Ebr-structure~MainLemma 4806 Structure

Eglon (Place)

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ites, thereby magnifying his importance. He not only subjugated the Israelites but reduced them to poverty for 18 years. Ehud (Ioud, Ιοδης) told him that he had a dream to disclose to him by order of God, which made him leap from his throne in joy. In the few rabbinic sources that mention him, however, he is largely redeemed. He is taken to be the father (or grandfather) of virtuous Ruth and of Orpah. Always anxious to discover genealogical links between biblical characters, the midrash assumes that upper class Bethlehemites like Elimelech’s sons would only have married Moabite women if they were royalty. Thus the women must be the daughters of Eglon, the Moabite king known from Judges. He is honored with Ruth as a daughter as a reward for his having honored God. Though the biblical text has Eglon rise from his seat when Ehud approaches, the midrash reads this as an acknowledgment of God: “Rising from your throne in deference to Me [Judg 3 : 20], you accorded me honor. As you live I shall cause to rise out of you a son [i.e., David] whom I will seat on My throne” (RutR 2 : 4). Another midrash links Solomon, who “sat on the throne of the Lord” (1 Chr 29 : 23) as Eglon’s reward for having arisen from his seat (e.g., bSan 60a). Still another tradition makes Eglon the grandfather of Goliath through Orpah. Because Orpah had led a profligate life, Goliath was jeered at as “the son of a hundred fathers and one mother.” So combining these traditions, it would appear that Eglon was the ancestor of both David and Goliath reflecting perhaps the ongoing Jewish ambivalence about David’s Moabite ancestry. Bibliography: ■ Bialik, H.N./Y. H. Ravnitzky (eds.), The Book of Legends: Sefer ha-Aggadah (trans. W. G. Braude; New York 1992); trans. of id., Sefer ha-Aggadah, 6 parts in 3 vols. (Krakow 1907–10). ■ Ginzberg, L., The Legends of the Jews, 7 vols. (Philadelphia, Pa. 1909–38). [See vol. 4] ■ Rabinowitz, L. (trans.), Midrash Rabbah: Ruth (London 1939).

Robert L. Cohn See also /Ehud; /Ehud and Eglon, Story of

Eglon (Place) Eglon is the name of a Canaanite royal city destroyed by the Israelites (Josh 10 : 34–35) and allotted then to the tribe of Judah (Josh 15 : 39). Its location is uncertain. The identification with Tell el-Hesi is disputed. Other candidates are Tell Beit Mirsim and Tell Aitun. Bibliography: ■ Blakely, J. A./F. L. Horton, “On Site Identifications Old and New: The Example of Tell el-Hesi,” Near Eastern Archaeology 64/1–2 (2001) 24–36.

Klaas Spronk See also /Eton, Tel

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Egypt (Person) The second of the four sons of Ham mentioned in Gen 10 : 6 is called Miṣrayim (Egypt). As the descendents of Ham are regarded as the forebears of the southern peoples, Miṣrayim is a personification of the land of Egypt. He is also the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, and Naphtuhim (Gen 10 : 13), which may also be regarded as personifications of peoples and tribes situated in Libya and around Memphis (Naphtuhim). Bibliography: ■ Lipin´ski, É., “Les Chamites selon Gen 10,6–10 et 1Chr 1,8–16,” ZAH 3 (1990) 40–53. ■ Winnett, F. V., “The Arabian Genealogies in the Book of Genesis,” in Translating & Understanding the Old Testament, FS H. G. May (ed. H. T. Frank/W. L. Reed; Nashville, Tenn. 1970) 171– 96.

Mareike V. Blischke See also /Ham (Person)

Egypt Exploration Society /Institutes of Near Eastern Research

Egypt, Ancient I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X.

History and Civilization Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament New Testament Judaism Christianity Islam Literature Visual Arts Music Film

I. History and Civilization ■ History ■ The Jews in Egypt during the Second Temple and Hellenistic Period ■ Christianity in Egypt (Until 500 CE) ■ Archaeology ■ Texts ■ Society ■ Religion ■ Culture and Arts ■ Relations with SyroPalestine

A. History Early Dynastic (2920–2575 BCE). History begins with written records. Written records presuppose a society that is sufficiently large and specialized to have a scribal class. Egypt has one of the earliest societies keeping records. Before the advent of writing, a number of different cultures are present in the Nile valley. Writing appears at the beginning of a unified state, the founding of Memphis, and burial of rulers at Abydos. Most developments in Egyptian civilization seem to be native, but indications of Mesopotamian influence include decorative clay cones, niched facades on monumental architecture, cylinder seals, Sumerian style dress in iconography, and fantastical beasts with intertwining necks. Contact with the

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Levant occurs early and conflict is attested as early as the First Dynasty king Den. Old Kingdom (2575–2134 BCE). The Early Dynastic Period ends when Egyptian society reached a state of organization such that it could erect truly massive structures: the pyramids. The first pyramid was the step pyramid of Djoser. Later pharaohs, such as Sneferu, Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus, developed the design further. The manpower necessary for constructing the pyramids entailed placing a 2.5 ton stone every two–three minutes for the entire reign of the king. This required the organization of construction crews, levying of corvey labor, requisitioning of supplies. Conflict with the Levant was regular throughout the Old Kingdom starting in the 4th Dynasty. First Intermediate Period (2134–2040 BCE). Although later propaganda depicts the First Intermediate Period as a time of chaos, the contemporary documentation tells a different story. Archaeologically there was a rise in prosperity. Instead of wealth being concentrated in the capital, places away from the capital show increased affluence. Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 BCE). At the end of the First Intermediate Period, a family of rulers from Thebes reunited Egypt by conquest under Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II. His line soon ended and the vizier Amenemhet became the Pharaoh starting the 12th Dynasty. Amenemhet I was assassinated, but his son Sesostris I succeeded to the throne. Sesostris expanded the borders especially to the south in Nubia, which served as a conduit for exotic goods from Africa, and gave Egypt access to the Nubian gold mines (the word Nubia comes from the Egyptian term for gold). Sesostris I showed little tolerance for religious practices that deviated from his idea of what was proper, e.g., burning priests alive if they did not follow the rites properly. Amenemhet II is noted for his foundation deposit at Tod which contained silver Mycenaean Kamares ware and Ur III lapis lazuli cylinder seals, showing the import of luxury items. During the reign of Sesostris III (or possibly Sesostris II), Egypt invaded the Upper Levant and took over Byblos, and Ulaza (Allen). Egyptian sphinxes dating from the reign of Amenemhet III have been found at Aleppo and Ugarit, while Egyptian artifacts have also been found in Middle Bronze II levels at Ebla. The northern Levant seems to have received more attention than the southern Levant. The Egyptian empire seems to have disappeared after the reign of Amenemhet III. Under Amenemhet IV, Egypt’s Middle Kingdom Asian empire seems to have vanished. Second Intermediate Period (1640–1532 BCE). With the collapse of the Middle Kingdom, Egypt fragmented into delta kingdoms controlled by Pharaohs with foreign names, and Nile valley kingdoms

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controlled by Pharaohs with Egyptian names. The 13th Dynasty depicted itself as a continuation of the Middle Kingdom, but the individual kings often had very short reigns. One of the surviving papyri from the 13th Dynasty shows an influx of foreigners at the beginning of the dynasty. The 14th Dynasty in the delta had fewer rulers, and they have Semitic names. The 14th Dynasty is followed by the 15th Dynasty which is the only dynasty specifically labeled as Hyksos. The 17th Dynasty, which followed the 13th, fought against the 15th Dynasty and eventually turned into the 18th Dynasty and the New Kingdom. Sources for the Second Intermediate Period are more fragmentary (Ryholt), either because they produced less historical material or because later Egyptian regimes (particularly the 18th Dynasty) deliberately effaced the records of the time. If the biblical figure of Abraham carries the memory of the influx of Semites into Egypt at the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period, a person like Abraham likely would have interacted with the delta pharaohs of the 14th Dynasty, who have scarcely left even their names. The systematic destruction of 14th and 15th Dynasty material by the later 18th Dynasty have made historical reconstruction difficult. New Kingdom (1550–1070 BCE). Toward the end of the Second Intermediate Period, rulers from Thebes launched a concerted campaign to expel the Hyksos rulers. Thutmosis I invaded the Levant beginning an Egyptian empire specifically modeled after the Middle Kingdom (his throne name meant “great is Sesostris I”). Thutmosis III expanded and consolidated the empire stretching from the 5th Cataract of the Nile in Nubia to the Euphrates. This empire continued through the reign of Ramses II. Egypt was at the height of its wealth and power. The El Amarna tablets show an empire of squabbling petty kinglets with a minimal military presence. Starting in under Ramses II, invasions first by the Hittites and then by the Sea Peoples and the Libyans forced Egypt to relinquish its empire and defend its borders. About the same time, they lost their gold mines in Nubia. By that point, Egypt tended to back the loser in international conflicts. Towards the end of the New Kingdom, it suffered from high inflation and scarcity of food supplies. While the Bible narrates an Israelite exodus from Egypt, this does not appear in Egyptian records because (1) Egyptians only recorded military victories, not defeats; (2) slaves are almost never mentioned in stelae, which are only commissioned by the upper classes; (3) no legible papyri dating to the New Kingdom have been recovered from the delta. Libyan Period (1069–715 BCE). At the end of the New Kingdom, Libyan tribes began to move into Egypt, and at the end of the New Kingdom, Libyan rulers

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took over the kingship. Even under Smendes, the founder of the 21st Dynasty, the country fractured into northern and southern kingdoms and became more fractured later on. Because Egypt was no longer unified, it rarely was able to invade much less conquer the Levant as a buffer zone, allowing Israel and Judah to exist as independent entities. Libyan dynasts appointed chief military officers through nepotism which prevented Egyptians from being able to use the military for upward social mobility; consequently Egypt ceased to be a consistent military power. Nubian Period (747–656 BCE). The Nubian Piye at the command of Amun conquered the fractured Libyans and reunited Egypt. The Nubian invasion, which would have occurred during the time of Isaiah and Hezekiah, put an end to the situation described in Isaiah where brother fought against brother (Isa 19 : 2). The Nubian period ended when the Assyrians conquered Egypt under Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. Saite Period (664–525 BCE). When the Assyrian army left, Psammetichus I took control of Egypt and started the 26th Dynasty with the help of Greek mercenaries. Judah often allied itself with Egypt, but when Josiah rejected that alliance, Necho killed him and replaced his son Jehoahaz with a more friendly Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23 : 29–37). With the fall of Jerusalem, many inhabitants from Judah fled into Egypt and settled there, being the first of many waves of Jewish settlement in Egypt (cf. Jer 41–44). Persian Period (525–332 BCE). When the Persians conquered Egypt they took many Egyptian stone masons to decorate Persepolis. While the Persians were popular with the Jews they were largely unpopular with the Egyptians, confiscating large portions of the temple revenues. Jewish and Aramaic mercenaries guarded the southern and western borders. Records surviving show that at least some, and probably many, Jews assimilated to the larger Egyptian culture. Others established Jewish temples at places like Elephantine. Ptolemaic Period (332–32 BCE). After conquering Egypt in 332 BCE, Alexander moved the capital from Memphis to Alexandria. Alexandria eventually became one quarter Jewish. His general, Ptolemy, took Egypt after his death. Ptolemy II fell in love with and married his sister, Arsinoe, and started a tradition of intermarriage among the Ptolemies. Under Ptolemy II, Honi (Onias) built a Jewish temple at Leontopolis, and the LXX was translated in Alexandria. Jews served as tax collectors in Ptolemaic Thebes. Several native revolts flourished briefly, such as the revolt of Haronnophris and Chaonnophris in Thebes mentioned in the Rosetta Stone. Ptolemy VI and his brother Ptolemy VIII alternated between joint rule and civil war. Roman Period (32 BCE–395 CE). When Augustus conquered Egypt in 32 BCE, he made it the personal

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property of the emperor. Most of the tax revenue was taken to Rome to fund the Roman welfare state. Roman support of the temples largely ended after the reign of Antoninus Pius and by the 3rd century most of them were abandoned. Egyptian temple libraries show a willingness to borrow stories, rituals, and other elements of Jewish and Christian faiths. Byzantine Period (395–641 CE). Between the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 5th, Egypt was converted from being mostly non-Christian to mostly Christian. By the second half of the 4th century, most of the Egyptian priests had to find other occupations. At the end of the 4th century, Christian clergy incited riots, destroying many of the Egyptian temples and assassinating many of the remaining priests. Within a century of the removal of the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium, the monophysite Egyptian church was anathematized at the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE), the year before the last dated hieroglyphic and demotic graffiti were left at Philae. This council served to alienate Egypt from the rest of the empire. While Theodosius I closed most of the Egyptian temples in 391 CE, the last one, Philae, was finally closed by Justinian I in 550 CE. Bibliography: ■ Allen, J. P., “The Historical Inscription of Khnumhotep at Dahshur,” BASOR 352 (2008) 29–39. ■ Assmann, J., The Mind of Egypt (New York 2002). ■ BenTor, D. et al., “Seals and Kings,” BASOR 315 (1999) 47–74. ■ Bennett, C., “A Genealogical Chronology of the Seventeenth Dynasty,” JARCE 39 (2002) 123–55. ■ Broekman, G. P. F. et al., The Libyan Period in Egypt (Leuven 2009). ■ Kitchen, K. A., The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (Warminster, Pa. 1986). ■ Redford, D. B., “Egypt and Western Asia in the Old Kingdom,” JARCE 23 (1986) 125–43. ■ Redford, D. B., Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (Princeton, N.J. 1992). ■ Ryholt, K. S. B., The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (Copenhagen 1997). ■ Shaw, I., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford 2000).

John Gee B. The Jews in Egypt during the Second Temple and Hellenistic Period At least since the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, Egypt was a popular asylum for Judean refugees: Jews had served in Egypt in military garrisons, such as the one on the island of Elephantine near Syene (Aswan) documented by an archive of Aramaic papyri. Many Jews were caught in the Syrian Wars which followed the dismemberment of Alexander’s empire and entered Egypt as war captives under Ptolemy I Soter, the first king of the Macedonian dynasty (r. 305–282 BC). Josephus preserves a quote from the historian Hecataeus of Abdera concerning a high priest, Ezechias, who encouraged fellow Jews to emigrate to Egypt, speaking of their constitution (C. Ap. I 186–9), although this fragment may also have referred to a post-war settlement of Judea by Ptolemy. The Letter of Aristeas, an anonymous work,

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probably written by an Alexandrian Jew, claims that Ptolemy I moved 100,000 Jews into Egypt and recruited 30,000 of them as mercenary soldiers in his army. Jews and other immigrant soldiers were used to garrison the country against native Egyptian revolts. According to the Letter of Aristeas, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (r. 282–246 BCE) freed all Jewish slaves through a royal decree, but the archive of Zenon (ca. 2,000 letters belonging to the manager of Apollonius, the finance minister of Philadelphus) documents the presence of a Jewish slave trade. Jewish military settlers are attested in early Ptolemaic Aramaic and Gk. inscriptions found in the Alexandrian necropolis, and inscriptions record the dedication of Jewish synagogues from the 3rd century. Up to the 1st century BCE, synagogues were named προσευχα, “Houses of prayer,” not ερ, “temples,” which indicates that, unlike the earlier case of the temple of Elephantine, the Jews of Egypt did not offer sacrifices on altars, an exclusive prerogative of the temple of Jerusalem. An exception seems to have been the temple of Leontopolis (ca. 150 BCE–73 CE), founded by the exiled Jerusalem high priest Onias during the Maccabean period, in the Heliopolite nome (at Tell el-Yehoudieh near Cairo), although the sources on this temple suggest that it never became schismatic, but remained loyal to the temple of Jerusalem. Numerous documents, however, show that Egyptian Jews, far from being “orthodox,” often also worshipped gods other than their own national god, and attended Hellenistic institutions such as the gymnasium. Surely the most important event in Hellenistic Judaism was the translation of the first five books of the Bible or Pentateuch into Greek, the so-called Septuagint (‘Seventy’), from the legendary number of its translators. According to the Letter of Aristeas, the initiative came from Ptolemy II Philadelphus on the advice of his librarian Demetrius of Phalerum. As Philo points out (Moses 2.41–44) the Jewish community of Alexandria celebrated the translation with an annual festival on the island of Pharos. The Alexandrian Jews had spread over many parts of Alexandria, but were particularly concentrated in the Delta quarter and one other of the five quarters of the city (perhaps the Beta). Overall the Jews were tolerated and even appreciated by the early Ptolemies, although a story in 3 Maccabees relates the opposite: when king Ptolemy IV Philopator (r. 222–205 BCE) was prevented by God from entering the Jerusalem temple, he started a persecution of all Jews who would not enrol in the worship of Dionysus, gathering them in Alexandria and marshalling elephants to trample them to death – eventually, they were saved by either a divine vision or a Jewish concubine, who convinced the king to desist. The tale is modeled on the story of Heliodorus in 2 Maccabees, and the elephant topos perhaps referred to a later dynastic

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struggle, when the Jewish generals Onias and Dositheos defended queen Cleopatra II against her brother Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II. 3 Maccabees also mentions an apostate Jew, Dositheos, son of Drimylos, saving Ptolemy Philometor from a plot (3 Macc 1 : 3), and some papyri record this figure as a priest of the royal cult and the chief secretary of the king. The case of Dositheos shows that Jews could attain high rank at court, although they may have been forced to give up Judaism to advance their political careers. Like other immigrants, the Jews in Egypt were granted a degree of local autonomy since they were a πολτευμα, or ethnic community, with their own magistrates and popular leaders, a council and an overall ethnarch, “chief of the nation”, who probably was also the high priest, and who, according to Strabo (in Josephus, Ant. 14.118), “governs the people and adjudicates suits and supervises contracts and ordinances, just as if he were the head of a sovereign state.” Jewish high priests were admitted at court and rose to a position of prominence, like the philosopher Aristobulus, who taught king Ptolemy VI Philometor (r. 180–145 BCE) and dedicated to him an Interpretation of the Laws of Moses. What remains of the literary production of the Egyptian Jews is a multifaceted legacy that ranges from history to philosophy, from drama to religious literature. This literature is all written in Greek and follows Greek models even when dealing with Jewish topics. The first Jewish historian who wrote in Greek was probably Demetrius the Chronographer (late 3rd cent. BCE), who wrote on the kings of Judea under Philopator, while a certain Ezechiel wrote the Exodus, a tragedy that imitated Aeschylus and Sophocles. Among other works, we have the mystical-philosophical romance of Joseph and Aseneth, the apocalyptic interpretation of history in the hexametric Sibylline Oracles, and the translation of Ecclesiasticus and Esther, in 132 and ca. 78 BCE respectively. Philo of Alexandria, the greatest Jewish Egyptian intellectual, lived at the time of the transition from Hellenistic to Roman rule, combining a passion for platonic philosophy with an immense corpus of biblical exegesis. Bibliography: ■ Barclay, J. M. G., Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora (Edinburgh 1992). ■ Bickerman, E. J., The Jews in the Greek Age (Cambridge, Mass. 1988). ■ Capponi, L., Il tempio di Leontopoli in Egitto (Pisa 2007). ■ Mélèze-Modrzejewski, J., The Jews of Egypt: from Rameses II to Emperor Hadrian (Princeton, N.J. 21997). ■ Smallwood, E. M., The Jews under Roman Rule: from Pompey to Diocletian (Leiden 1976).

