the
truth. More recently Quatremere, Champol-
lion, Dubois Ayme, Le Pere, and Linant Bey,5
adopted the same view, -which has however been
opposed in the most contemptuous terms by
Dr. Schleiden,6 the originator of the theory of
the Mediterranean Exodus. M. Lepsius7 places
Heroopolis at Magfar, three miles from Maskhu-
tah. M. Brugsch in his earlier works supported
the identity of Heroopolis and Pithom, which
he translated " fortress ;" but in his memoir on
the Exodus, following Schleiden's system, he
placed Pithom near lake Menzaleh, and Hero-
opolis near Suez, but on the other side of the
gulf.8 This great discrepancy of opinion among
such numerous and high authorities shows how
difficult it is to reconstruct the ancient geo-
graphy of Egypt upon the scanty information
given by Greek and Roman authors, and how
absolutely necessary it is to make excavations,
in order to come to some definite results.
Several interpretations have been proposed for
the name of Heroopolis. M. Lepsius derives it
from the god 'Hpa> or 'Hpcov, who, as Champol-
lion and Wilkinson rightly observe, is the
equivalent of Turn in the inscription of the
4 "Memoires sur l'Egypte," p. 121 et seq.
6 " Memoires sur les principaux travaux executes en
Egypte," p. 158.
0 "Die Landenge von Sues," p. 120 et seq.
7 " Chronologie," p. 345.
8 Since this was written a very interesting article by M.
Brugsch, in the " Deutsche Revue," has brought forward
before the German public the discovery of Pithom-Hero-
opolis.
0