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ELEPHANTINE
(Greek
version
of
ancient
Egyptian
Ibw
"the
country
of
the
elephants,"
Aram.
Yb),
the
largest
island
in
the
Nile,
opposite
Syene
(ancient
Egyptian
Swn
"market,"
modern
Aswa@n).
The
island
was
always
the
administrative
center
of
the
southernmost
province
of
Egypt,
controlling
the
first
cataract
and
the
main
frontier
post
en
route
to
Nubia,
but
during
the
Achaemenid
occupation
(525-402,
342-332
B.C.E.)
the
military
garrison
(Aram.
haila)
increased
in
importance.
The
rab
haila
"commander
of
the
army"
had
military
jurisdiction
over
Upper
Egypt
as
far
as
Memphis,
though
he
lived
in
Syene.
Syene
was
a
port
of
call
for
contingents
of
the
various
ethnic
elements
of
the
empire
(Persians,
Phoenicians,
Chorasmians,
Medians,
Assyrians,
and
Babylonians),
with
chapels
for
their
divinities
and
the
administrative
seat
of
the
Achaemenid
civilian
governor
(fratarak).
In
Syene
a
number
of
tombs
of
Semitic
peoples
have
been
excavated
(Kornfeld).
Under
the
Achaemenids
a
Jewish
military
colony
(Aram.
haila
yhwdya)
was
established
in
the
city
of
Elephantine,
with
a
temple
(Aram.
agura
<
Assyro-Babylonian)
to
Yaho
(Vincent;
Porten,
1968a;
idem,
1968b;
Grelot;
Dandamayev;
Bickerman;
Bresciani,
1968).
Documents
pertaining
to
the
fortress
and
the
Jewish
military
colony
are
written
in
Aramaic
on
papyrus
and
ostraca
(here
designated
AP
and
numbered
as
in
Cowley);
the
oldest
is
dated
to
495
B.C.E.
(AP
1).
They
were
found
mainly
in
the
residential
quarter
of
Elephantine.
They
reveal
that
Jews
of
the
haila
received
monthly
salaries,
partly
in
cash
and
partly
in
kind
(cereals
and
oil;
AP
11).
According
to
AP
30
and
31,
the
temple
of
Yaho
predated
the
conquest
by
Cambyses
in
525
B.C.E.
and
was
destroyed
around
410,
so
completely
that
archeological
excavation
has
so
far
brought
no
trace
to
light
(Bresciani,
1968,
pp.
367-68;
idem,
1992,
pp.
978-98;
Porten,
1968b,
pp.
379-80).
The
origin
of
this
Jewish
colony
is
problematic,
though
it
is
now
generally
accepted
that
it
was
part
of
the
large-scale
immigration
into
Egypt
that
began
under
Necho
in
the
Twenty-Sixth
Dynasty.
During
the
Achaemenid
period
settlements
of
Jews,
as
well
as
other
peoples,
multiplied
throughout
the
Nile
valley.
Certainly
the
Jews
of
Elephantine
in
particular
revealed
characteristics
not
consonant
with
orthodox
monotheism:
They
venerated
the
temple
of
Yaho
on
the
island
(members
of
the
colony
who
had
moved
to
Migdol
in
the
Delta
sent
"greetings
to
the
temple
of
Yaho
in
Elephantine";
Bresciani,
1960);
because
of
living
close
to
and
at
times
intermarrying
with
Egyptians,
they
assimilated
beliefs
and
customs
leading
to
a
religious
syncretism
somewhat
characteristic
of
the
nonmonotheistic
Judaism
before
the
exile
(Yaho
had
an
associate,
Anath-Yaho);
they
were
also
apparently
ignorant
of
the
deuteronomic
reforms
and
the
paschal
rules
(Vincent,
pp.
562
ff.).
These
characteristics
seem
to
prove
that
some
Jewish
settlers
in
Egypt
left
Judea
(and
Samaria?)
before
Joshua's
reforms
and
some
may
have
come
to
Egypt
directly
from
exile
in
Babylonia
after
Cyrus'
edict
permitting
reconstruction
of
the
temple
in
Jerusalem.