Livia Capponi C. Christianity in Egypt (Until 500 CE) The religious contours of Egypt included traditional Egyptian temples and cults, Greco-Roman philosophical associations, a large Jewish population, and Christians. The LXX, the translation of Israelite scriptures for Greek-speaking Jews living

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in Egypt, became the official version of the OT for Christian churches until the Reformation. The Catechetical School for advanced Christian studies was founded in Alexandria. The leaders of this school boast the major theologians and biblical interpreters of the early church. Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History (books 5 and 6) lists the succession of teachers as Pantaenus (d. 190), Clement of Alexandria (190–202), and Origen (202–31). Clement of Alexandria (115–215) developed a concept of the Christian as the true Gnostic, while Origen (185–254) became the earliest biblical exegete and the premier spiritual author of the late second and early 3rd century. Egypt, and especially Alexandria, developed and promulgated allegorical interpretation of the scriptures. Philo Judaeus (20 BCE–50 CE) introduced allegorical interpretation of the LXX to Jewish readers, while Christians, following his lead, continued the tradition. Origen was the most articulate and extensive allegorical interpreter of the OT and the NT in antiquity, writing commentaries on most biblical books. In Christian biblical interpretation, the Alexandrian style of allegorical reading of the Scriptures (called the Alexandrian School in contrast to the more literal Antiochene School) became the norm for most theologians and biblical interpreters through the Middle Ages in the West and continues among the Byzantine and Orthodox churches until today. Christian Egypt is most known for the preservation of Gnostic literature. Gnosticism, an early Christian and perhaps originally a Jewish heretical system, flourished in Egypt where the dry desert climate preserved many of the early Gnostic writings, generally promulgated a salvation through knowledge often delivered through esoteric revelations of divine figures such as Sophia (Wisdom). Valentinian Gnosticism, developed by the native Egyptian Valentinus (second cent. CE), was exported from Egypt to Rome, but left extensive evidence in the famous Nag Hammadi Library of texts where such Valentinian treatises as The Gospel of Truth, The Gospel of Phillip, The Tripartite Tractate, and the treatise On the Resurrection were preserved. Egypt was also the home of Sethian Gnosticism whose treatises were also preserved in the Nag Hammadi Library. These Sethian Gnostic treatises with Egyptian provenance include The Gospel of the Egyptians (NHL 3/2; 4/2), the Second Stele of the Great Seth (NHL 7/2), and the Three Steles of Seth (NHL 7/5). The Secret Gospel of Mark, a purported Carpocratian Gnostic edition of the canonical Gospel of Mark also had Egyptian provenance. Catholic Egyptian literature, however, also exists. The apostolic letter 2 Clement (early second cent. CE) has an assumed Egyptian origin based on the manner of allegorical interpretation it presents. The Epistula Apostolorum (probably late second to

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early 3rd cent. CE) also displays a radically orthodox answer to the Gnostic revelations based on a simple and direct reading of canonical NT texts, including the Gospels and Pauline letters. Egypt may also be credited as the impetus to the development of the structure and theology of catholic Christianity. Arius (d. 336), a presbyter of the church at the parish of Baucalis in Alexandria, taught the subordination of the person of Christ, claiming that Jesus was the first creation before the beginning of time and implying that Jesus was a creature and not the unbegotten Son of God (based on John 1 : 1 and other texts). His teaching spread throughout the empire, and the emperor Constantine the Great (d. 337) convened the first Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 324 to deal with Arius’ teaching which, through the leadership of Athanasius, the Patriarch of Alexandria, was condemned by the council. This Egyptian heresy began the long history of conciliar Christianity, which decided orthodox teaching on the basis of meetings of bishops and theologians in councils. The conciliar model of organization continues until today as the primary mode of church regulation and renewal. Egypt also provided the environment for the development of asceticism and monasticism creating a way of life based upon Jesus’ struggle with Satan for 40 days in the wilderness (Mark 1 : 12–13 and parallels). Anthony the Great (251–356) after studying with various ascetics in his village left for the inner desert to live the ascetic and contemplative life, establishing by his manner of life the eremitical life of a solitary ascetic based on the biblical saying “go, sell all that you have, and come follow me” (Mark 10 : 17–22 par.). Pachomius (292–348) organized the first coenobitic (communal) monastic communities and developed the form of monasticism that was to be planted in the Western Christian world and that has been the norm in Eastern Christianity. Later Shenoute (348–466) intensified the ascetic life of coenobitic communities to create a stricter monasticism. Bibliography: ■ Bagnall, R. S., Early Christian Books in Egypt (Princeton, N.J. 2009). ■ Bagnall, R. S., Egypt in Late Antiquity (Princeton 1993). ■ Gemeinhardt, P. (ed.), Athanasius Handbuch (Tübingen 2011). ■ Griggs, C. W., Early Egyptian Christianity from its Origins to 451 CE (CoptSt 2; Leiden/ New York 1990). ■ Koester, H., Introduction to the New Testament, vol. 2 (Berlin/New York 1982) 219–39. ■ Pearson, B. (ed.), Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity (Minneapolis, Minn. 1990). ■ Martin, A., Athanase d’Alexandrie et l’église d’Égypte au IVe siècle (328–373) (Rome 1996). ■ Roberts, C., Manuscript, Society, and Belief in Christian Egypt (London 1979).

Richard Valantasis D. Archaeology Egyptian history is divided into various periods based on political lines. Monumental architecture tends to follow political trends. Burials and tombs depend more on individual resources. Pottery styles

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are not as tied to dynasties. So Second Intermediate Period pottery either falls with Middle Kingdom or early New Kingdom pottery. Nubian, Saite, and Persian Period pottery are not distinguished. For years, Egyptian archaeology emphasized earlier time periods at the expense of material from later periods which has been characterized as mere debitage or overburden. Earlier time periods have been painstakingly subdivided, while the later time periods have generally been lumped together. Egyptian archaeology has concentrated more on funerary remains rather than settlement. There are four reasons for this: first, settlements tend to be made of less durable material. Second, settlements tended to be on the flood plain where materials are not as well preserved. Third, the Nile has tended to shift eastward over time erasing settlement remains. Fourth, many of the settlements are still occupied. Those sites that survive (Amarna, Illahun, and Deir el-Medina) were planned settlements and are not typical. Abandoned sites from the Fayyum are more typical but cover only later time periods. Early Dynastic Period (2920–2575 BCE). High quality stone vessels are numerous. Ceramics include tall jars, large storage jars, small bag-shaped jars, simple and carinated bowls, and cylindrical vessels as the last vestiges of wavy-handled ware, along with conical bread molds. Temples from this time period are not standardized and vary with locality. The earliest tombs were brick-lined pits; elites erected niched brick enclosures over the pits, which are termed mastabas. Mummification occurred naturally from the desiccating effects of the sand. Old Kingdom (2575–2134 BCE). By the 5th Dynasty, pottery was wheel-made. Among the Old Kingdom pottery types are large ovoid storage jars, red carinated bowls, beer jars, conical molds, flat bread trays, and vessels with tubular spouts. Elites continued to be buried in mastabas; royalty, beginning with Djoser (3rd Dynasty), stacked progressively smaller mastabas atop each other creating first step-pyramids, and finally pyramids. Stone sarcophagi appear in royal tombs in the 3rd Dynasty, and elite burials in the 4th Dynasty. At the end of the 3rd Dynasty, the internal organs were eviscerated and mummified separately. South of Memphis, where the cliffs line the Nile Valley, tombs for elites were cut into the rock. First Intermediate Period (2134–2040 BCE). First Intermediate Period pottery is characterized by slim jars with sharply pointed bases, bowls with bent walls, globular jars and bag-shaped jars with cylindrical necks. The number of rock-cut tombs for elites increased; mastabas disappear. Other large scale monumental architecture is non-existent. Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 BCE). Most temples seem to have been constructed of wood but a few stone ones survive.

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Typical pots are small hemispherical bowls. In earlier times, jars either have tapering bodies, pointed bases, and flaring necks, or are globular with rounded bases. In later times, large globular jars have narrow necks, or are slender with rounded bases. Foreign pottery styles from Greece, Cyprus, and the Levant influence Egypt. In the late Middle Kingdom hemispherical bowls become deeper. Large scale architecture disappears after the reign of Amenemhet IV. The only extensively excavated town site is Illahun; some Middle Kingdom levels from Abydos are known. Elites burials had coffins and wooden statues. Hyksos Period (1640–1532 BCE). The ceramic assemblage from the advent of the Hyksos in the 15th Dynasty to the time of Thutmosis III is characterized by Tell el-Yahudiyah ware: small one-handled burnished black ware juglets with incised white pigment. Made in Egypt and the Levant they have been found in Nubia, Egypt, the Levant, and Cyprus. Large-scale architecture is mostly limited to the Hyksos capital at Tell el-Daba which has also provided information about the settlement. Remains mixed Levantine and Egyptian styles. New Kingdom (1550–1070 BCE). The ceramic assemblage of the New Kingdom is vast, and because of foreign contact, varied, containing various styles of jars, pots, bowls, lids, bread molds, cult vessels, and wine amphorae. New styles were adopted from Greece, Cyprus, Crete, and the Levant. Two-handled amphorae appear by the middle of the 18th Dynasty. In the first half of the New Kingdom, there were four levels: poor burials have mummies, coffins, pottery, boxes, and baskets. Lower middle-class burials also have food, clothing, professional equipment, amulets, shabtis, and canopic jars. Upper middle-class burials also have papyri, linen, and stone and metal vessels. Elite burials have multiple coffins and glass. Tombs are large, elaborate, and lavishly decorated, not only for royalty but for nobles as well. Thutmosis III standardized temple architecture and replaced many local shrines with larger buildings that had standard plans, obelisks, and colossal statues, making the New Kingdom the golden age of Egyptian architecture. Libyan Period (1069–715 BCE). The Libyan Period pottery assemblage consists of globular jars with rounded or pointed bases. Large storge jars, tallnecked jars with two handles, pilgrim flasks (with a narrow neck and two small vertical handles), and globular jars with wide open flaring rims, ring base and usually one small vertical handle. Bowls and cups have rounded or pointed bases. Monumental architecture remains are meager and fragmentary.

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Nubian, Saite, and Persian Periods (747–332 BCE). Pottery assemblages are mostly jars of Nile silt: neckless jars with two small handles and jars with one or more rings around cylindrical, pilgrim flasks, and goblets with footed bases. Bowls are simple with straight rims and either rounded or pointed bases. Storage jars usually have ribbed walls. Nubian period elite burials feature multiple stelae, outer and inner coffins, bead nets, a canopic box, shabti box, and Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure. Saite period elite burials feature outer and inner coffins, shabtis, a bead net, canopic box, stele and Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure. During the Persian period, elite burials include a single coffin, bead net, canopic box, stele, and shabtis. New construction tools and techniques appear in the Nubian period, including iron tools and true stone vaults. Most Nubian temple building simply extends existing structures. Several forts from the Saite period survive. Temples show mainly the development of the pronaos. Composite capitals appear in the Saite period. Ptolemaic Period (332–32 BCE). With the conquest of Egypt by Greeks, Greek pottery styles strongly influence Egyptian ceramics causing imitations of kraters, oinochoe, oipe, amphora, hydria, aryballos, unguentarium, kantharos, lekythos, and fish plates of Nile alluvium. Traditional Egyptian forms, such as globular jars have Greek ring bases. Cooking pots have handles. Large storage jars have cylindrical bodies and rounded bases. Ptolemaic elite burials feature coffins, shabtis, hypocephali, canopic boxes, stelae. Large temples, such as Edfu and Dendara reappear, as do obelisks and colossal statues. Numerous Ptolemaic towns in the Fayyum last into the Roman period. Towns were built along a major road with a temple as a focal point. Roman Period (32 BCE–395 CE). In the Roman period, ceramics were made from Nile silt but imported wares are common: African Red Spit Ware, Cypriot Sigllata, Eastern Sigillata A, Eastern Sigillata B, and Pontic Sigillata. Amphorae are spindleshaped with long, straight, thin necks, rounded shoulders and solid bases, or ribbed necked with rounded rims. Long cylindrical necked kegs were also made. Large numbers of flagons, costrels, and one-handled juglets appear. Cooking pots, storage jars, shallow bread trays, dollium, and casseroles were used for food preparation and storage. Mortarium were used for grinding food. Fine table ware was also used. Elite burials mostly disappear in the Roman period. A tradition of portraits of the face of the mummy starts in the Roman period and flourishes for a couple of centuries. Temples tend to use more mud brick than stone. Bath houses were added to many towns.

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Byzantine Period (395–641 CE). Byzantine period ceramics show a variety of vessels imported from other regions: African Red Slip Ware, Tripolitanian Red Slip Ware, Çandarli Ware, Cypriot Red Slip Ware, Macedonian, and Athenian Ware, Palestinian Ware, and Asia Minor fabrics. The eastern Roman Empire heavily influenced the ceramics. Small jars, juglets, costrels, and amphorae were common. Globular cooking pots occur in large quantities. Large amphorae have cylindrical necks and handles attached to the vessel shoulder. Large storage jars with wide open rims. Christian churches first appear in the Byzantine Period. Monasteries proliferate, many of them reusing earlier structures, and unfortunately much of the later archaeological material was destroyed or discarded as refuse by earlier archaeologists. Bibliography: ■ Arnold, D., Temples of the Last Pharaohs (Oxford 1999). ■ Bagnall, R. S./D. W. Rathbone, Egypt From Alexander to the Early Christians (Los Angeles, Calif. 2004). ■ Bard, K. A., An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (Oxford 2008). ■ Capuani, M., Christian Egypt (Collegeville, Minn. 1999). ■ Ikram, S./A. Dodson, The Mummy in Ancient Egypt (London 1998). ■ Seidlmayer, S. J., Gräberfelder aus dem Übergang vom Alten zum Mittleren Reich (Heidelberg 1990). ■ Smith, S. T., “Intact Tombs of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Dynasties from Thebes and the New Kingdom Burial System,” MDAI.K 48 (1992) 193–231. ■ Smoláriková, K., Saite Forts in Egypt (Prague 2008). ■ Strudwick, N./J. H. Taylor, The Theban Necropolis (London 2003). ■ Wodzin´ska, A., A Manuel of Egyptian Pottery (Boston, Mass. 2010).

E. Texts Tens of thousands of texts come from ancient Egypt in a variety of scripts and languages. The principal difference between the early scripts deals with how the script is put on a surface. Hieroglyphs are carved; hieratic brushed with ink. The large corpus of clay tablets written in Akkadian from El Amarna was produced during the New Kingdom. During the Libyan Period, hieratic is carved into stone, while hieratic business hands in the divided country develop in different directions: the northern version is called demotic, while the southern version is called abnormal hieratic. Aramaic is common in the Persian Period. After the conquest of Alexander the Great, Greek plays an important role through the Muslim conquest. Coptic is Egyptian written in Gk. characters and is first attested in a graffito dated to 200 BC. Early Dynastic Period (2920–2575 BCE). Most of the texts left from the Early Dynastic period are labels on durable material: stone, ivory, and rarely wood. They include stele marked principally with the name, and sometimes titles. Some of the labels provide year names, which contain lists of historical events of the year. One king list has survived. Papyrus was clearly known, though no papyrus documents have survived. Old Kingdom (2575–2134 BCE). Most of the texts left from the Old Kingdom were written on stone. Lists

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of names and titles are often expanded to narratives, termed autobiographies, which typically narrate the most important events of a man’s life. A sizable corpus of ritual texts termed the Pyramid Texts has been left on the walls of Pyramids. The rituals appear in pictorial form on non-royal tomb walls. Non-royal tombs also contain captions labeling the scene or providing snatches of dialogue and some tomb threats. Some king-lists, annals, and a number of royal decrees survive. A few temple account books have survived. A few execration texts, texts listing the enemies of the regime, appear (see “Execration and Execration Texts”). Some letters, legal texts, and graffiti have survived. First Intermediate Period (2134–2040 BCE). Surviving texts from the First Intermediate Period, mainly autobiographies, were written on stone. As the provincial officials became Pharaohs, they brought the autobiography into the royal sphere which would become historical commemorative inscriptions. Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 BCE). Papyrus texts first survive in large numbers in the Middle Kingdom and provide a number of new genres: tales and wisdom literature, medical and veterinary texts, letters, and astronomical texts; many of these are known mainly from copies of later periods. Certain ritual texts shift from the walls of pyramids to wooden coffins and are called Coffin Texts, though the texts are essentially the same. Numerous private stele appear. Second Intermediate Period (1640–1532 BCE). Comparatively little in terms of historical texts and autobiographies has survived from the Second Intermediate Period. Mathematical texts first appear then. The ritual texts on coffins form an intermediate form between the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead. New Kingdom (1550–1070 BCE). The New Kingdom contains an immense number of historical and autobiographical inscriptions. Temple inscriptions proliferate. The Book of the Dead moves from early copies on linen or leather, to papyrus, and tomb walls. So-called Underworld texts such as the Amduat, Book of Gates, Book of Nut, Book of the Earth, and the Book of the Cow appear in royal tombs. Autobiographies abound and a number of wisdom texts survive. Large decorated tombs contain texts and iconography usually dealing with religious themes, with an occasional exception with daily life scenes. Large numbers of documents from daily life survive on ostraca from the late New Kingdom, mostly from Deir el-Medina, usually on stone chips rather than pottery. The Instructions of Amenemope is known to have influenced the biblical book of Proverbs, though no manuscripts of this work are known after the New Kingdom. The large corpus of diplomatic correspondence in clay tablets written in Akkadian found in El Amarna also derives from this period.

