Poole, Reginald S.: The cities of Egypt (London, 1882)

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CITIES OF EGYPT.

CHAPTER VII.

PITHOM.

To repeat in brief what has been already shown,—the
building by the Hebrews of the ' treasure' cities or,
better, ' store' cities (comp. 2 Chron. xxxii. 28), Pithom
and Raamses (Exod. i. 11) or Rameses, seems to mark
the beginning of the heat of the Oppression. The name
Rameses points to Ramses II. as the great oppressor.
The date was about B.C. 1400, some eighty years before
the Exodus. After the expulsion of the Shepherds, who
protected the Israelites, the settlers became a serf popu-
lation. With the accession of Ramses a new policy
began. The border and the foreign provinces were now
organised upon a more settled basis of government than
before ; great forts were built to command the frontier;
emporiums of trade were constructed. The growing
multitudes of the Hebrews caused uneasiness to the
Egyptian king, and their employment offered both a