From Migdol to Syene: Documents Pertaining to Jews in Egypt in the Persian Period by Bezalel Porten

Abstract

Reviewed by: From Migdol to Syene: Documents Pertaining to Jews in Egypt in the Persian Period by Bezalel Porten Zev Garber bezalel porten, From Migdol to Syene: Documents Pertaining to Jews in Egypt in the Persian Period [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2020). Pp. xxvi + 178. Paper ₪98/$29. This informative book is an abridged version Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt [Hebrew] (4 vols.; Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem–Department of the History of the Jewish People, 1986–99). P.’s book is a collection of important documents written in Aramaic on papyri and dating from the sixth and fifth centuries b.c.e. pertaining to the Jewish community on the island of Elephantine ( , Yev) near Aswan on the Nile, on the border between Upper Egypt and Nubia (Kush/Sudan). The Elephantine papyri are caches of legal documents and letters documenting a Jewish community that included mercenaries whose twofold task was to protect the Egyptian border with Nubia (Kush) and also to ensure the safe passage of products coming from and going to Nubia. Adjacent to the Jewish settlement at Elephantine was the Aramean garrison at Syene (Aswan), on the eastern bank of the Nile. While less evidence is available for this Aramean garrison, extensive records document life within the Jewish garrison at Elephantine. In Elephantine, the Jews built a temple for YHW (“Yahweh”), which resembled Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. During the fifth century b.c.e., contemporary with the Persian rule of Egypt, the temple was destroyed by Egyptian adherents of the Nubian god Khnum, represented as a ram-headed man, whose land included Elephantine. No doubt the Egyptians were offended by festival ram offerings in the Jewish temple, which justified their role in its destruction, following which the Jewish settlement dispersed and dissolved. The fate and faith of Jews in Egypt in the period of Persian conquest coupled with Judean exile, destruction, and return to Zion are a basic motif in this collection. The name of the book is extracted from the first of five oracles in Ezekiel (29:1–16; 29:17–30:19; 30:20–26; 31:1–18; and 32:1–32) concerning Egypt: “Assuredly, I (God) am going to deal with you and your channels, and I will reduce the land of Egypt to utter ruin and desolation from Migdol [northeast border of Egypt, to the east of Tahpanhes, commanding the road to the land of Israel] to Syene [Aswan], all the way to the border of Nubia” (Ezek 29:10 NJPS/1985 JPS). Living in Judea and ingathering to Zion, rejection of Egypt and wandering in exile following the Babylonian conquest and destruction of the First Jerusalem Temple (587 b.c.e.) constituted the strong advice of Jeremiah in the name of God, but the people did not listen (Jeremiah 42–44). Condemnation (e.g., idolatry, cult of the queen of heaven, [End Page 323] Jer 44:1–11), defeat, and destruction remain the fate of choosing Egypt over Judea. And ingathering by the will of God is the prophetic remedy (see Isa 11:11–16; 49:8–13; Zech 10:10; etc.). P.’s book, part of Encyclopaedia Miqra’it (Biblical Encyclopaedia Library 17) contains a short bibliographic list, eight illustrations of documents but no chronological list or maps. Editor Shmuel Aḥituv contributes an informative introduction on the beginning of the Judean diaspora in Egypt. The Hebrew translation and drawing of the documents are by Ada Yardeni (d. 2018). Three archives have emerged from Elephantine: two family archives with eleven and thirteen legal documents, respectively, and one communal archive consisting of ten letters and one list. Chapter 1, “The Jedaniah Archive (Communal)” is named after the leader of the Jewish community at the end of the fifth century b.c.e., Jedaniah son of Gemariah, probably a cousin of the two sons of the woman Mibtahiah whose private archive is covered in chap. 2 of the book. Ten documents of the communal archive have been brought together because they were addressed to Jedaniah, were written by/for him, or concern events in which he was involved. Included is a fragmentary letter from an unknown...