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Libyan Period (1069–715 BCE). Copies of the Book of the Dead were abridged to a few standard texts, or reduced simply to their vignettes. Incised hieratic, that is hieratic carved in stone, was used. Royal inscriptions are prevalent, although fewer temple inscriptions survive. A number of reburial inscriptions are known. Nubian Period (747–656 BCE). One copy of the Book of the Dead survives from this time period. The longest surviving historical inscription from Egypt dates to this time period. A number of Egyptian texts were made in Nubia. Shabako left a copy of an earlier account dealing with creation and the establishment of kingship. Saite Period (664–525 BCE). Since Psammeticus, who reunited the country, was from the north, the northern business script, demotic, was made the standard throughout Egypt. A number of business documents and historical texts survive. A number of literary manuscripts have been redated to this time period, including one wisdom text. Persian Period (525–332 BCE). Our only preserved law code from Egypt comes from the Persian period. A few autobiographies survive. Most of the business texts appear in Aramaic or Demotic. An Aramaic text in Demotic script provides the earliest manuscript of any of the Psalms. Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BCE). The number of texts surviving in the Ptolemaic Period vastly increases. In hieroglyphic, accounts of the past proliferate, most of which cannot be squared with texts contemporary with the events. Demotic stories provide a vast array of details about Egyptian life or culture. More copies of the Book of the Dead survive from this time period than all other time periods combined, a variety of other compositions were found in burials including execration rituals, temple rituals, even the Instructions of Onchsheshonqy. Ptolemaic temples have libraries of multiple compositions on the walls, including texts describing the layout and use of the temple room by room from the inside out, similar to the description of the tabernacle in Exodus. Large numbers of Gk. papyri also appear at this time, including biblical papyri. From the Ptolemaic period, copies of the Heb. text of Exodus (Cambridge, University Library Ms. Orient. 233), and copies of the LXX versions of Genesis (P. Fouad 266), Deuteronomy (P.Ryl. Gr. III 458; P.Fouad 266) survive. The most popular Gk. work is Homer, the Iliad more so than the Odyssey. Roman Period (30 BCE–395 CE). New hieroglyphic works, including an important creation narrative, appear in the Roman period. Hieroglyphs mostly die out by the end of the first century as hieratic does by the middle of the second century. The Tebtunis temple library had a wealth of different gen-

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res in Demotic including stories, Hermetic literature, wisdom literature, ritual, and various manuals. Theban manuscripts from temple libraries appropriate both OT and NT materials, as well as Christian ritual. The most common deity mentioned is the Heb. Iao; Abraham, Moses, and other biblical figures are mentioned and portions of the Lord’s prayer appear in Demotic (Griffith/Thompson: plate V). Greek works are widely attested. Every book of the Bible is attested in Greek at this time, as well as significant non-canonical texts such as 1 Enoch and the Shepherd of Hermas. Due to Egypt’s dry climate away from the Nile, all the NT papyri, all the earliest NT manuscripts, and the earliest OT manuscripts come from Egypt. Manuscripts like Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Alexandrinus have been thought to have been copied in Egypt. Many of these manuscripts come from only one or two locations (more than a quarter of NT papyri come from Oxyrhynchus). While orthodoxy flourished in Egypt, so did a number of heresies, and there is no way to know which NT manuscripts come from which source and if they were altered to reflect sectarian views. A number of important interpreters of biblical literature lived in Egypt, including Philo, Clement, and Origen. The Testament of Abraham interprets Egyptian iconography like the judgment scene through Jewish eyes. A number of different groups used Coptic, the Egyptian language written in Gk. script, for their own literature. A few Old Coptic texts (a term applied to the language before it became standardized) were preserved from Egyptian temple archives, but the bulk of Coptic literature comes from Christian groups. Although the earliest dated Coptic text appears in 200 BC, most Coptic literature appears in the Roman period. During the Roman period, Christian Coptic texts are largely translations of other literature (often biblical) into the local dialect, and most evidence for Coptic dialects derives from this time period, because superregional dialects later replace the local ones (Lycopolitan in the 4th century, Sahidic in the 5th, and Bohairic in the 9th). Manichaeans translated a number of works from Syriac into Lycopolitan, and a number of the basic Manichaean texts, such as the Kephalaia, a Psalm book, as well as a number of homilies survive. A Gk. Life of Mani also survives. Gnostics preserved such works as the Apocryphon of John and Allogenes. Monastic communities promulgated numerous rules for conduct, and a number of monks vying for clerical offices (such as Rufinus and Jerome) ensured that texts promoting monasticism circulated outside Egypt. Byzantine Period 395–641 CE). During the Byzantine period, Coptic martyrdoms become popular. Monastic education consisted of memorization of scriptural and other texts. Biblical commentary ap-

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pears largely in the form of anonymous homilies, most of which focus on an event in the liturgical calendar. Documentary texts in Greek are ubiquitous. The last dated hieroglyphic and demotic texts date to AD 452. For the first century or so after the Muslim conquest, Coptic documentary texts flourish. After the 9th century Coptic declines rapidly with a brief revival in the 12th and 13th centuries. Bibliography: ■ Allam, S., Hieratische Ostraka und Papyri aus der Ramessidenzeit (Tübingen 1973). ■ Bénédite, G., Le temple de Philae (Paris 1893). ■ de Buck, A., The Egyptian Coffin Texts (Chicago, Ill. 1935–61). ■ Cˇerný, J., Catalogue des ostraca hiératiques non littéraires de Deir el Médineh (Cairo 1935– 70). ■ Chassinat, É. et al., Le temple d’Edfou (Cairo 1930–). ■ Clère, J. J./J. Vandier, Textes de la première période intermédiaire et de la XI ème dynastie (Brussels 1948). ■ Dieleman, J., Priests, Tongues, and Rites (Leiden 2005). ■ Frood, E., Biographical Texts from Ramessid Egypt (Atlanta, Ga. 2007). ■ Goedicke, H., Konigliche Dokumente aus dem Alten Reich (Wiesbaden 1967). ■ Grandet, P., Catalogue des ostraca hiératiques non littéraires de Deir el Médineh (Cairo 2000–6). ■ Griffith, F. L./H. Thompson, The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden (London 1904–9). ■ Grimal, N.-C., La stèle triomphale de Pi(‘ankh)y au Musée du Caire (Cairo 1981). ■ Helck, W., Historisch-biographische Texte der 2. Zwischenzeit und neue Texte der 18. Dynastie (Wiesbaden 1975). ■ JansenWinkeln, K., Inschriften der Spätzeit (Wiesbaden 2007–). ■ Jasnow, R., A Late Period Hieratic Wisdom Text (P. Brooklyn 47.218.135) (Chicago, Ill. 1992). ■ Jasnow, R./K.-T. Zauzich, The Ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth (Wiesbaden 2005). ■ Kitchen, K. A., Ramesside Inscriptions (Oxford 1975–). ■ Kloth, N., Die (Auto-) Biographischen Inschriften des ägyptischen ■ Lichtheim, M., Ancient Alten Reiches (Hamburg 2002). Egyptian Literature (Berkeley, Calif. 1973–81). ■ Mattha, G., The Demotic Legal Code of Hermopolis West (Cairo 1975). ■ Montevecci, O., La Papirologia (Milan 1998). ■ Murnane, W. J., Texts from the Amarna Period (Atlanta, Ga. 1995). ■ Neugebauer, O./R. Parker, Egyptian Astronomical Texts (Providence, R.I. 1960). ■ Posener, G., La première domination perse en Égypte (Cairo 1936). ■ Posener-Kriéger, P./J. L. ■ Posenerde Cénival, The Abusir Papyri (London 1968). Kriéger, P. et al., The Pyramid Complex of Raneferef: The Papyrus ■ Robins, G./C. Shute, The Rhind Archive (Prague 2006). Mathematical Papyrus (London 1987). ■ Ryholt, K. S. B., The Story of Petese, son of Petetum and Seventy Other Good and Bad Stories (Copenhagen 1999). ■ Segal, J. B., Aramaic Texts from North Saqqâra (London 1983). ■ Strudwick, N. C., Texts from the Pyramid Age (Atlanta, Ga. 2005).

F. Society The basic unit of society was the nuclear family, which consisted of husband, wife, and children. The terms for husband (hy) and wife (ḥmt) are attested almost as early as Egyptian writing and are distinct from the terms for man (s) and woman (st). Starting in the Middle Kingdom and surviving at least through the New Kingdom, the term for sister (snt) was also used for wife. Marriage was entered into and departed from by an oath, made in the presence of witnesses (Toivari; Gee 2001). Most Egyptians lived in families of some sort. The conjugal family was the most common type (Clarysse/Thompson). The average household had

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four to five individuals in it (Bagnall/Frier; Clarysse/Thompson). Long-term stable marriages were the norm, although broken homes from death of a spouse and, less commonly, divorce were also known. In case of divorce, the children usually remained with the father. Fathers were solely responsible for the education of children, especially sons. Education in writing was done by copying models, often of didactic content. Further education was provided by senior officials mentoring junior ones through correspondence and memoranda. Books could be attained by borrowing from temple libraries or having copies of particular rolls made, though this was expensive. Literacy has been estimated at less than one percent to 62 percent, though there were doubtlessly fluctuations over time. Literacy rates, however, are concerned with the ability to read, and ignore important features of cultural literacy such as individuals having access to learning and texts through oral transmission and other means. Life expectancy at birth was about 25 years for males and 22.5 years for females. One third of children, however, died before their first birthday, and a quarter of those left would die before puberty. For those who could make it to the age of 15, males could expect to live about 34 more years, while females could expect to live about 33 years more (Bagnall/Frier). Women began to marry about the age of twelve, though most married in their late teens. Men came of age at 14. The vast majority of our records of Egyptian society were left by the elite. The artisan village of Deir el-Medina provides extensive records of lower middle-class craftsmen engaged in the government funded excavations of royal tombs. The Satire of the Trades from the Middle Kingdom provides a useful list of other occupations, which remained more or less stable through Egyptian history: scribes, carpenters, sculptors, barbers, reed-cutters, potters, masons, farmers, field laborers, weavers, arrowmakers, herdsmen, couriers, metal-workers, cobblers, laundry men, bird-catchers, fishermen. These occupations, which go largely unmentioned in the records of the elite, provided the backbone of Egyptian civilization. They provided the food, utensils, and houses for all of Egyptian society, as well as the luxury goods, such as statues and jewelry, for the elite. The military are conspicuously absent. The use of slaves by the elite is known but mostly went unremarked. The New Kingdom Wilbour Papyrus lists mainly priests, military men, ladies, herdsmen, stable-masters, farmers, and scribes. Census records from the Ptolemaic period enable some idea about the percentage of the population engaged in various activities though the military is again conspicuously absent. About 41% of the population was involved in agriculture, 10% in administration, 6% each in production and commerce, and 3% in trans-

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portation, 24% are listed in foreign ethnic categories which usually indicated some difference in tax status. Until the Libyan period (1069–715 BCE) there were three principle paths to upward economic mobility: the military, the priesthood, and scribal bureaucracy. Starting in the Libyan period, the priesthood became hereditary and the upper military became completely nepotistic. As a result, Egyptians seem to have stopped serving in the military and thus, starting in the Saite time period, Egypt’s military was largely staffed with foreign mercenaries, making Isaiah’s (36 : 6) description of Egypt as “a broken reed” apt. Foreigners, whether invaders or immigrants, were usually assimilated into Egyptian society within a generation or two. This was true of Semites at the end of the Middle Kingdom, Nubians in the New Kingdom, Libyans during the late New Kingdom and Libyan period, Jews starting in the Saite period, Aramaeans in the Persian period, and Greeks in the Ptolemaic period. The Egyptian calendar was divided into three seasons of four months of 30 days each with five holidays at the end and began in July. The first season was inundation (ḫt) when the floodwaters rose, fed by monsoonal rains in central Africa. This was followed by seedtime (prt). The final season was harvest (šmw). Taxation and payment of rent normally occurred during the harvest season. Wages were normally paid on the first of the lunar month. Whether property was owned has been debated. It was rented, and the rents were normally a third of the harvest. Land produced between five and twelve artabas per aroura (about 50–120 liters per hectare) (Bagnall), above ten-fold increase in the amount sown, while the average crop yield in the ancient world was six-fold at best (Rickman). Crops included wheat, emmer, barley, lettuce, onion, garlic, leeks, cucumbers, melons, lentils, beans, chick-peas, vetch, artichoke, grapes, figs, flax, fenugreek, cumin. Fish was the most widely used meat. Sheep, goats, and cattle were raised. Milk and cheese from these was also used. Beef seems to have been eaten ceremonially and on large construction projects. Pork was ritually unclean but is attested at Tell el-Maskhuta in the Second Intermediate Period and more widely in Roman times. Duck, goose, and other fowl were eaten. There was a caloric intake of 3780 calories a day for men and 2520 calories a day for women, mostly from grains. Wheat and emmer were used for bread and barley largely used for beer. In Ptolemaic times wine largely replaced beer, though wine had been in use for all of Egyptian history. The beer would have been top-fermented from barley bread without hops. As a result, it would have been sour and easily spoiled with little alcohol. The wine would also have had little alcohol.

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The government was originally structured as a large household. Indeed, the term pharaoh, applied to the king as early as the Old Kingdom (Goelet), originally meant “the great house.” No separation between church and state existed. The great Harris Papyrus from the reign of Ramses III shows that temple controlled vast resources: The temple of Amun at Karnak owned 2,393 km2 of land, 421,362 animals, and employed 81,322 men, while the temple of Re-Horachte in Heliopolis owned 441 km2 of land, 45,544 animals, and employed 12,963 men. Taxes supported the state and the temples until the Roman period, when the taxes largely went to support the Roman welfare state. Taxes were paid in kind. In the Old and Middle Kingdom corvey labor was also exacted, though high priestly officials were exempted. Coinage did not exist until the Persian period. Before that time money was calculated in weights of metal, but most exchange was bartered. The standard New Kingdom system was 1 diban (91 grams) of copper for 1 sack (ḫr = 76.88 liters) of grain. Ten diban of copper made a diban of silver. Ten diban of silver made a diban of gold. A kite (qdt) was a tenth of a diban. An oipe (ipt) was a quarter of a sack (ḫr). Even the middle class measured amounts in diban of copper with large amounts in diban of silver; gold was used only on the national level. Weights, often shaped like animals, are attested in fractions of a diban, units up to five, tens up to 50, and hundreds up to 500 diban. The Middle Kingdom sack (ḫr) was about 48 liters with subdivisions of tenths of a sack (ḥqt). Bibliography: ■ Allen, J. P., The Heqanakht Papyri (New York 2002). ■ Bagnall, R. S., “Agricultural Productivity and Taxation in Later Roman Egypt,” TAPA 115 (1985) 289–308. ■ Bagnall, R. S./B. W. Friar, The Demography of Roman Egypt (Cambridge 1994). ■ Clarysse, W./D. J. Thompson, Counting the People in Hellenistic Egypt (Cambridge 2006). ■ David, R., Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt (Oxford 1998). ■ Gardiner, A. H., The Wilbour Papyrus (Oxford 1948). ■ Gee, J., “Notes on Egyptian Marriage,” BES 15 (2001) 17–25. ■ Gee, J., “Egyptologists’ Fallacies: Fallacies Arising from Limited Evidence,” JEH (2010) 133–54. ■ Goelet, O., “The Nature of the term pr- in the Old Kingdom,” BES 10 (1992) 77–90. ■ Grandet, P., Le Papyrus Harris I (Cairo 2005). ■ Janssen, J. J., Commodity Prices from the Ramessid Period (Leiden 1975). ■ Lehner, M., “The Pyramid Age Settlement of the Southern Mount at Giza,” JARCE 39 (2002) 27–74. ■ Rickman, G. E., “The Grain Trade under the Roman Empire,” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 36 (1980) 261–75. ■ Toivari, J., “Marriage at Deir el-Medina,” in Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists (ed. C. J. Eyre; Leuven 1998) 1157–63. ■ Vittmann, G., Ägypten und die Fremden im ersten vorchristlichen Jahrtausend (Mainz 2003).

G. Religion Egyptian religion is often falsely divided into the artificial modern divisions of temple, funerary, and magic. The same texts and equipment are used in all of these realms. Magic is a pejorative label and impedes understanding. Despite thousands of

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Egyptian religious texts, no examples of systematic theology have been found; theology does not seem to feature prominently. Although there are some stories either in literature or ritual, the Egyptians do not appear to have any myths in the conventional sense. Plutarch’s De Iside et Osiride seems to be a Gk. attempt to fill this gap. Religion in ancient Egypt was known as “the way of God.” It meant doing what the god loved (feeding the hungry, clothing the naked) and avoiding what the god hated (murder, adultery, same-sex acts, tampering with balances, changing property lines, and evil in general). There were four general classes of beings (b): humans (rmtß ), gods (ntßr), angels (ḫ), and demons (mwt). Angels and demons are the spirits of humans after their death. Religion involved the worship of gods, the worship of divine spirits (angels), and the manipulation of demons. The difference between angels and demons had both a ritual and an ethical dimension. Certain rituals (sḫw) needed to be performed for the deceased either in life or at death to transform his spirit into an angel. Humans also needed to engage in moral conduct during life in order to achieve the status of an angel after death. Those who failed to achieve that conduct or have the rituals performed became demons. Both angels and demons could affect life on earth, either cursing individuals with illnesses and afflictions or blessing them by healing and otherwise prospering them. The wish, “may his memory (k) dwell in the presence of the king, may his soul (b) stay in the presence of god” (Hassan: 76–77) shows that the ultimate desire of people was to remain in the presence of god. Although more than 85,000 divine names and epithets are known, there are only 144 major and minor gods known over the course of Egyptian history, and only about two dozen had temples built for them. Some gods were minor at some time periods and major in others. Osiris was first attested in the 5th Dynasty (2494–2345 BCE). The earliest temple of Isis dates to the New Kingdom. Judging by the number of temples, Re was the most popular deity of the 5th Dynasty; Amun was the most popular deity of the 12th through 25th Dynasties, i.e., throughout the second and first millennia BCE; Isis was the most popular deity of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Modern accounts of Egyptian gods wrongly tend to reduce the god to a particular function, but in their own temples, each god has multiple characteristics such as creator, ruler, or provider. Egyptians adopted foreign deities and entire religions in later periods: Judaism starting in the Saite period (664–525 BCE), Gk. religion in the Ptolemaic period (332–30 BCE), and Christianity in the Roman period. The question of Egyptian monotheism is much discussed, particularly in reference to the brief pe-

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riod of Akhenaten’s reign. Such discussions tend both to overemphasize Akhenaten’s monotheistic tendencies and underemphasize the monotheistic tendencies in Egyptian religion. On the one hand, Akhenaten worshiped multiple gods; on the other hand, in the daily temple liturgy, used in the worship of a variety of gods, the high priest twice tells the god: “I will not compare your being to another god” (P. Berlin 3055 5/4, 7–8). At death angels (ḫ) were seen to wander among the stars (iḫ). Their typical residence was seen as being in the fields of reeds (sḫt irw) or decanal belt (ḫbsw) south of the ecliptic (š n ḫ), while the region north of the ecliptic was called the field of offerings (sḫt ḥtpw). Stars in this area of the night sky south of the ecliptic disappeared for 70 days at a time, matching the 70 days of mummification. During the time that the angels were in the netherworld portion of the field of reeds, they were called the chutes (ḫtyw, χυτης). An angel could temporarily transform into any form desired and appear on earth. Worship centered in the temple. The daily liturgy consisted of entering the sanctuary, opening the doors, prostrating oneself, singing praises, providing offerings, clothing the image, and sweeping away the footprints as one leaves. Although rolls providing the words that the high priests spoke in the ritual have survived, temple walls show that the ritual was conceived as a dialogue between the high priest and the god. There was also a daily execration ritual where a wax figurine representing an enemy was bound, trampled, spat upon, stabbed, decapitated, burned, and spat upon in the flames. At various points of the year, festivals were celebrated at the various temples, with each temple having its own cycle of festivals. Festivals could either occur on a monthly or yearly basis. Some of the more notable festivals were the Festival of Drunkenness (celebrated around September) and the Khoiak festival (celebrated in December and coinciding with both the end of the inundation, the beginning of planting, and the winter solstice). Festivals originally celebrated some important event but over time the original meaning might be forgotten. The Khoiak festival originally celebrated the death of Osiris and birth of Horus. The festival on the 13th of Epiph originally celebrated the creation of the world. The Festival of Drunkenness originally celebrated the rescue of humans from destruction and the establishment of kingship (Book of the Cow), but it came to be a chance to celebrate by getting intoxicated. Each festival had its own series of rites and practices associated with the festival. Common to many of these was a procession or parade during which the god, borne aloft by priests carrying the god in an ark on poles, would visit various places and during which time individuals could consult the god who would answer their questions through oracles.

