DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3236#0115
50
TELL DEFENNEH.
with the Greek settlers must have been going on,
and a wider intercourse than even a Greek colony
in Palestine would have produced. Here were
numbers of the upper and more cultivated classes
continually thrown into the company of Greeks;
all who could afford to flee had to become more
or less acquainted with Greek language and
ideas in their temporary exile. It was not a case
of a single body of Jews going into Egypt, and
not returning, but of continual ebb and flow, of
alternate dwelling in the Greek settlement and of
return to their own land, as the tide of Babylonian
conquest repeatedly poured over Judea, and then
retired; and finally came the deportation to Baby-
lonia of a large number of those who had settled
permanently to dwell in Daphnai. The whole
circumstances were such as to give the best
possible opportunity for the permeation of Greek
words and Greek ideas among the upper classes
of the Jewish nation. The bearing of this on the
employment of Greek names for musical instru-
ments and other objects among the Hebrews, at
and after the removal to Babylon, is too obvious
to need mention in detail. A fresh and unex-
pected light is thus thrown upon a question which
has been an important clement of Biblical criti-
cism.
47. Of the residence of the Jewish fugitives
here no material remains have been found in the
excavation of the palace; nor is this surprising,
considering the short time during which they
occupied the place as an important political body.
But it is not at all impossible that some part of
the plain around the camp was occupied as the
Jewish quarter; in fact, the little prominent part
of the site on the S.E. seems just such a locality
as would be likely. A full search of the plain
might result in the discovery of Jewish remains.
Yet two connections with the Jewish residence
may bo noticed. First there is the remarkable
name of the fort, " The palace of the Jew's
daughter"; no sucb name is known anywhere
else in the whole of Egypt. This is the one town
in Egypt to which the "king's daughters" of
Judah came, and probably this is the one building
which would be allotted to royal persons, who
came with a large body of the more important
inhabitants of Judea as political refugees. Here,
if anywhere, history locates the Jew's daughters,
the last remnant of the royal family recognized as
such; and here to this day the Bedawin, the de-
scendants of the very tribes who were kept in awe
by that garrison, call the palace-fort after the Jew's
daughter.
48. Another connection of a different kind is
to be seen with the narrative of Jeremiah. " Then
came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in
Tahpanhes, saying, Take great stones in thine
hand, and hide them in mortar in the brickwork
(or pavement), 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 Nebuchadrezzar 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" (B.V., Jer. xliii. 8 to 11).
Now this brickwork or pavement at the entry of
Pharaoh's house has always been misunderstood,
and served as a puzzle to translators. But as
soon as the plan of the palace began to be
uncovered, the exactness of the description was
manifest. On the Plan pi. xliv. will be seen a
large dotted area on the N.W. of the fort. This
was a great open-air platform of brickwork, a sort of
mastaba, as the Egyptians call it, such as is now seen
outside all great houses, and most small ones, in
this country. A space is reserved outside of the
door, generally along the side of the house,
covered with hard beaten mud, edged with a ridge
of bricks if not much raised from the ground, and
kept swept clean. On this platform the inhabitants
TELL DEFENNEH.
with the Greek settlers must have been going on,
and a wider intercourse than even a Greek colony
in Palestine would have produced. Here were
numbers of the upper and more cultivated classes
continually thrown into the company of Greeks;
all who could afford to flee had to become more
or less acquainted with Greek language and
ideas in their temporary exile. It was not a case
of a single body of Jews going into Egypt, and
not returning, but of continual ebb and flow, of
alternate dwelling in the Greek settlement and of
return to their own land, as the tide of Babylonian
conquest repeatedly poured over Judea, and then
retired; and finally came the deportation to Baby-
lonia of a large number of those who had settled
permanently to dwell in Daphnai. The whole
circumstances were such as to give the best
possible opportunity for the permeation of Greek
words and Greek ideas among the upper classes
of the Jewish nation. The bearing of this on the
employment of Greek names for musical instru-
ments and other objects among the Hebrews, at
and after the removal to Babylon, is too obvious
to need mention in detail. A fresh and unex-
pected light is thus thrown upon a question which
has been an important clement of Biblical criti-
cism.
47. Of the residence of the Jewish fugitives
here no material remains have been found in the
excavation of the palace; nor is this surprising,
considering the short time during which they
occupied the place as an important political body.
But it is not at all impossible that some part of
the plain around the camp was occupied as the
Jewish quarter; in fact, the little prominent part
of the site on the S.E. seems just such a locality
as would be likely. A full search of the plain
might result in the discovery of Jewish remains.
Yet two connections with the Jewish residence
may bo noticed. First there is the remarkable
name of the fort, " The palace of the Jew's
daughter"; no sucb name is known anywhere
else in the whole of Egypt. This is the one town
in Egypt to which the "king's daughters" of
Judah came, and probably this is the one building
which would be allotted to royal persons, who
came with a large body of the more important
inhabitants of Judea as political refugees. Here,
if anywhere, history locates the Jew's daughters,
the last remnant of the royal family recognized as
such; and here to this day the Bedawin, the de-
scendants of the very tribes who were kept in awe
by that garrison, call the palace-fort after the Jew's
daughter.
48. Another connection of a different kind is
to be seen with the narrative of Jeremiah. " Then
came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in
Tahpanhes, saying, Take great stones in thine
hand, and hide them in mortar in the brickwork
(or pavement), 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 Nebuchadrezzar 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" (B.V., Jer. xliii. 8 to 11).
Now this brickwork or pavement at the entry of
Pharaoh's house has always been misunderstood,
and served as a puzzle to translators. But as
soon as the plan of the palace began to be
uncovered, the exactness of the description was
manifest. On the Plan pi. xliv. will be seen a
large dotted area on the N.W. of the fort. This
was a great open-air platform of brickwork, a sort of
mastaba, as the Egyptians call it, such as is now seen
outside all great houses, and most small ones, in
this country. A space is reserved outside of the
door, generally along the side of the house,
covered with hard beaten mud, edged with a ridge
of bricks if not much raised from the ground, and
kept swept clean. On this platform the inhabitants