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A number of questions asked of the oracles have survived and include such questions as whom one ought to marry, whether one should take a certain job, whether one’s child would survive, and who should fulfill a priestly office. Egyptian temples were organized around a central sanctuary, the great seat of god, surrounded by the hall that contained various shrines for all the deities belonging to the god’s council or Ennead. In front of that was the hall of offerings, followed by a hypostyle hall representing a garden, which contained rooms for washing, anointing, amulets, and a library (pr nḫ). In front was a peristyle court into which the public was admitted. The temple was fronted with a pylon depicting the destruction of enemies and two obelisks. The various types of priests and priestly offices may be divided into temporary and permanent offices. Temporary offices, such as the lesonis who served as the president of the temple for a year or high priest who served in that office for a day, covered a specific time period and tend not to be listed among the titles before an individual’s name. Titular offices tend to include the general grade of priest: prophet (ḥm- ntßr, προφτης), divine father (itntßr), or priest (wb, ερευς). The prophet was in charge of the cult for the entire nome. It was a full-time salaried position, into which a man had to be initiated. He served on rotation as the high priest (wb ) for the god and as such entered the sanctuary where he met with the god face to face and served him. He interpreted the oracles of the god and served as a spokesman for the god. Though usually a hereditary position, prophets were also appointed by divine oracles. Starting in the Persian period, the approval of government officials was also part of the process. Piety and good reputation were prerequisites for nomination to the office. The divine father was in charge of the cult for a city. Like the office of prophet, it was a full-time salaried position that required an initiation. The priest was a part-time position. The priest was a member of a phyle, and each phyle served one month on and three months off. The priest was only paid for the time during which he was on duty. The phyle rotation allowed more individuals to serve as priests; one census lists 22% of men as priests. Priests carried the ark of the god during processions and oracular consultations. The biography of Bakenkhonsu shows a progression of offices: starting at the age of 15, he spent four years as a priest, twelve as a divine father, and the remaining 53 years of his life as a prophet. In later times, one of the more important temporary offices was the lesonis (mr-šn) or president of the temple who served for a year at a time, though they might have more than one term at irregular

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intervals. The lesonis was in charge of the administrative affairs of the temple. The lesonis was assisted by the agent (rd), who carried out the business affairs of the temple. The high priest (wb ) was chosen from among the prophets and was responsible for the performance of the cult for that day. These elements of Egyptian religion seem to have been fairly common throughout most of Egypt over a long span of time. Both chronological and local variations need to be considered. Not only would it be unusual for millions of people to have the same point of view and practices for millennia, but there is also direct evidence for many differences in opinion. Book of the Dead 17 (= Coffin Text 335) provides a microcosm of Egyptian religion. Its earliest manuscript dates to the 11th Dynasty (2055–1985 BCE), but many 5th Dynasty tomb biographies quote it. The earliest manuscript already includes a commentary on the text. The basic text was a hymn in praise of the creator god. There were various changes in both the text and its interpretation over time. In the Middle Kingdom, its purpose was to provide “ascension by day”; by the New Kingdom it had added other purposes such as enabling the user to “transform into any form that he desires.” Lines such as “I am Re at his first appearance” were understood in the Middle Kingdom as meaning “when he rises in his horizon at dawn.” In the New Kingdom, the text was altered to read “I am Re at his first appearance, when he began to rule.” New Kingdom glosses show an expanded interpretation: “It is when Re was first crowned as king before the supports of Shu came into being, while he was on the hill that is in Hermopolis, when he destroyed the children of iniquity among the gods who are in Hermopolis.” Starting with the Saite period the text was changed to read “I am Re in his appearance when his rule began.” This text was interpreted to mean “It is when Re was first crowned in Herakleopolis, when I was coming into being after Nun had been exalted, while he was on the hill that is in Hermopolis, after he destroyed the children of iniquity on the hill that is in Hermopolis.” At the same time, there were also different interpretations of the text. In the New Kingdom, the line: “I am the great god who created himself” was interpreted by some as meaning “he is Nun, father of the gods” and by others as “he is Re.” Some interpreted the lines “I am yesterday; I know tomorrow” allegorically to refer to the sun god, Re, conquering the enemies of the cosmocrator, while others took the same lines as the burial of Osiris. Bibliography: ■ Assmann, J., The Search for God in Ancient Egypt (Ithaca, N.Y. 2001). ■ Assmann, J., Tod und Jenseits im Alten Ägypten (München 2001). ■ Gee, J., “A New Look at the Conception of the Human Being in Ancient Egypt,” in Being in Ancient Egypt (ed. R. Nyord/A. Kjølby; Oxford 2009)

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■ Hassan, S., Mastabas of Princess Hemet-R (Cairo 1–14. 1975). ■ Janssen, J. J., “A New Kingdom Settlement,” Altorientalische Forschungen 19 (1992) 8–23. ■ Krauss, R., Astronomische Konzepte und Jenseitsvorstellungen in den Pyramidentex■ Leitz, C. et al., Lexikon der ten (Wiesbaden 1997). ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen (Leuven 2002–3). ■ von Lieven, A., Der Himmel über Esna (Wiesbaden 2000). ■ Vittmann, G., Altägyptische Wegmetaphorik (Vienna 1999).

H. Culture and Arts Almost all art from ancient Egypt has its basis in religion. Some of the earliest artistic masterpieces, such as the Narmer Palette, and the copper statues of Pepi I, were found in a temple cache. Most painting has been found on temple and tomb walls. Sculpture was usually found in temple courtyards. The artist laid out figures on a grid. In the Middle and New Kingdoms, the basic standing human figure filled 18 squares between the sole of the foot to the hairline, with seated figures occupying 14 gridlines between the same two points. In the Amarna Period (14th cent. BCE), a 20-square grid seems to have been used with standing figures, and a 15-square grid with seated figures (Robins). Amarna artists claimed that Akhenaton himself dictated the artwork changes of the time (Murnane: 129). After the Amarna Period, artwork returned to the previous 18-square proportions. Starting with the 25th Dynasty, a 21-square grid between the sole and the upper eyelid with 17 squares between the sole and the upper eyelid used on seated figures (Robins). Egyptian art typically arranges subjects in registers which are often read from bottom to top. Objects are usually depicted as composites with the parts shown in the most distinctive and recognizable form possible: the head is in profile, with the eye shown directly, feet are shown from the outside, torsos are shown from the side but the clothing covering it from the front. This often leaves figures with two hands or feet from the same side. The typical color spectrum known from Egyptian texts was black, white, red/brown, and green/ blue, though the Egyptian snake manual describes other colors as well. Colors are used symbolically. The gods are depicted with skin of gold and beards of lapis lazuli. Red was often associated with enemies. Execration figurines and pottery were specified as being red. God’s names were usually written in black ink, even in rubrics. Blue shading through turquoise into green was the color both of the water (the sea was “the big blue,” usually mistranslated “the great green”) and of vegetation and thus freshness. Several cases are known where Egyptian artwork inspired Levantine/Israelite artwork: while Mesopotamia used cylinder-seals and Egypt also did in Early Dynastic times (4th millennium BCE), stamped seals in the form of scarabs began to be used by the beginning of the Middle Kingdom (early second millennium BCE). Seal bearers were in

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charge of expeditions to foreign countries and carried this practice to Nubia and the Levant. Egyptian scarabs were circulating in the Levant in the Middle Kingdom on, and the practice was firmly entrenched in Judah and the surrounding countries. The winged scarab appears in Egypt by at least the end of the 18th Dynasty (early 13th cent. BCE) and is used through at least the Libyan period. This motif decorates a number of royal seals from Judah. The depiction of a figure with an uplifted arm prepared to smite appears before the First Dynasty (3100–2890 BCE) and is used until Roman times. It is an iconographic depiction of the Egyptian expression to raise the hand (pr ) which meant to do violence. The outer pylon of Egyptian temples often depicts the king in this pose, poised ready to strike foreigners as a warning for the violent death that awaits foreigners violating the sacred temple precincts. The image was adopted in the Levant as an image of Baal and is referenced many times in the Bible as the Lord’s “outstretched arm” indicating wrath (Exod 6 : 6; 7 : 5; 8 : 5–6, 17; 9 : 22; 10 : 12, 21– 22; 14 : 16, 21, 26–27; Deut 4 : 34; 5 : 15; 7 : 19; 9 : 29; 11 : 2; 26 : 8; Josh 8 : 19; 1 Kgs 8 : 42; 2 Kgs 17 : 36; 1 Chr 21 : 16; 2 Chr 6 : 32; Job 15 : 25; Ps 136 : 12; Prov 1 : 24; Isa 5 : 25; 9 : 12, 17, 21; 10 : 4; 14 : 26–27; 23 : 11; 31 : 3; 45 : 12; Jer 6 : 12; 15 : 6; 21 : 5; 27 : 5; 32 : 17, 21; 51 : 25; Ezek 6 : 14; 14 : 9; 16 : 27; 20 : 33–34; 25 : 7, 13, 16; 30 : 25; 35 : 3; Zeph 1 : 4; 2 : 13). During festivals and oracles, the Egyptian priests would carry around the god on poles in a portable shrine (sometimes shaped like a boat) made of gold-plated wood. These arks are attested from the Old Kingdom through the Roman period. These bear some similarity to the ark of the covenant (Exod 25 : 10–18). Egyptian arks were protected by winged figures, usually goddesses, similar to the Israelite cherubim (Exod 25 : 19–20). Images of gods spearing snakes which appear between the New Kingdom (late second millennium BCE) and the Roman period became a model for iconography of St. George and the Dragon. Old Kingdom images of a goddess nursing the king provided the inspiration for New Kingdom images of Isis nursing Horus (Isis lactans or Γαλακτοτροφουσα) which in turn provided the inspirations for Roman period images of Madonna and child. Developing in the New Kingdom, Horus cippi depicted Horus the child mastering wild beasts and were used to ward off the ill effects of snakes, scorpions, and wild animals. They first appear in the New Kingdom and spread outside of Egypt from Mesopotamia to Ethiopia to Europe and served as partial inspiration for the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Matthew where the baby Jesus wards off and tames wild beasts. Serpents protecting the king in the form of uraei are known already by the 4th Dynasty (2613–2494

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BCE) and survive until the Roman period. Texts describe their protective function as spitting forth fire and punishing rebels. By the New Kingdom, they form a frieze protecting deities in their shrines and they can be depicted with wings. Also associated with deity were seraphim which were fiery serpents (Num 21 : 6, 8; Deut 8 : 15; Isa 6 : 2, 6; 14 : 29; 30 : 6). The Egyptian scripts were a form of artwork. Hieroglyphs, hieratic and even demotic, could range from utilitarian to calligraphic. During the New Kingdom, Egyptian script spread into the Levant. In the height of the Libyan period (1069–715 BCE), even though cultural contact seems to have been limited, Egyptian script was used in the NeoAssyrian Empire a century before the Assyrian conquest of Egypt. All pre-exilic Heb. numerals are from Egyptian (hieratic or demotic) numerals. Egyptians valued eloquence. The Shipwrecked Sailor claims that “a man’s speech can always save him.” The Instruction of Ptahhotep claims that “eloquence is more hidden than an amulet yet may be found among women at the grindstones.” Egyptian literature employed several common rhetorical devices: Parallelism is common throughout Egyptian. Anaphora, repeated initial words, is common in hymns. Apanalepsis, irregularly repeated words, is a common feature of literary texts. Alliteration, repeated initial sounds, is common in all texts. Epistrophe, the repetition of ending words, is found in multiple genres. Antonomasia, substituting a descriptive phrase for a proper name, is common in religious texts. Epizeuxis, repeated adjacent words, is common for emphasis. Epexegesis, the reinterpretation of what has just been said, occurs in a few religious texts. Bdelygmia, expressions of hatred, is common in both religious and historical texts. Epicrisis, the quotation and comment on a passage, is mainly known from letters. Isocolon, the repetition of the same number of syllables, has been assumed to be ubiquitous in Egyptian but it ubiquity may be overstated. Merismus, the division of a whole into parts, is frequent. Metallage, treating a word or phrase as an object, is common. Protrope, calling to action by threats, is common in religious texts. Skotison, purposeful obscurity, is common in religious texts. Some peculiarities of Egyptian limit certain rhetorical devices. Egyptian syntax tends to be rigid and so chiasmus tends to be rare. Hyperbaton, unusual word order, is attested though not frequently. Egyptian rhetoric prefers using different vocabulary and polyptoton, repeated word roots, which tends to be used more rarely than in Hebrew. Because vowels are not normally recorded until Coptic, rhetorical devices that depend on vowels are unknown. Dancing and music are depicted in artwork. Both are a major component of festivals, and almost all religious texts were sung. Musical instruments

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included harps and sistrems. Unfortunately, little in the way of musical notation has survived and it is not understood. Most music and dancing were segregated by gender. Clothing styles change over time but there seems to have been a tendency to depict people in traditional dress in artwork. Linen was the predominant fabric until the 7th century CE when wool began to be used. Linen dropped out of use by the 9th century CE. Bibliography: ■ Daview, W. V., Colour and Painting in Ancient Egypt (London 2001). ■ Lieven, A. van, “Music Archaeology – Music Philology: Sources on Ancient Egyptian Music and Their Inherent Problems,” in Musikarchäologische Quellengruppen (Rahden 2004) 99–105. ■ Murnane, W. J., Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta, Ga. 1995). ■ Pritchard, F., Clothing Culture: Dress in Egypt in the First Millennium AD (Manchester 2006). ■ Robins, G., Proportion and Style in Ancient Egyptian Art (Austin, Tex. 1994). ■ Sauneron, S., Un traité égyptien d’ophiologie (Cairo 1989). ■ Tram Tan Tinh, V., Isis Lactans (Leiden 1973). ■ Wilkinson, R. H., Symbol and Magic in Egyptian Art (London 1994).

John Gee I. Relations with Syro-Palestine The Bible offers only a small excerpt of the historical relations between Egypt and Syro-Palestine. This is confirmed by the results of archaeology and historical-critical research. Numerous biblical statements assume a certain representation of Egypt that cannot be historically construed. This is especially true for the early history of Israel, whether it is the migrations of the patriarchs (Abraham, Gen 12), the Joseph story (Gen 37–50), or Israel’s sojourn in Egypt (Exod 1–14). Thus, questions about the exodus or the historicity of Moses can hardly be fielded from a historical perspective. If one starts from what is reasonably assured, Palestine/Israel was important from the Egyptian perspective for two main reasons: (1) trade – because of the significance of the coast for maritime trade and overland trade routes, and (2) politics – specifically as a buffer against the opponents in the Northeast, whether it was the Hittites and the kingdom of Mitanni in the second millennium BCE or the Assyrians, new Babylonians, and Persians in the first millennium BCE. Archeologically, there is evidence of trade contacts between Egypt and Palestine already in the 4th and 3rd millenniums BCE (potsherds with the name of Pharaoh Narmer [ca. 3000 BCE] and Egyptian pottery in Arad). Individual locales, e.g., Megiddo, Ashkelon, Hazor, and Jerusalem are mentioned in the so-called Egyptian ‘execration texts’ (12th Dynasty, ca. 1700 BCE). In the New Kingdom this territory was important, due to the extensive program of expansion under the Pharaohs of the 18th to 20th Dynasties (1539–1069 BCE). In the course of this expansion parts of Syro-Palestine was subjected and controlled from Egypt. The Amarna Letters from the middle of the 14th century provide a glimpse into the vassal system and name places

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such as Jerusalem, Megiddo, Shechem, Gezer, and Gath. In this historical period, the Merenptah Stela (1208 BCE) is important, since it witnesses to a people group called “Israel” in the southern Levant. With the arrival of the 11th century, the Egyptian Pharaohs had to retreat little by little out of the Syro-Palestinian land bridge (at the latest with Ramses IV, but presumably already under Ramses III). From the end of the Ramesside period (1069) until the 7th century, Egypt was primarily concerned with inner-Egyptian politics and undertook no more noteworthy expansion endeavours in Syria/Palestine. Cultural or political contacts at the time of Solomon (such as Pharaoh’s daughter and an Egyptian campaign, see 1 Kgs 9 : 16) cannot be proven on the basis of current sources and must be evaluated on the basis of archaeological finds. The only noteworthy activity is a campaign of the founder of the 22nd Dynasty, Sheshonq I, to Palestine in the year 926 BCE, which is reported in the Bible (1 Kgs 14 : 25–28; 2 Chr 12 : 2–9) as well as in an Egyptian source (the so-called ‘Bubastide portal’ in the temple of Karnak, second pylon). From an Egyptian perspective, Syria/Palestine comes into focus again because of the westward expansion of the new Assyrians in the 8th century BCE. The Egyptian Pharaoh (called “So” [Heb. Sô] in 2 Kgs 17 : 4 = Osorkon IV?), however, did not respond to a request for help from the last king of Israel, Hosea. In the time of Hezekiah of Judah, the new Pharaohs of the Cushite 25th Dynasty (728/716–656) were active in southern Palestine but were challenged by the Assyrians, who in five campaigns move all the way to Thebes and subordinated the Egyptians (663 BCE). With the withdrawal of the Assyrians, the new rulers of the 26th Dynasty (Psammetich I, and then Necho II) took control over the southern Levant in 630 BCE, so that the kingdom of Judah presumably already under Josiah fell under Egyptian suzerainty. In the battle of Carcemish in the year 605 BCE, the ascendency transferred to the New Babylonians, who held it until the Persians. The historical period from the late 8th until the 6th century BEC was the first era of direct cultural contacts between Egypt and Israel and formed the prelude to a cultural exchange that stretched into the Greco-Roman period. In this period, Judahites fled to Egypt (see for example Jer 43) and settled there (cf. also the reports in Herodotus and in the Egyptian sources). Especially important in the Persian period is the Jewish military colony in Elephantine, where correspondence was preserved that contains significant historical information about the religion of Egyptian Jews. Egypt, like Jehud, was a part of the Persian empire and in the Greek period was controlled by the Ptolemies (306 Ptolemy I Soter). Judea was one of several provinces in the Ptolemaic empire and was administered from Alexandria (see the Zenon papyri). The close contacts are clearly illus-

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trated by the fact that between 240 and 218 BCE, Joseph Ben Tobia held office as the highest tax official of the Ptolemaic kingdom in all of the combined Coile-Syria province and by the fact that the son of the high-priest Onias IV, after his flight to Egypt in the year 170 BCE, received permission from Ptolemy IV Philopator to build a temple for the Jewish colony in Leontopolis. In 63 BCE, Judea came under Roman domination, and with the plundering of Alexandria on the 1st of August, 30, and the suicide of Cleopatra VII Philopator on the 12th of August, 30, Egypt experienced its decisive and final defeat and fell under Roman control. Bibliography: ■ Ash, P. S., David, Solomon and Egypt (JSOTSup 297; Sheffield 1999). ■ Chaveau, M., Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra (Ithaca, N. Y./London 2000). ■ Frankfurter, D., Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance (Princeton, N.J. 1998). ■ Görg, M., Die Beziehungen zwischen dem Alten Israel und Ägypten (EdF 290; Darmstadt 1997). ■ Helck, W., Die Beziehungen Ägyptens zu Vorderasien im 3. und 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr. (ÄgAbh 5; Wiesbaden 21971). ■ Hölbl, G., A History of the Ptolemaic Empire (London/New York 22001). ■ Kitchen, K., The Third Intermediate Period (Warminster 3 1995). ■ Lipin´ski, E., On the Skirts of Canaan in the Iron Age ■ Morenz, S., “Ägypten: III. (OLA 153; Leuven 2006). Ägypten und die Bibel,” RGG 3 1 (Tübingen 1957) 117–206. ■ Redford, D. B., Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (Princeton, N.J. 1993). ■ Schipper, B. U., Israel und Ägypten in der Königszeit (OBO 170; Freiburg i.Ue./Göttingen 1999). ■ Schipper, B. U., “Egypt and the Kingdom of Judah under Josiah and Jehoiakim,” TA 37 (2010) 200–26. ■ Williams, R. J., “Ägypten: II. Ägypten und Israel,” TRE 1 (Berlin/New York 1975) 492–505. ■ Wilson, K. A., The Campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I into Palestine (FAT 2/9; Tübingen 2005).

II. Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament Egypt is mentioned 678 times in the HB/OT, being the most important of the nations surrounding Israel. The identity of biblical Israel is bound decisively with the exodus and the foundational figure Moses. Therefore, Egypt can become a general cipher for the election of Israel by YHWH (Hos 12 : 10; 13 : 4). (a) The knowledge of the Bible about the land of Egypt is small and mainly limited to its northern part. From 13 cities which are mentioned, only two are in the South (No [Theben] und Syene [Assuan]) and the remaining eleven in the northern part “Upper Egypt”: Zoan (Tanis), the city of Ramesses, Migdol, Pi-Beset (Bubastis), Tachpanes (Daphne), Noph (Memphis), Hanes (Herakleopolis), Sin (Sais), Ir-Heres/On (Heliopolis), (only in the NT: Alexandria in Acts 18 : 24; 27 : 6; 28 : 11). The Nile is mentioned often (Gen 41; Exod 1; Ezek 29 passim); an allusion to the Nile flood is probably found in Jer 46 : 8. With the exception of mummification (Gen 50 : 5–6, 26), Egyptian conventions and practices are not known in the Bible. Egypt is seen as a rich country (Isa 45 : 14, parallel to Kush; Num 20 : 5; Lam 5 : 6; cf. Heb 11 : 26), whose inhabitants speak

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an inscrutable language (Ps 114 : 1) and have exotic conventions (Gen 43 : 33; 46 : 34). Older research tried to find Egyptian deities in the OT (Amon in Jer 46 : 25; Osiris in Exod 6 : 24; Apis [Hapi] in Jer 46 : 15 LXX). More interesting are Egyptian personal names with a theophoric element: Asenat (Neith: Gen 41 : 45, 50; 46 : 20); Harnefer (Horus: 1 Chr 7 : 36); Potiphar (Re: Gen 41 : 45; 50; 46 : 20); Paschhur (Horus: Jer 20 : 1–3; see in the ancient Heb. inscriptions: Eshor [Horus] and Qadbes [Bes]). An allusion to the divine character of the Pharaoh as an important element of the Egyptian royal ideology can be found in Ezek 32. Egyptian pharaohs are mentioned in the Bible only for the time when direct historical-cultural contacts exist: Shoshenq I (945–24, 22nd Dynasty: 1 Kgs 14 : 25; 2 Chr 12 : 2, 5, 7; 1 Kgs 11 : 40); Taharqa (690–64, 25th Dynasty: 2 Kgs 19 : 9; Isa 37 : 9); Necho II (610–595, 26th Dynasty: 2 Kgs 23 : 20, 33– 35; 2 Chr 35 : 20–22; 36 : 4; Jer 46 : 2); Apries (589– 70, 26th Dynasty: Jer 44 : 30) and perhaps Osorkon IV (730/728–715/713, 22/23rd Dynasty as “So” in 2 Kgs 17 : 4). During the time of the monarchy in Israel, Egypt is famous for its military power and sought after as a coalition partner (Hosea of Israel: 2 Kgs 17 : 4; Hezekiah of Judah: 2 Kgs 18 : 19; 19 : 9; probably Zedekiah: Jer 37 : 7). (b) The image of Egypt in the Bible is ambiguous. Most of the evidence refers to the oppression of the people of Israel in Egypt and the exodus. Thus, Egypt is seen as a “house of slavery” (especially in Deuteronomy and the Dtr literature, see Exod 20 : 2; Deut 6 : 12, passim) and as an “iron furnace” (Deut 4 : 20; 1 Kgs 8 : 51; Jer 11 : 4; Isa 48 : 10), from which YHWH has “brought out” (y-ṣ-: Exod 16 : 6; 20 : 2; Lev 22 : 33; Deut 5 : 6; et al.) or “brought up” (-l-h: Lev 11 : 45; Num 14 : 13; Deut 20 : 1, passim). Alongside stands the more neutral statement that Israel was a “stranger” (gēr) in Egypt (Exod 22 : 20; 23 : 9; Lev 19 : 33–34; Deut 10 : 19). In prophetic texts Egypt is seen – probably against the backdrop of the political history – as a land being asked for help because of its military power but not as a dependable source of help (see the prominent word of the “crushed reed” in 2 Kgs 18 : 21; 36 : 6; Ezek 29 : 6; Isa 30 : 1–5). The prophetic critique is expanded in elaborated oracles against Egypt (Jer 42–44; 46; Isa 18; 19; Ezek 29–32) that contain a lot of Egyptian local color. In contrast to the sharp and polemical prophetic critique (Ezek 16 : 26; 23 : 20) stand a number of positive statements about Egypt: most significant in the story of Joseph (Gen 37–50), but also in isolated references such as Egypt as place of wisdom (1 Kgs 5 : 10) as a place to escape (of Abraham: Gen 12 : 10; of the adversaries of Solomon, Hadad and Jeroboam: 1 Kgs 11 : 14–25, 40; 12 : 2; of the prophet Uriah: Jer 26 : 20–24; of a group of Judahites after the death of Gedaliah: Jer 41 : 17; 42 : 13–22; 2 Kgs 25 : 26). The most positive

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statement on Egypt occurs in Isa 19 : 24–25 (see Mic 7 : 12) where Egypt, along with to Israel and Assyria, is named a “people of YHWH” and is blessed by God. Bibliography: ■ Boadt, L., Oracles against Egypt: A Literary and Philological Study of Ezekiel 29–32 (BibOr 37; Rome 1980). ■ Boer, P. A. H. de, “Egypt in the Old Testament,” in id., Selected Studies in Old Testament Exegesis (ed. C. van Duin; Leiden 1991) 152–67. ■ Görg, M., Die Beziehungen zwischen dem Alten Israel und Ägypten (EdF 290; Darmstadt 1997). ■ Hasitschka, M., “Ägypten im Neuen Testament: Eine bibeltheologische Skizze,” PzB 10 (2001) 75–83. ■ Kaiser, O., Israel und Ägypten: Die politischen und kulturellen Beziehungen zwischen dem Volk der Bibel und dem Land der Pharaonen (Zeitschrift des Museums zu Hildesheim, Neue Folge 14; Hildesheim 1963). ■ Kessler, R., Die Ägyptenbilder der Hebräischen Bibel: Ein Beitrag zur neueren Monotheismusdebatte (SBS 197; Stuttgart 2002). ■ Montet, P., Das alte Ägypten und die Bibel (Bibel und Archäologie 4; Zürich 1960). ■ Morenz, S., “Ägypten: III. Ägypten und die Bibel,” RGG 3 1 (Tübingen 1957) 194–206. ■ Pfeifer, G., Ägypten im Alten Testament (BN Beiheft 8; München ■ Ringgren, H., “Mis 1995).  rayim,” ThWAT 4 (Stuttgart 1984) 1099–111. ■ Russell, S. C., Images of Egypt in Early Biblical Literature: Cisjordan-Israelite, Transjordan-Israelite, and Judahite Portrayals (BZAW 403; Berlin/New York 2009). ■ Sawyer, J. F. A., “‘Blessed be My People Egypt’ (Isaiah 19 : 25): The Context and Meaning of a Remarkable Passage,” in A Word in Season, FS W. McKane (ed. J. D. Martin/ P. R. Davies; JSOTSup 42; Sheffield 1986) 57–71. ■ Talmon, S., “Ägypten und Israel aus biblischer Sicht,” in 5000 Jahre Ägypten: Genese und Permanenz pharaonischer Kunst (ed. J. Assmann/G. Burkhard; Heidelberg 1983) 129–39. ■ Williams, R. J., “Ägypten: II. Ägypten und Israel,” TRE 1 ( Berlin 1975) 492–505. ■ Williams, R. J., “‘A People Come out of Egypt’: An Egyptologist Looks at the Old Testament,” in Congress Volume Edinburgh 1974 (ed. G. W. Anderson et al.; VTSup 28; Leiden 1975) 231–52.

Bernd U. Schipper

III. New Testament In the NT, the mention of “Egypt” serves most often to recall famous HB/OT episodes as well as to indicate parallels between such episodes and stories from the life of Jesus or experiences of the early church. Acts (7 : 9–40; 13 : 17), Hebrews (3 : 16; 8 : 9; 11 : 26–29), and Jude (5) mention Egypt when referring to the histories of Jacob, Joseph, and Moses and to the exodus of Israel. In each case there are only short summaries, it being assumed that readers are familiar with the important stories in Genesis and Exodus. In Stephen’s speech in Acts 7, part of the message seems to be that the divine presence is not bound exclusively to Jerusalem (cf. 7 : 44–50). In Hebrews, the appeal to Egypt consistently serves a hortatory function (cf. Jude 5). In Matt 2, the parents of Jesus flee with him to the safety of Egypt when Herod threatens the life of a potential royal rival. This is part of Matthew’s Moses typology: Jesus recapitulates events from the life of Moses (Allison). But the quotation of Hos 11 : 1 in Matt 2 : 15 further implies that Jesus also recapitulates the experience of Israel (cf. Matt 4 : 1–

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11, where Jesus recapitulates the temptations of Israel’s experiences in the desert). Probably in the background is the idea that, before the consummation, the pattern, exodus/return, will repeat itself (cf. Isa 40 : 3–4; Ezek 20 : 33–44; Hos 2 : 14–15). A different sort of typology appears in Rev 11 : 7–8. This foretells that, when two eschatological witnesses have finished their testimony, “the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is prophetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” The city is Jerusalem, which is censured as Sodom elsewhere (e.g., Jer 23 : 14; Ezek 16 : 46). But the reference to Egypt is odd. It is not a city, and precedent for likening Egypt to Jerusalem appears lacking (although in Matt 2 Herod and the leaders of Jerusalem act like Pharaoh and the counselors of Egypt). Perhaps Egypt is paired with Sodom because of its association with idolatry (Isa 19 : 1; Ezek 20 : 7). The NT does not attest to the presence of Christians in Egypt, although Acts 2 : 10 purports that Egyptian Jews were present when Peter preached at Pentecost. Bibliography: ■ Allison Jr., D. C., The New Moses (Minneapolis, Minn. 1993). ■ Brown, R. E., The Birth of the Messiah (New York 21993).

Dale C. Allison, Jr.

IV. Judaism Second Temple and Hellenistic Judaism ■ Rabbinic Judaism ■ Medieval Judaism ■ Modern Judaism

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A. Second Temple and Hellenistic Judaism Egypt was a multivalent place for Jews in the Second Temple period. For all Jews, Egypt was connected primarily with the slavery and liberation of the exodus story, and a number of authors retold the story in this period, usually keeping relatively close to the biblical tale (e.g., L.A.B. of Pseudo-Philo, Josephus). For the most part Egypt was valued negatively, but this was not a universal perspective. Perhaps the most positive view taken of Egypt can be found in the Letter of Aristeas. The author plays with the Exodus story, but Egypt was not for him a place of oppression; whereas in the biblical story God’s people must escape from an oppressive Pharaoh, in this version Ptolemy II Philadelphus is cast as a benevolent pharaoh who releases the Jews from slavery (§§ 12–27) and acts as a patron of the project to translate the Torah. As a result, the Mosaic law is given to the Jewish community in the Gk. language, while they reside in Alexandria, without the need for an exodus. Egypt’s hoary antiquity and reputation for ancient wisdom served the propagandistic needs of some Jewish writers. Aristeas refers twice to learned Egyptian priests who can testify to the devout character of the Jews (§§ 6, 140). Josephus also appeals

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to Egypt in order to demonstrate the great antiquity and higher wisdom of the Jews. Although Egyptians are said to excel in understanding, Solomon surpassed Egyptian wisdom (Ant. 8.42). Egyptian records, which predate those of the Greeks, testify to the Jews’ own ancient roots (Ag. Ap. 1.70, 73– 90, 215). As a way of contesting Gk. wisdom, Josephus claims that Gk. philosophers were actually disciples of Egyptian wisdom (Ag. Ap. 1.14). The early Sibylline Oracles also look favorably toward Egypt as the source of a Ptolemaic savior-king under whom an eschatological age would begin (3.193–95). Other texts show a more competitive relationship with Egypt. The fragments of the Alexandrian Jewish writer Artapanus preserved by Eusebius of Caesarea in his Preparation for the Gospel do not display antipathy but rather a sense of having to prove Jewish superiority over Egypt. Whatever the Egyptians are reputed to know well, they learned from the Jews. So, Abraham traveled to Egypt and taught the Egyptians astrology (Fragment 1); during Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt, he organized Egyptian farming and discovered measurements (Fragment 2); the ultimate source of knowledge, both theoretical and practical, was Moses, who, during his time in Egypt, invented boats, stone construction, Egyptian weaponry and war strategy, implements for drawing water, and philosophy. Artapanus further credits him with establishing the traditional Egyptian districts, called nomes, and even with instituting the Egyptian worship of animals (theriolatry), a practice universally condemned elsewhere in Jewish literature (Fragment 3)! Finally, quite a number of Jewish authors treat Egypt with outright disdain or utter scorn. Philo of Alexandria denigrates Egypt in his allegorical interpretations by making the country signify the body, the passions, or both, as well as sensory pleasures, aspects directly in contrast with mind and reason, for example. Thus, Israel’s dwelling in Egypt signified a depraved and carnal life (On the Posterity of Cain, 156). The worst invective in Jewish literature was reserved for Egyptian theriolatry. Even as irenic a book as the Letter of Aristeas condemns this practice, calling those who engage in it “vain” (§ 138). The Sibylline Oracles Book 5 inveighs against Egypt both for persecuting Jews and for idol worship. Three of the six oracles in the book predict woes to befall Egypt, sometimes connecting them with idolatry: “They worship stone and brute beasts instead of God, revering very many things…and you Alexandria, famous nurse of cities, war will not leave you” (5.77–78, 88–89). Perhaps the harshest criticisms of idolatry come from the author of the Wisdom of Solomon. The second half of the book narrates biblical events from Adam to Moses with Lady Wisdom guiding them. Particular venom is directed at Egypt: “Moreover they worship even the

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most hateful animals, which are worse than all others when judged by their lack of intelligence; and even as animals they are not so beautiful in appearance that one would desire them” (15 : 18– 19). Among the DSS, besides direct references to the Exodus story, there are several mentions of Egypt, although perhaps not as many as one might expect. In a number of cases, Egypt figures in eschatological scenarios. 4Q462 (Narrative C) 1, 13 might refer to the post-exilic Jewish community in Egypt as enduring a second captivity that will precede the full restoration of Israel. In 1QM, the War Scroll, Egypt’s idols appear as the object of the “fire of his [i.e., God’s] wrath.” In the eschatological events of 4Q387 (Apocryphon of Jeremiah Cb), God will both “break” Israel and the “kingdom of Egypt.” According to Devorah Dimant, the diatribe of 4Q385b (4QPseudo-Ezekielc) points toward historical events surrounding Antiochus IV’s first Egyptian campaign. In this text we find an interpretation of the biblical Ezekiel’s so-called “oracles against the nations,” especially Ezekiel 30, where Egypt is destined for God’s destruction. 4Q386 (Pseudo-Ezekielb) col. II mentions events that will occur in Memphis, Egypt from which the Jews will return as a remnant. Bibliography: ■ Beavis, M. A. L., “Anti-Egyptian Polemic in the Letter of Aristeas 130–165 (The High Priest’s Discourse),” JSJ 18 (1987) 145–51. ■ Collins, J. J., The Sibylline Oracles of Egyptian Judaism (SBLDS 13; Missoula, Mont. 1972). ■ Dimant, D. (ed.), Qumran Cave 4 XXI Parabiblical Texts, Part ■ Holladay, C. R. 4: Pseudo-Prophetic Texts (Oxford 2001). (ed.), Fragments from Hellenistic Jewish Authors: Volume I: Historians (SBLTT 20; Chico, Calif. 1983). ■ Smith, M. (ed.), “462. 4QNarrative C,” in Qumran Cave 4, XIV: Parabiblical Texts, Part 2 (ed. M. Broshi et al.; DJD 19; Oxford 1995) 195–209.

Benjamin G. Wright III B. Rabbinic Judaism The engagement with Egypt that transpired in the HB was continued in rabbinic literature. One of the critical objectives was to set boundaries of Jewish identity by presenting rabbinic Judaism in opposition to Egyptian culture; Egypt was a symbol of the “Other” (Ulmer 2009). Knowledge of Egypt was derived partially from contact with Greco-Roman Egypt and the spread of Hellenistic-Roman culture. Additionally, there was an abundance of popular knowledge of Egyptian medicine, wisdom, and magic in late antiquity. The Nile inundation is mentioned in rabbinic texts: “R. Judah said: Like the Nile, which repeatedly waters [Egypt]” (BerR 13 : 9) and in commentaries (Rashi, Gen 41 : 10). A midrashic analysis of Deut 11 : 10 in SifDev 38 distinguishes between the landscapes of Egypt and Israel. Egyptian festivals are mentioned (Lachs; Ulmer 2009). During the festival of Pharaoh’s birthday (Gen 41 : 1), Joseph was left behind in his master’s house (BerR 88 : 6), avoiding idolatry by not partici-

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pating in the festival, but being pursued by Potiphar’s wife (Ulmer 1992/93). The Egyptian festivals in BerR 88 : 6 and BerR 87 : 11 could be based upon the Romanized Nile festival or the Egyptian Opet festival; a festival in ShemR 11 : 11 could be based upon the Romanized version of the Hebsed festival. The retrieval of Joseph’s coffin during the exodus contains specific elements from Egyptian culture (Heller; Horovitz; Ulmer 2009), including the Osiris myth (MekhYBeshallaḥ 1; ShemR 20 : 19; DevR 11 : 7), based mainly upon the version in Papyrus Jumilhac. Güdemann equated Serah bat Asher with Isis. The magic that Moses performs to raise the coffin is similar to Egyptian magical practices (Ulmer 2009). Moses was walking through the city for three days and three nights, trying to locate Joseph’s coffin, since the Israelites could not leave Egypt without Joseph. Why? Because he bound them by oath before his death, as it is said, “So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying ‘When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here’” (Gen 50 : 25). When Moses had become extremely tired Serah bat Asher met him; seeing that he was tired she said to him: ‘My lord Moses, why are you tired?’ He said: ‘For three days and nights I have been walking through the city to locate Joseph’s coffin, but I cannot find it.’ She said to him: ‘Come, I will show you where it is.’ She brought him to the river and said to him: ‘This is the place where the magicians and astrologers constructed a coffin of five hundred talents for him and cast it into the river; they said to Pharaoh: If it is your wish that this people shall never leave, then as long as they will not find the bones of Joseph, they will be unable to leave.’ Immediately Moses stood by the bank of the river and called out: Joseph, Joseph, you know how you swore to Israel, ‘God will surely remember you’ (Gen 50 : 25)? Give honor to the God of Israel and do not delay the redemption of Israel … Immediately Joseph’s coffin began to break through the water and to rise from the depths like a stalk of reed. Moses took it and placed it upon his shoulder and carried it, and all Israel followed him (DevR 11 : 7; cf. MekhY Beshallaḥ 1).

Interpretations of “At midnight … the Lord smote all the first-born” (Exod 12 : 29) mention statues or depictions of a deceased family member (MekhY Pish a 13; PesRab 17 : 13), which resemble funeral practices (mummy portraits) of Roman Egypt. The Egyptian kings mentioned are the unspecified “Pharaoh” (of the Exodus) and kings from later historical engagements: Shoshenq (Shishaq) (bPes 119a), Necho (bTaan 22a; BemR 19 : 3), Apries (ShemR 8 : 2) and Taharqa (Tirharka) (ShirR 4 : 20). With the exception of Cleopatra, the Ptolemies are generically referred to as “Talmai” (BerR 38 : 10). Cleopatra is depicted as a physician schooled in Alexandrian medical knowledge and as a cruel tormenter of her subordinates (tNid 4 : 17; Geiger). Queen Cleopatra (VII) participates in a discourse on the afterlife (bSan 90b). The rabbis criticized the Egyptian religion (Bohak). Pharaoh as the Nile god is based upon an interpretation of “he was standing by [or, over] the

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Nile” (Gen 41 : 1) in ShemR 5 : 14 or “the Nile is mine and I made it” (Ezek 29 : 9) in Tan Waera 5; the Nile God Nilos from Roman Egypt is also mentioned (BerR 69 : 4). Egyptian worship of “lambs,” possibly the god Khnum (Ulmer 2010) is attested: “the Egyptians worshiped lambs” (TanB Bo 3; bShab 89a). The Israelites were requested to slay the Egyptian ‘lamb god’: “God said to Moses: As long as Israel worships Egyptian gods, they will not be redeemed; go and tell them to abandon their evil ways and to reject idolatry. This is the meaning of ‘draw out and take for yourselves lambs’ (Exod 12 : 21). [This means:] Draw away your hands from idolatry and take for yourselves lambs, thereby slaying the gods of Egypt and preparing the Passover [sacrifice]; this is the way the Lord will protect you” (ShemR 16 : 2). ShemR 20 : 19 refers to Anubis: “The Egyptians had made dogs out of gold, by means of magic, which barked for forty days whenever a man approached the coffin; but Moses silenced them, as it is said: ‘But not a dog shall growl at any of the Israelites’ (Exod 11 : 7).” Other gods referred to include: Isis and Serapis (tAZ 5 : 1), Ra (YalqShim 1, 372), Horus (MekhY Beshallah 2), Neith (bAZ 11b), Nephthys (bYev 98a) and Haroeris (yMQ 3 : 7, 83c) (Ulmer 2009, 2010). The “Egyptian” language is mentioned, and there are Egyptian and Coptic loan-words (Ulmer 2009): “When the Holy One, Blessed be He, came to give the Torah to Israel, He spoke to them in a language they knew and understood, anokhi (I am) the Lord your God’ (Exod 20 : 2). R. Nehemiah said, What kind of word is anokhi? – an Egyptian word. In Egypt, when someone wishes to say ‘I’ he says anokh” (TanB Yitro 16). The sojourn in Egypt served as an example of initial assimilation and the subsequent return to one’s heritage, as experienced by Joseph and Moses (PRE 38). The command not to return to Egypt (Exod 14 : 13; Deut 17 : 16; 28 : 68) is justified “because it is bad for a slave to return to his master” (EstR Pet. 3); this injunction is acknowledged to have had exceptions (MekhY Beshallah 3). As a major city of the Jewish Diaspora, Alexandria in Egypt, was viewed as a potential rival of Jerusalem (yHag 2 : 2, 77d); it was stereotyped as a source of magic, sexual licentiousness, and wisdom (EstR 1 : 17). Rabbinic texts recognized its skilled craftsmen (bAr 10b) and physicians (ShirR 4 : 13), and the magnificent double stoa (ySuk 5 : 1, 55a–b). Several rabbis visited Alexandria (bSan 107a; bSan 111a). Important sages, Shemaiah and Avtalyon (mAv 1), are said to have been proselytes from Alexandria (bGit 57b). Bibliography: ■ Bohak, G., “Rabbinic Perspectives on Egyptian Religion,” Archiv für Religionsgeschichte 2 (2000) 215–31. ■ Geiger, J., “Cleopatra the Physician,” Zutot 1 (2001) 28– 32. ■ Güdemann, M., Religionsgeschichtliche Studien (Leipzig 1876). ■ Heller, B., “Egyptian Elements in the Haggadah,” in Ignace Goldziher Memorial Volume, vol. 1 (ed. S. Löwinger/J.

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Som´ogyi; Budapest 1948) 412–18. ■ Horovitz, J., Die Josephserzählung (Frankfurt a.M. 1921). ■ Lachs, S. T., “An Egyptian Festival in Canticles Rabba,” JQR 51 (1960) 47–54. ■ Ulmer, R., “Zwischen ägyptischer Vorlage und talmudischer Rezeption: Josef und die Ägypterin,” Kairos 24/25 (1992/93) 75–90. ■ Ulmer, R., Egyptian Cultural Icons in Mid■ Ulmer, R.,“The rash (SJ 52; Berlin/New York 2009). Egyptian Gods in Midrashic Texts,” HTR 103 (2010) 181– 204.

Rivka Ulmer C. Medieval Judaism As in the rabbinic period, so too in the medieval period, Egypt was viewed as a symbol of the “Other” – i.e., as the exemplar of a religio-political group that is not only non-Jewish, but also usually at odds with the Jewish people (although this symbolism is increasingly shared during the medieval period by Edom/Esau (see “Edom, Edomites II. Judaism”; “Esau III. Judaism”) as denoting Christian Gentiles and the Fourth Empire (see “Four Empires III. Judiams”) generally). This perspective was further crystallized during the early geonic period (ca. 8th–9th cent.) by the compilation (from rabbinic sources) of the Passover Haggadah (see “Haggadah of Pesaḥ”) – a liturgical guide not only for performing the first night’s ritual requirements, but also for commemorating the exodus from Egypt (per Exod 13 : 8–16), arguably the most important event in Jewish history with respect to its subsequent impact on Jewish self-perception as a distinct corporate entity living in an often hostile non-Jewish world. Hence, biblical Egypt, perceived first and foremost through the exodus narrative (Exod 1–14) and the subsequent biblical references thereto (e.g., Jer 32 : 20–21; Ezek 20 : 5–10; Pss 78; 105 : 23–38; 106; 114; 136 : 10–15; Neh 9 : 9–12), is equated by medieval Jewish authors with the dominant Gentile powers of their Jewish readership, just as the life of the Israelites in the “exile” of exodus-period Egypt is applied as a paradigm by which that same readership is to live and from which it may draw comfort in their own medieval “exile.” Thus, in commenting on the Haggadah’s We-hi she-amedah (“And it is this [promise] that has stood firm …”), the author of Kol bo (15th cent.) writes: “we find that the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were aggrieved by various types of affliction and were (ultimately) delivered, and thus also (i.e., after various afflictions) were our ancestors in Egypt delivered, and thus also we who are here (i.e., in the ‘exile’ of the Diaspora) today” (apud Eisenstein: 145a). Even more specifically, writing at a time when anti-Jewish sentiment would culminate in his coreligionists’ expulsion from Spain and then his native Portugal, Isaac Abarbanel (1437–1508), in commenting on the "In Each and Every Generation" passage, states that: Every Jew in this present exile will experience personally the subjugation of the nations in a manner similar to that experienced by the entire nation in Egypt…. It

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is therefore incumbent upon every individual to consider himself as if he himself had gone forth from Egypt, for it was not only our ancestors whom He redeemed in that comprehensive redemption, but us too He redeems and delivers every day from various troubles, just as He did for them; hence Scripture says, ‘He brought us out from there’ [Deut 6 : 23]. (apud Eisenstein: 121a–b)

In addition to this symbolic-paradigmatic value, biblical Egypt also took on more direct-prophetic relevance for medieval Jewry as they found themselves increasingly under the often wary and occasionally outright hostile dominion of Muslim authorities – this “Israel-Ishmael” enmity being perceived as a continuation of the enmity between Sarai and her “Egyptian handmaid” (Gen 16 : 1), as subsequently between their sons Isaac and Ishmael. David Qimḥi (ca.1160–1235) comments on Joel 3 : 19 (MT 4 : 19), with regard to God’s future (eschatological) resolution of this enmity: He mentions ‘Egypt’ with reference to the Ishmaelites, for the wife of Ishmael was an Egyptian, as it says, ‘And she took a wife for him from the land of Egypt’ (Gen 21 : 21); and it likewise says that Hagar (herself) was an Egyptian. Therefore it links this people (i.e., the Ishmaelites) to Egypt” (Miqraot gedolot 1992b ad loc.; cf. Ibn Ezra, who distinguishes between biblical and contemporary Egypt and relates this prophecy to the desolation of Egypt in the days of Nebuchadnezzar).

Notwithstanding such negative valuation, and as a testimony to the increasingly complex perspective among medieval Jewry towards the concept of Egypt, both as a place and as a people, we also find that, relative to other Gentile nations, Egypt is viewed with special distinction vis-à-vis her role in biblical narrative and prophecy. Thus, for example, Judah ha-Levi (d. 1141) begins his poem “Le-mitsrayim alei kol ir” by eulogizing Egypt as the place where God’s written word was first given and Israel was incubated as God’s “treasured possession” (cf. Exod 19 : 5): Praise, above all cities, be unto Egypt Whither came first the word of God. There a chosen vine was planted Whose clusters became a treasured possession. (32–35) Among the additional merits of Egypt enumerated by R. Judah, both in this poem and in his shorter poem “Reeh arim” (ibid.: 2.3), are: it is the birthplace of God’s messengers, Moses and Aaron; there God’s glory was manifest in pillars of fire and cloud, and the divine presence (Shekhinah) passed through its streets (Exod 12 : 12); there miracles of such kind and number were performed that “the world has become filled with the glorious recollection of (God)”; its land is compared by Scripture to the garden of Eden (Gen 13 : 10); and its people will one day become “a third part” with Israel, with an altar devoted to the exaltation of God’s name erected in her midst (Isa 19 : 19–25). To this list may

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also be added, according to at least one 10th-century source (T ābā b. S alḥu¯n’s Kitāb al-manāẓir): it was one of the first nations blessed with the knowledge of philosophy and the other sciences (BenShammai: 16–19, 22–23). This positive assessment of Egypt culminates with the eschatological expectation – based on the aforecited passage in Isaiah – of her ultimate incorporation into the community of God’s people, such that she is considered not only “a third part” with Israel, but in fact accorded the label typically reserved by God for Israel: “my people” (ammî; Isa 19 : 25). In this way Egypt – especially in light of her aforementioned negative valuation, both symbolic and direct – becomes a prophetic emblem of the profound and enduring rapprochement between Israel and the Gentile nations that will be ushered in during the messianic age and continue into the World to Come. As Abarbanel writes in his commentary on Isa 19 : 23–25: Hence you may discern … that Egypt, Assyria, and all the lands of the East, after God executes vengeance on them, will turn to the Lord and accept true faith in Him, and so they will have both “a name and a remnant” (cf. 2 Sam 14 : 7) in the land, … this will come to pass in the days of the Messiah, … on account of the wonders that they will behold when the Messiah comes and gathers in the exiles (of Israel), and they will then celebrate the festival of the Lord, as He directed Zechariah the prophet [to say] (see Zech 14 : 16-21) … [and so] it refers to Egypt as His “people” and Assyria as His “handiwork,” all of them being a blessing in those days, insofar as they will all participate with Israel in [true] faith in the Lord – may He be exalted! – and [in] His [true] worship; thus all three of them will be a blessing in the midst of the land. (Miqraot gedolot 1992a ad loc.).

Whereas similar explanations are advanced by other authorities such as Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089–1164) and David Qimḥi, others, in the vein of Targum Isaiah ad loc., hold to a much diminished eschatological role and final spiritual status for Egypt, maintaining Israel as the sole referent of the “blessing” and distinctive epithets in these verses. Thus, for example, writes Isaiah of Trani (d. ca. 1260) ad loc. (1959: 122): “Israel will be a shelishiyah’ (v. 24) – by analogy with The commander (shalish) answered’ (2 Kgs 7 : 2, 19), this means that Israel will be a ruler over Egypt and Assyria, … And Israel will be a blessing in the midst of the earth’ insofar as everyone [else] will be blessed by them … Blessed are my people Egypt’ (v. 25) – [this is] as if to say from Egypt, ’ [i.e.,], from the miracles that I performed for them then in Egypt’ (cf. also Rashi and Joseph Kara ad loc.). Bibliography: ■ Ben-Shammai, H., “A Jewish Wool Merchant in Tenth-Century Mosul Defends Resorting to ‘the Sages of the Nations’: An Early Encounter between Jewish Bible Exegesis and Graeco-Arab Philosophy,” in Pesher Naḥum, FS N. Golb (ed. J. L. Kraemer/M. G. Wechsler; SAOC 66; Chicago, Ill. 2012) 11–31. ■ Eisenstein, J. D. (ed.), A

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Compendium (in Hebrew) of Authoritative Commentaries and Original Illustrations on the Hagada[!] (New York 1920). [Heb.] ■ Isaiah ben Mali of Trani, Perush Neviim u-Khetuvim, vol. 1 (ed. A. J. Wertheimer; Jerusalem 21978 [= 11959]). [Heb.] ■ Judah ha-Levi, Selected Poems of Jehudah Halevi (ed. H. Brody; trans. N. Salaman; Philadelphia, Pa. 1928). ■ Juda ha-Levi, Miqraot gedolot “Orim gedolim,” vol. 4, Yeshayah 1 (Jerusalem ■ Juda ha-Levi Miqraot gedolot “Orim ged1992a). [Heb.] olim,” vol. 8, Terei As´ar (Jerusalem 1992b). [Heb.] ■ Saadia ben Joseph, Siddur R. Seadyah Gaon [Kitāb jāmi al-ṣalawāt wal-tasābı¯ ḥ] (ed. I. Davidson et al.; Jerusalem 32000 [= 11941]). [Heb. and Judeo-Arab.]

Michael G. Wechsler D. Modern Judaism Images of ancient and modern Egypt have intermingled in modern Judaism. The Bible has influenced perceptions of modern Egypt, and modern realities as well as modern archaeological discoveries have influenced interpretations of the Bible. Until 1948, modern Egypt was of relatively little interest to most Jews. Biblical and ancient Egypt however were the subject of a series of exciting archaeological discoveries. Ancient Egyptian motifs began to appear, for instance, in Passover Haggadot, such as the Haggadah illustrated sumptuously by Arthur Szyk, first published in 1940. Archaeology could sometimes be used to reinforce a profoundly negative view of Egypt. For instance, Martin Buber characterized Egypt in his Moses (1946) as a culture of slavery, alienation, and belief in magic, diametrically opposed, as he perceived it, to the biblical message of freedom and connection. On the other hand, archaeology could also be used as the basis for a more positive portrayal of ancient Egyptian culture. The view that Moses was actually an Egyptian by birth and culture and not an Israelite, and that Israelite monotheism should be traced to Egyptian origins, was presented most famously by Freud in Moses and Monotheism (1939; see “Freud, Sigmund”). Egyptian Jews themselves used both the Bible and discoveries such as the Elephantine papyri to argue for the depth of Jewish roots in Egypt and the continuity of Jewish settlement in Egypt. The Passover Haggadah calls on all the participants in the seder ritual to see themselves “as if they had gone forth from Egypt,” and it warns that in every generation persecutors like Pharaoh arise again. Thus modern persecutions of Jews are inevitably compared to Egyptian slavery. The Holocaust, including specifically the experience of slave labor, was frequently compared to Egyptian slavery; already in the 1930s Szyk’s taskmasters wore swastika armbands. Images of “the Exodus from Egypt” were also used in relation to the deliverance of the Holocaust survivors. During the Nasser regime in Egypt, and for a few years before and afterwards, from 1948 until 1978, Egypt was the most powerful enemy of the state of Israel. Political rhetoric sometimes echoed

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biblical images. For instance, PLO leader Ahmad Shuqayri’s threat in 1967 to “drive the Jews into the sea” was later often attributed to Nasser, no doubt because it resonated for Bible-readers with images of the biblical Pharaoh at the Sea of Reeds. Nasser and Egypt were also associated in the Israeli mind with Hitler and Nazism, forming a threefold nexus of Pharaoh–Hitler–Nasser or ancient Egypt–Nazi Germany–modern Egypt. Since the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979, Israel has enjoyed a “cold peace” with Egypt. The Jewish community of Egypt has mostly emigrated; only a few Egyptian Jews remain there. Political references to Pharoah and his army have become infrequent. Israelis today who are uneasy about the future of Israeli-Egyptian relations are more likely to quote Isa 36 : 6 and parallels: “Egypt, that broken reed of a staff.” Bibliography: ■ Band, A., “The Moses Complex in Modern Jewish Literature,” Judaism 51 (2002) 302–14. ■ Beinin, J., The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry (Berkeley, Calif. 1998). ■ Buber, M., Moses (Oxford 1946). ■ Szyk, A. (ill.)/C. Roth (ed.), The Haggadah (London 1940). ■ Szyk, A. (ill.), The Haggadah (trans. B. Sherwin; Burlingame, Calif. 2008).

Joseph Davis

V. Christianity As ancient Egyptian sources were not deciphered until the 19th century CE, the image of Egypt in the Christian Occident mainly fed on the narratives in the book of Exodus and accounts dating from Greco-Roman antiquity. Greco-Roman antiquity draws a largely positive picture of Egypt. According to Herodotus (5th cent. BCE), who authored the oldest attested comprehensive account of Egypt, Egypt is a land of great age, the origin of various cultural and technical conceptions, and an example of exotica. He identifies Greek deities with their Egyptian equivalents and thus renders the Egyptian religion accessible. Subsequently, Diodorus (first cent. BCE) would praise Egypt as the origin of all wisdom and culture. Due to the loss of power entailed by its integration into the Roman Empire, Egypt was less and less perceived as an important political factor and over time became the symbol of hidden wisdom. This hermeneutics of the hidden was systematized by Plutarch (first cent. BCE) in his work On Isis and Osiris. According to Plutarch, only an allegorical interpretation will show the hidden essence of Egyptian culture. At about 170 CE, Apuleius, a Middle Platonist like Plutarch, dramatized the mysteries of Isis and rendered Egypt an example of mystery culture that, from then on, remained closely connected to ideas inspired by Platonism. Around the turn of the eras and in the first centuries CE, scriptures emerged that were attributed to the legendary Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegistus and that were considered the most ancient Egyptian wisdom literature. These texts often take

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the form of a dialogue in which Hermes or the divine mind reveals his knowledge in the form of a mystery. They describe the unity of the spiritual and the divine entity as the formative cause for the multiplicity of the visible and corporeal world. Different paradigms concerning theology, philosophy of nature, ethics, astronomy, magic, and alchemy are derived from this idea. It was first and foremost Neo-Platonic philosophers, such as Iamblichus (3rd/ 4th cent. CE), who considered Hermeticism to be the original Egyptian philosophy and theology. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, early Christian apologetics developed its image of Egypt according to Platonic hermeneutics, thus creating a balance between the Egyptophobia portrayed in the book of Exodus and the Egyptophile tendencies of Hellenism. A sacred wisdom, a rudimentary Christianity, was supposed to be hidden underneath the polytheistic surface. Nevertheless, Egyptian religion could still be considered a scandal, and the aspect of zoolatry ‒ taunted in satires by Juvenal and Lucian as well ‒ was especially viewed as a phenomenon of decadence and as evidence of polytheism and idolatry. In the Latin Early Middle Ages, Egypt served as the platform for salvific history, though it was not rooted in any well-founded conception of Egypt apart from Egypt’s role in the biblical narrative. Owing to translations from the Arabic, the idea of Egypt as a land of magic and alchemy was introduced to the Latin Occident in the 12th and 13th centuries CE. Claiming to be the work of Hermes Trismegistus, the Tabula Smaragdina (Emerald Tablet) was popularized by many commentaries and translations and became one of the central texts with regard to the magico-esoteric discussions by articulating the concept of correspondence. The opening words of the text proclaim, “Quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius, et quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius” (That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above). Due to the re-discovery of antiquity during Humanism and the Renaissance, the antique conception of Egypt was revived from the classical authors. In this regard, two newly-discovered ancient sources were of great influence for the conception of Egypt: 1. The Hieroglyphica by Horapollon, dating to the 5th century CE, which explains the hieroglyphs as a purely symbolic scripture; this discovery led to a great enthusiasm for hieroglyphs in Renaissance art and in the emblem books of the 16th century CE. 2. The Corpus Hermeticum (cf. above) was considered an authentic articulation of the most ancient Egyptian philosophy and theology. Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) translated the work from Greek into Latin and viewed the Egyptian Hermes as the

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founder of a wisdom tradition that via Orpheus and Pythagoras led to Plato. For Ficino, this tradition of a “Prisca Sapientia” is only on the surface different from a biblical one; in essence both are the same. Even though the primacy of Christianity remained undisputed, Hermetic, Platonic, and Christian teachings were interwoven, and the Egyptophobic perception offered in the book of Exodus was thus overcome. Even during the era of confessionalization, this spiritual-philosophical Hermeticism served as a means of reconciliation. Thus, by referring to Egyptian Hermeticism, Sebastian Franck (1499–1543) relativized the Christian claim to truth in support of his religio-philosophical universalism. And Philippe de Mornay (1549–1623), by claiming that Christian dogmas represent natural truths in which even the Egyptians believed, uses his image of Egypt to promote religious tolerance. The northern European Hermeticism, the central text of which is constituted by the Tabula Smaragdina, frequently distinguishes between orthodoxy and heresy with a polemic rigor: Egyptian wisdom, Platonic, and Phythagoreic philosophy are considered to anticipate Christianity, which is continued by Alchemo-Paracelsism, while Aristotelism is understood as a diabolical human attempt to put reason before the divine. The dispute about the Corpus Hermeticum as an incarnation of Egyptian theology culminated in the 17th century CE. Isaak Casaubon identifies the texts as pseudepigraphs dating from the Christian era. Nonetheless, Ralf Cudworth attempts to understand them as the esoteric core of Egyptian religion, and Ole Borch and Hermann Conring argue about the scientific value of the alchemical Hermetica. Even though scholars such as Athanasius Kircher continued to understand Egypt and Hermeticism as “Prisca Sapientia,” the conception of Egypt became largely detached from Hermeticism. Occasionally, Egypt would appear as a stigma following the tradition of the book of Exodus. The Pietists, e.g., defended themselves against the accusation that they had adopted “heathen and diabolic” doctrines from the ancient Egyptians. The concept of Egypt that was portrayed in the Joseph novels of the 16th century was rather vague and served just as the location of the narrative. A profound image in these novels emerged in the 17th century when authors adapted not only the biblical narrative on Joseph but also the antique reports on Egypt and the contemporary scientific literature. In his novel Asenath, Philipp von Zesen narrates how the daughter of the priest of On was given to Joseph in marriage (Gen 41 : 45) and turned from Egyptian polytheism to the God of Joseph. For this idea of a peaceful coexistence between Egyptian and Heb. religion, Zesen draws upon the work Oedipus Aegyptiacus by Kircher. A rather gloomy picture of Egypt with zoolatry and deceiving priests

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was painted by Grimmelshausen in his Joseph novel. After the conception of Egypt had become more objective due to the exploration of the cultural environment of the biblical scriptures in the 17th century CE, the sciences of philosophy and history gradually detached themselves from theological implications and ceased to view Egypt as part of the Historia Sacra. At the same time, the mysteries of Egypt became a much-debated topic, which was often interpreted politically. The Freemasons considered them the origin of their lodges and transferred mystery theory and religious studies into lodge practice. Subsequently, this “Egyptian Freemasonry” was interpreted as a radically enlightened proto-Spinozism. Isis, who was seen as the personification of nature and the symbol of unveiling truth, could be understood as the goddess of deism and during the French Revolution was stylized as a religious alternative. Alongside the enlightened conception of Egypt, an occultistic one persisted as well. Even though outdated scientifically, the alchemical Hermetica were adopted by the members of the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross, who considered themselves heirs of the Egyptian priests and fought against deism. The legendary forger Cagliostro presented himself as an Egyptian sage, and in the literature of the late 18th century, he is regarded as the personified dark side of the Enlightenment. Subsequent to Jean Terrasson’s novel Sethos (1731), which was of great influence for Freemasonry, and Mozart’s The Magic Flute, a great variety of Egyptian motifs emerged in literature. As a “Lesemysterium” (reading mystery), the Egyptian mysteries were supposed to introduce gnostic esotericism or to convey an understanding of Kant’s transcendental philosophy inspired by Pietism. In gothic novels, Egyptian mysteries were rendered into erotic literature. In secret society novels or in didactic artificial fairy tales, they are ridiculed as anti-enlightenment hocus-pocus. In the 19th century, after Napoleon’s campaign against Egypt, detailed descriptions of Egypt were composed and, in 1822, François Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphs. From then on, ancient Egyptian sources could be consulted directly. Nonetheless, during the period of Romanticism Egypt was also seen as a supreme example of symbolic culture according to the history of reception. Due to the translation of the hieroglyphs, Egyptology became a well-established scientific discipline in the second half of the 19th century. Yet, the ideas emerging from the history of the reception of Egypt, with their theological and religio-historical implications, have been prominent in the public at large. Esoteric groups refer to Hermeticism; the Afrocentrism debate regards Egypt as the cradle of Western culture; and in Hollywood movies or light

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novels, Egyptian mysteries are commemorated as gothic aesthetics. In addition, the image of the Egypt of the book of Exodus still has its place within the self-conception of Jews and Christians, whether in Passover traditions or Liberation Theology. Bibliography: ■ Assmann, J., Moses the Egyptian (Cambridge, Mass. 1997). ■ Assmann, J./F. Ebeling, Ägyptische Mysterien ■ Baltrusaitis, J., La quête d’Isis (Paris (München 2011). 1967). ■ Curran, B., The Egyptian Renaissance (Chicago, Ill. 2007). ■ Ebeling, F., The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistos (Ithaca, N.Y./London 2007). ■ Hornung, E., The Secret Lore of Egypt (Ithaca, N.Y./London 2001). ■ Ucko, P. (ed.), Encounters with Ancient Egypt, 8 vols. (London 2003).

Florian Ebeling

VI. Islam In the Qurān and Islam, ‘Egypt’ does not have the overtones of captivity and godlessness that it does in the Jewish tradition. The negative features are condensed into the character of the Pharaoh (Firawn), an eponymous tyrant whose name is still a powerful emotional tool in Egypt. In the Qurān, Egypt (Miṣr) is only mentioned by name five times: three times in connection with Moses and the exodus (S 2 : 61; 10 : 87; 43 : 51) and twice with Joseph (S 12 : 21, 99). Whether the term refers there to a country or a city is not clear, and the same ambivalence later continues. In later tradition, Egypt is also understood to be the place where Mary took flight with the infant Jesus, which may already have been the qurānic notion (cf. S 23 : 50), although their flight is there not unequivocally localized. The close association of Egypt with magic is based on the qurānic mention of the magicians in the Pharaoh’s court (e.g., S 7 : 103–26) as well as on the still visible vestiges of the pharaonic past. However, the magicians in the Qurān are not evil. They declare their belief after seeing Moses’ signs and are contrasted to the hardened Pharaoh, as is also his pious spouse. A theme absent from the Qurān and not much developed in later literature, is the encounter of Abraham and Sarah with the Pharaoh (Gen 12 : 10–20). The Egyptian ruler al-Muqawqis reputedly sent as a gift to the Prophet Muh ammad a slave-girl Māriya al-Qibtiyya, who, in terms reminiscent of the story of Abraham and Hagar, became his concubine and bore him a son, Ibrāhı¯ m. The story is of dubious historicity, but it has had a positive influence on the image of Egypt in the eyes of Muslims. Egypt was conquered by Arab armies in 639–41, but the country remained less fully Islamized than most areas in the Near East, despite its importance in Islamic intellectual and political history. The number of Copts and other Christians is difficult to assess, but Muslims must have been a majority since the 10th century. Christian reactions to Muslim rule in Egypt are available in several early

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works, e.g., The Apocalypse of Shenute (written before 700). Despite retaining their religion, Copts gradually changed their language from the 8th century onwards. Bilingual liturgical texts and translations of the NT, and later the whole Bible, from Coptic to Arabic mark the gradual recession of Coptic, first as a spoken and later also as a liturgical language. The coexistence between Muslims and Christians has generally been relatively peaceful. In the 8th and early 9th centuries, there were insurrections of the then Coptic majority and later there were occasional restrictive regulations and mob riots against Copts. Whether encouraged by the rulers or not, the riots were both an outlet for social pressure and a potential threat to the civil order  ākim’s in general. The eccentric Fātimid Caliph al-H reign (996–1021), however, witnessed serious persecution of Copts.  ākim, had, The early Fātimid period, before al-H on the contrary, seen peaceful religious debates. The Arabic apologetical writings by Severus (Sāwı¯ ru¯s) ibn al-Muqaffa (d. 987) and reports in historical sources provide us with evidence for interfaith encounters between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. In these, the Scriptures and their interpretation have been central topics in Egypt, as also in other Islamic countries, but also apocryphal (e.g., the Protevangelium of James) and hagiographical texts crossed the religious boundaries. Religious texts rarely took the reverse direction, but qurānic influence, via Egyptian Christian Arabic texts, may be seen in the Ethiopian Kebra Nagast. Egypt was also the scene of the curious interfaith encounter between Saint Francis of Assisi and the Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil (r. 1218–38). Bibliography: ■ Donner, F., The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton, N.J. 1981). ■ Griffith, S., “The Kitāb Mis bāh al-aql of Severus ibn al-Muqaffa: A Profile of the Christian Creed in Arabic in Tenth Century Egypt,” Medieval Encounters 2 ■ Horn, C., “Mary between Bible and (1996) 15–42. Quran: Soundings into the Transmission of the Protoevangelium of James on the Basis of Selected Literary Sources in Coptic and Copto-Arabic and of Art-Historical Evidence Pertaining to Egypt,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 18 (2007) 509–38. ■ Little, D., “Coptic Conversion to Islam under the Bah rı¯ Mamlu¯ks, 692–755/1293–1353,” BSOAS 39 (1976) 552–69. ■ Thomas, D. (ed.), The Bible in Arab Christianity (The History of Christian–Muslim Relations 6; Leiden/ ■ Thomas, D./B. Roggema (eds.), Boston, Mass. 2006). Christian–Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, vol. 1 ■ Wensinck, A. J. et al., (Leiden/Boston, Mass. 2009). “Mis r,” Encyclopaedia of Islam 7 (Leiden/New York 21993) 146–86. ■ Zaborowski, J. R., The Coptic Martyrdom of John Phanijôit and Conversion to Islam in Thirteenth-Century Egypt (Leiden/Boston, Mass. 2005).

Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila

VII. Literature Before Jean-François Champollion deciphered hieroglyphics in 1822, literary (read western) conceptions of Egypt depended upon reports from else-

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where in the ancient world: notably biblical Israel and classical Greece. Both sources cite Egypt as the cradle of their own cultures; both set it apart as somewhere ominous or strange. To Israel, it is a place of shelter and oppression; to Herodotus (ca. 484–ca. 425 BCE), it represents the inversion of everything known: a land where women go to market while men weave at home; where mud is mixed by hand and dough kneaded by foot (Hist. 2 : 35–99). To the purportedly well-traveled “Widsith” in the 10th-century Exeter Book, Egypt remains part of a familiar biblical world populated by Israelites, Assyrians, and Hebrews (lines 83–84); in the 14th-century York Mystery Plays, Egypt’s firstborn die of the same “grete pestilence” afflicting Europe at that time (cf. Exod 11). By the 17th century, however, Egypt had become the established alternative to Christendom. In John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667), for example, it is populated by “wandering Gods disguis’d in brutish forms” set there by Satan soon after his fall (1 : 480); in an appendix to the History of the Life and Adventures of Mr Duncan Campbell (1720), traditionally ascribed to Daniel Defoe, the black arts are said to be practiced there as part of its “superstitious religion” (Defoe: 171). Even Egypt’s own brand of monotheism – once thought to have influenced Moses (see Freud’s Moses and Monotheism 1939) – is treated as a symptom of the Pharaoh’s decadence in Thomas Mann’s Joseph and His Brothers (1943); it does, however, also allow Joseph’s rise to power. Egyptian decadence is precisely what appeals to Norman Mailer in Ancient Evenings (1983), where it serves as a contrast to a stifling New York social scene. By the 19th century, Egypt had become a destination for those seeking release from western sexual taboos – particularly homosexual taboos. This provokes Levitical condemnation from the British explorer Richard Francis Burton, who in his celebrated translation of The Arabian Nights (1885) dubs Egypt “that classical region of abominations” (10 : 194); it allows Gustav Flaubert an opportunity to succumb precisely to the kind of temptations with both females and males (Naaman: 58) that the Egyptian hero of his Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874) overcame with the Queen of Sheba herself. It is clear from his travel notes (published posthumously as the Carnets d’Égypte, 1954) that André Gide was more impressed by the local boys than by any erections from the Pharaonic age (Aldrich: 333– 34). Perpetuating this stereotyping, albeit from the other side, Lawrence Durrell in his Alexandria Quartet (1960) depicts westerners – specifically the British – as by comparison a virtually sexless breed. In the account of his journey to Egypt (Voyage en Orient, 1851), Gérard de Nerval includes novellas about the building of Solomon’s temple and an architect’s love for the Queen of Sheba. But the queen who best epitomizes the imagined seduction of and

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threat to Egypt is, of course, Cleopatra, who confirms Roman fears by captivating and effectively emasculating Caesar’s best general in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra (1607). Beaten and betrayed, Antony expresses his rage in the language of Ps 22 : 12: …O that I were Upon a hill of Basan, to outroar The horned herd! (3.13.126–28) Cleopatra, to characterize the defeat of her kingdom as a near-apocalyptic disaster, invokes the combined plagues of the Exodus (Exod 7–11) by way of Rev 16 : 21: …the memory of my womb, Together with my brave Egyptians all, By the discandying of this pelleted storm, Lie graveless, till the flies and gnats of Nile Have buried them for prey. (3.14.159–61) In Dante’s Paradiso (25 : 52–57) Egypt is a cipher for this world; in John Donne’s “Nativity” (c. 1608) it is the site of the incarnation; in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) Christian admits to Prudence that Egypt retains a hold over him still; and in his 1891 poem “In the Desert” Herman Melville sympathizes with Israel’s preference for “Pharoah’s (sic) night” over God’s “intolerably bright” light (Melville: 158). Elsewhere, Egypt represents the archetypal empire: in an address given by the Connecticut preacher Jacob Oson, for example, in which he reminds America that all such powers fall. Oson himself was still proud of Egypt’s place in his African ancestry, not least because the biblical Abraham was said to have introduced the arts and sciences there (Bruce: 124–25). Percy Bysshe Shelley in his oftenanthologized “Ozymandias” (1818) characterizes Egypt’s fall by means of the broken legs and halfburied head of a vast Egyptian statue bearing the biblical motto “king of kings” (Shelley: 198). And the young princes brought as a bride to the Arthurian court in William Wordsworth’s “The Egyptian Maid” (1835), serve in part as a comment on the plundering of an old empire by a new. Finally, the “New Egypt” in Robin Becker’s 2006 poem of that title catches people in an equally new kind of slavery – one characterized by the lawn mower and bank loan (Becker: 3). Bibliography: ■ Aldrich, R., Colonialism and Homosexuality ■ Becker, R., Domain of Perfect Affection (London 2007). (Pittsburgh, Pa. 2006). ■ Bruce Jr., D. D., The Origins of African American Literature: 1680–1865 (Charlottesville, Va. 2001). ■ Bunyan, J., The Pilgrim’s Progress (Oxford 2003). ■ Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy (available at the Princeton Dante Project; http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante; accessed January 31, 2011). ■ Defoe, D., The Novels and Miscellaneous Works, vol. 6 (London 1890). ■ Donne, J., Selected Poetry (ed. ■ Durrell, L., Alexandria Quartet J. Carey; Oxford 2001). (London 2001). ■ Flaubert, G., The Temptation of St Anthony (New York 1977); trans. of id., La tentation de Saint Antoine (Paris 1874). ■ Freud, S., Moses and Monotheism (New York

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1967); trans. of id., Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische ■ Gide, A., Carnets d’Égypte Religion (Amsterdam 1939). ■ Mailer, N., Ancient Evenings (New York (Paris 1961). 1988). ■ Mann, T., Joseph and his Brothers (trans. J. E. Woods; New York 2005); trans. of id., Joseph und seine Brüder, vol. 4 Joseph, der Ernährer (Stockholm 1943). ■ Melville, H., The Collected Poems of Herman Melville (ed. H. Cohen; New York 1991). ■ Milton, J., Paradise Lost (London 2005). ■ Flaubert, G., Les lettres d’Égypte d’après les manuscrits autographes (ed. A.Y. Naaman; Paris 1965). ■ Nerval, G. de, Voyage en Orient (Paris 1862). ■ Shakespeare, W., The Tragedy of Antony ■ Shelley, P. B., The Major and Cleopatra (Oxford 1994). ■ Wordsworth, W., Works (ed. Z. Leader; Oxford 2009). “The Egyptian Maid,” in The Poetical Works, vol. 3 (Cambridge, Mass. 1881) 224–37.

Mark Brummitt

VIII. Visual Arts The land of Egypt is mentioned in the Bible over 500 times, and it is the scene of a number of narratives, most importantly the stories of Joseph (Gen 37–50) and the Exodus (Exod 1–14) in the OT and the flight of the holy family in the NT (Matt 2 : 13– 15, 19–21). Nevertheless, with one major exception (the late antique Egyptian Cotton Genesis and the related atrium mosaics of St Mark’s in Venice depict the granaries built by Joseph as pyramid-like structures), there is hardly any specific iconography of Egypt throughout most of the history of Christian art. Egypt is depicted in a contemporary or classicizing fashion; like other biblical rulers, Pharaoh appears sometimes in classical, sometimes in oriental garb; and also the personification of Egypt in some Byzantine images of the flight (e.g., in Decˇani) looks like other late-antique personifications of towns. The Speculum humanae salvationis regularly depicts an Egyptian idol of a mother with a child, supposedly inspired by a prophecy of Jeremiah, as a type for the flight, but this is usually represented like an image of the Virgin and child, without exotic elements. Since the Romanesque period, and most frequently in the 15th and 16th centuries, the flight into Egypt often incorporates a palm tree into an otherwise European landscape – a reference to the non-biblical episode of the tree bending down so that Mary and Joseph could pick its fruits. Although Egyptian motifs like obelisks, pyramids, sphinxes, Egyptian gods, or hieroglyphs appear in secular Renaissance and Baroque art, they rarely make their way into biblical imagery. From the late 16th century, few depictions of the flight and of the finding of Moses (especially works by Poussin) enrich a classical landscape with obelisks and pyramids (which can sometimes be quite steep, sometimes stepped rooftop-decorations, and sometimes small wayside monuments). Only from the late 18th century onwards does the inclusion of Egyptian sculptures or hieroglyphs – still as elements of a classicizing interior – become more common, as in some entries for the 1789 Prix de Rome competition (about Joseph) or Schnorr von Carolsfeld’s Bi-

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ble illustrations (1860). Fully Egyptian sceneries appear in the second half of the 19th century. Berthold Kreß

IX. Music The musical reception of biblical Egypt centers around three core narratives: the respective stories of Joseph in Egypt and of Moses and the exodus of the Israelites in the HB/OT, and the flight of the holy family into Egypt in the NT. George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Joseph and his Brethren (1743), based on a heavily condensed, versified libretto by James Miller, and Étienne Méhul’s opera Joseph en Égypte (1807) based on the libretto by Alexandre Duval, are the two most prominent examples of compositions that focus entirely on the protagonist, whereas Andrew Lloyd Webber offers a more parodist view in his musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat of 1968. The works dedicated to Joseph are outnumbered by far by those focusing on Moses and the captivity and eventual exodus of the people of Israel. Again, Handel created the most relevant rendering on the subject with his oratorio Israel in Egypt (1739), whose text – entirely taken from the Book of Exodus and the Psalter – may have been compiled by the composer himself. Because of his central role in the exodus narrative, many of the other works on the subject concentrate on Moses and even bear his name in the title. These include the oratorios Il nascimento di Mosè (1682) and Il matrimonio di Mosè (1684) by Vincenzo De Grandis, Mose by Adolf Bernhard Marx (1841), The Ordering of Moses by Robert Nathaniel Dett (1937), Moses by Herman D. Koppel (1963/64), and Moses by Sven-David Sandström (1997), as well as the operas Moses by Franz Xaver Süssmayr (1792), Mosè in Egitto (1818/ 19) by Gioachino Rossini – reworked later as Moïse et Pharaon, ou Le passage de la Mer Rouge (1827) –, Moses and Pharaoh’s Daughter by Yedidya Admon-Gorochov (1963), and Moses by Zsolt Durkó (1972). As the most important among the Moses operas, however, ranks Arnold Schönberg’s Moses and Aron (1930–32). Schönberg, who wrote the text himself, diverges from the biblical story in several aspects in order to concentrate on the conflict between the protagonists of his seminal work. For liturgical use, the verse anthem When Israel came out of Egypt to the words of Ps 114 was set by early modern composers such as William Byrd, Michael East, John Heath, and in the 20th century by Jack Allan Westrup, among others. The exodus and thus the escape from slavery also inspired the composition of several spirituals, including Go down, Moses and Wade the water, with the former being incorporated by Michael Tippett in his oratorio Child of our time (1939–41). See also the articles in “Exodus, The IX. Music.” Regarding the NT narrative of the flight of the holy family into Egypt in Matt 2 : 13–15, the full

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text was set to music by Heinrich Schütz in the third part of his Symphoniae Sacrae of 1650, as well as by John Harbison in his sacred ricercar The Flight into Egypt of 1987. In contrast, Hector Berlioz wrote his own text for this scene in L’enfance du Christ (1850–53/54), whereas Ottorino Respighi composed one of the few purely instrumental pieces depicting the event in La fuga in Egitto, the first of his Vetrate di chiesa of 1926. Bibliography: ■ Kerlin, M. M., ‘O Wort, du Wort, das mir fehlt.’: Die Gottesfrage in Arnold Schönbergs Oper ‘Moses und Aron’; zur Theologie eines musikalischen Kunst-Werkes im 20. Jahrhundert (Mainz 2004). ■ Massenkeil, G., Oratorium und Passion, 2 vols. (Handbuch der musikalischen Gattungen 10/1–2; Laaber 1998–99). ■ Sennefelder, D., ‘Moitié italien, moitié français’: Untersuchungen zu Gioachino Rossinis Opern ‘Mosè in Egitto,’ ‘Maometto II,’ ‘Moïse et Pharaon ou Le passage de la Mer Rouge’ und ‘Le siège de Corinthe’ (München 2005).

Andreas Bücker

X. Film The most significant films showcasing biblical Egypt fall into three overlapping types: “historical” epics, modern allegories, and films in which biblical Egypt serves as a site of political or religious contest. Several epics about the biblical Joseph (Gen 30 : 22–50 : 26) deserve mention for their depiction of Egypt and its inhabitants. The silent film Joseph in the Land of Egypt (dir. E. Moore, 1914), which is narrated by placards bearing quotes from Genesis, features sets and costumes that evoke David Roberts’ 19th-century lithographs. Egyptian director Youssef Chanine’s Al-mohager (1994, The Emigrant) is a thinly veiled retelling of the Joseph story from an Egyptian perspective. The film’s protagonist, renamed Ram due to controversy concerning the depiction of religious characters in film, convinces his doting father to send him to Egypt where he can learn the secrets of agriculture. On the way he is betrayed by his abusive brothers and sold as a slave. The film depicts several aspects of Egyptian culture including mummification, religious dispute between the followers of Aton and Amun, and a general prejudice against outsiders like Ram. Overall, Egypt is presented as a center of knowledge and enlightenment, although its ancient religious beliefs are presented as false over and against Ram’s monotheism. The 1995 miniseries Joseph (dir. R. Young) attempts to provide a more historically and biblically based production and emphasizes religion more than earlier films. The Egyptians recognize Joseph’s piety and monotheism, sometimes with respect, sometimes with disdain. The series also portrays the injustice of slavery and the brutality of the Egyptians. Potiphar – a wise Egyptian who sees the truth of Joseph’s character – is the exception. The Dreamworks video Joseph: King of Dreams (dir. R. LaDuca/R. Ramirez, 2000) portrays Potiphar

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as a harsh master, who treats Joseph as an ungrateful slave. Joseph’s pious obedience to his God contrasts with the Pharaoh’s despair over the inadequacy of the Egyptian gods. The video adaptation of the popular broadway musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (dir. D. Mallet, 1999) draws on Egyptomania and clichés. It presents Egypt as a land of excess, where soft, fat, effeminate Potiphar wears pinstripes and a monocle and works in a faux-high industrial office. His wife is Joan Collins bedecked in heavy makeup, Cleopatra crown, and shiny jewels. Splashy dance numbers characterize the Egyptian scenes. The pharaoh is Elvis (“the king”). This Egypt allegorically signifies the height of American pop culture and commercial excess, at times bright and shiny, at others decadent and corrupt. Egypt’s largesse, however, continues only due to the foresight of Joseph. Three Exodus films deserve mention for their portrayal of Egypt: Cecil B. DeMille’s two Ten Commandments (1923, 1956) and the Dreamworks animated film Prince of Egypt (dir. B. Chapman/S. Hickner/S. Wells, 1998). DeMille’s earlier silent film, released just a year after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, combines biblical epic with a modern morality tale. Egypt is featured in the first half of the film, which depicts the adulthood of Moses up to the receipt of the Ten Commandments. Grandiose sets and a large cast of extras (including countless horses) evoke ancient Egypt’s monumental scale. It is a rich, unjust land ruled by a young and somewhat effeminate king. Costumes, lighting, direction, and cinematography all mark the film as an early masterpiece. DeMille’s preface situates the movie as a response to World War I. God’s law is a set of “fundamental principles without which mankind cannot live together,” and to which the “blood-drenched” post-war world must return. This Egypt then represents the antithesis of those principles. The rest of the film is a modern morality tale about a man in San Francisco who breaks all ten commandments, following in the way of Egypt despite having been raised to obey and fear God. While escaping by boat to Mexico, the waves consume him, echoing the fate of Pharaoh’s army. The film premiered in another landmark of Egyptomania: Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, Los Angeles. DeMille’s 1956 production begins with Moses as a baby who then becomes “brother” to crown prince Ramses. It also carried a contemporary political message: freedom and liberty in the face of tyranny. Here ancient Egypt stands in for modern communism. Prince of Egypt attempts to present a more authentic vision of the ancient world, using Hebrew in song and depicting Israelite and Egyptians ethnically in various shades of brown. It represents Egyptian religion, however, as a false one led by huck-

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sters. The film follows a young Moses in a search for his own identity, to which religion (Israelite monotheism) is central, and speaks to contemporary concerns about assimilation into a dominant culture. Egypt also figures into some Jesus biopics that depict the holy family’s “flight.” To some degree in each film, visual imagery accentuates Egypt’s geographical otherness and cinematography underscores the family’s alienation. The 1903 La vie et passion de Jésus Christ (dir. L. Nonguet/F. Zecca), a silent film shot as a series of vignettes, is a significant piece of cinema history because of its artistry and technological advances. It was one of the first full-length feature films and used a tinted stencil process to produce a color movie, resulting in a surreal yet vivid visual display. Part 4 depicts the flight into Egypt. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus arrive at the Giza plateau, where pyramids loom in the painted backdrop and Mary rests at the base of the Sphinx, whose body is still buried in sand. The reproduction is small-scale but realistic. Soaring orchestral music and an epic landscape set the scene for a lone man leading a donkey and rider in The Greatest Story Ever Told (dir. G. Stevens, 1965). Their small figures emphasize the magnitude of their journey and their distance from home. While camped on the banks of the Nile, with scattered palm trees in the foreground and pyramids in the background, they learn the news of Herod’s death. The black-and-white 1964 Italian film, Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (dir. P. P. Pasolini), is heavily inspired by Renaissance paintings. A serious, still-faced Mary looks backward as Joseph leads her away on the donkey. When the angel tells Joseph to return home, the camera closes in on his face. It then pans across desert dunes to rest on Mary and then on a boy playing in the sand. The young Jesus walks toward his father, who lovingly embraces him. The focus is Joseph’s emotional bond with his son. The sand and the camera’s attention to the family unit remind the viewer of their isolation. Likewise, in Jesus of Nazareth (dir. F. Zefferelli, 1977), the flight to Egypt begins with a close-up of Joseph leading Mary on donkey through a desert; then the camera pans out until they become a small speck in a panorama of wilderness. A few nonbiblical films use biblical Egypt and the exodus narrative to construct modern allegories. Exodus (dir. O. Preminger, 1960) is set during the flight of Jews from Europe and the founding of the State of Israel. Stargate (dir. R. Emmerich, 1994) presents a science-fiction exodus. A portal to other parts of the universe is found near the great pyramids of Egypt. A young egyptologist (the Moses figure) leads the American military through the “stargate” to another planet. There, aliens posing as

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gods have enslaved an illiterate, impoverished people. Ancient Egyptian religion and culture are mere alien mechanisms for controlling slaves. American knowledge and technology vanquish the decadent aliens to liberate the native people. Released soon after the first American war with Iraq, Stargate reflects contemporary issues of orientalism and militarism. The film and subsequent television series tap into conspiracy theories about alien abductions and ancient Egyptian origins. Biblical Egypt is also the site of modern political and cultural contests. In Raiders of the Lost Ark (dir. S. Spielberg, 1981) archaeologist Indiana Jones races the Nazis to decipher Egyptian artifacts that will lead to the discovery of the ark of the covenant. The 1954 romantic thriller Valley of the Kings (dir. R. Pirosh), filmed on location in Egypt, features a search for the tomb of a pharaoh converted to monotheism by the patriarch Joseph. Bibliography: ■ Lang, J. S., The Bible on the Big Screen (Grand Rapids, Mich. 2007). ■ Orrison, K., Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille’s Epic The Ten Commandments (Lanham, Md. 1999). ■ Schroeder, C. T., “Ancient Egyptian Religion on the Silver Screen: Modern Anxieties about Race, Ethnicity, and Religion,” Journal of Religion and Film 7/2 (October 2003; http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/; accessed November 9, 2011). ■ Serafy, S., “Egypt in Hollywood: Pharaohs of the Fifties,” in Consuming Ancient Egypt (ed. S. MacDonald/M. Rice; London 2003) 77–86. ■ Tatum, W. B., Jesus at the Movies (Santa Rosa, Calif. 32013). ■ Tooze, G. A., “Moses and the Reel Exodus,” Journal of Religion and Film 7/1 (April 2003; www.unomaha.edu/jrf/; accessed November 9, 2011).

Caroline T. Schroeder See also /Aaron; /Exodus, Book of; /Exodus, The; /Joseph; /Moses; /Pharaoh; /Plagues

Egypt, Plagues in /Plagues

Egypt, River of The Heb. expression for “river of Egypt” (MT nĕhar Miṣrayim) appears only in Gen 15 : 18. The Greek equivalent (ποταμς Αγπτου) appears in Jdt 1 : 9 and in 1 Kgs 8 : 56. In Gen 15 : 18, it indicates the size of the land promised to Abram. As it is put in contrast to the “great river, the river Euphrates,” the designation obviously does not refer to the Nile but to a smaller watercourse. BHS records a proposal to emend nĕhar to naḥal, which is in fact the more common term to indicate the border between Israel and Egypt. In Jdt 1 : 9, the expression ποταμς Αγπτου serves to indicate the size of the empire of Nebuchadnezzar. In 1 Kgs 8 : 65, it is the translation for the Hebrew term naḥal Miṣrayim, which the NRSV translates as “the Wadi of Egypt” (see also 2 Kgs 24 : 7; 2 Chr 7 : 8, etc.). Mareike V. Blischke See also /Egypt, Wadi of

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