This
conclusion
could
explain
the
fact
that,
at
the
beginning
of
the
5th
century
B.C.E.,
some
Jewish
settlers
spoke
and
wrote
only
Aramaic.
Certainly
the
settlers
on
Elephantine
believed
that
they
had
the
right
to
practice
their
own
cult
in
the
temple
of
Yaho,
which
had
been
built
legally,
undoubtedly
during
the
period
between
the
destruction
of
the
temple
of
Jerusalem
(586
B.C.E.)
and
its
reconstruction
after
Cyrus'
edict,
in
538
B.C.E.
(Bresciani,
1992,
pp.
90-91).
The
destruction
of
the
temple
of
Yaho
on
the
island
was
total.
Everything
was
burned
or
stolen
by
Egyptian
marauders,
with
the
support
of
the
Persian
governor
Vidranga
and
his
son
Nefaina,
head
of
the
garrison
at
Syene,
while
Arsames
(see
ARˆAÚMA),
the
satrap,
was
at
Susa
in
411-408
B.C.E.
Although
no
architectural
traces
are
left,
there
are
texts
revealing
that
the
Elephantine
agura
had
five
porticos
of
stone
blocks
on
stone
columns,
as
well
as
hinged
bronze
portals
and
a
cedar
roof;
the
cult
objects
included
gold
and
silver
basins.
Of
the
various
possible
causes
for
the
conflict
between
Egyptians
and
Jews
were
the
proximity
of
the
Jewish
quarter
to
the
temple
area
of
Khnum
and
the
influence
of
religious
authorities
in
Jerusalem,
who
wanted
to
eliminate
the
heterodox
temple
at
Elephantine
(Bresciani,
1992,
pp.
97-98).
In
fact,
they
subsequently
permitted
the
Jewish
colony
only
an
altar
for
incense
and
offerings.
The
latest
surviving
Aramaic
document
from
the
Jewish
colony
on
Elephantine
is
dated
after
the
end
of
the
first
Persian
domination
in
Egypt
(ca.
404
B.C.E.);
it
is
a
letter
sent
to
Elephantine
from
Memphis
in
the
first
year
(390
B.C.E.)
of
Nefertiti
(Twenty-Ninth
Dynasty).
The
Aramaic
documents
found
on
Elephantine
throw
light
not
only
on
the
life,
society,
and
laws
of
the
Jewish
military
colony
but
also
on
the
Egyptian
environment
in
which
it
operated,
as
well
as
on
its
relations
with
Persian
authorities
in
Egypt.
It
is
important
that
among
the
papyri
of
Elephantine
there
are
examples
of
literary
texts
intended
for
readers
of
Aramaic:
a
translation
of
Darius
I's
great
cuneiform
inscription
at
B^sotu@n
(q.v.)
and
a
translation
of
the
Akkadian
"Romance
of
the
wise
Ahiqar"
(minister
of
the
Assyrians
Sennacherib
and
Esarhaddon;
Cowley,
pp.
204-48).
Bezalel
Porten
and
Ada
Yardeni
were
able
to
recover
from
the
latter
the
erased
text
of
an
Aramaic
customs
register
of
sea
trade
for
the
year
475
B.C.E.
(C3.7).
Another
fragmentary
text
may
be
the
Aramaic
version
of
an
Egyptian
story
about
a
man
called
Bar
Punesh
(AP
71;
Grelot,
pp.
427-32;
cf.
Bresciani,
1990,
p.
825
n.
2).
No
other
Jewish
colonies
as
stable
as
that
of
Elephantine
were
established
until
the
Ptolemaic
period,
when,
in
154
B.C.E.,
the
refugee
Onias
obtained
permission
to
found
a
new
temple
in
the
territory
of
Heliopolis,
in
the
country
of
Bubastis
(Leontopolis,
now
Tell
Yahu@d^ya
"the
hill
of
the
Jews").
It
remained
active
until
its
destruction
in
71
C.E.;
it
can
be
identified
with
"the
altar
in
the
center
of
the
land
of
Egypt"
in
"the
city
of
the
sun"
(Heliopolis;
Isaiah
19:18-20;
Bresciani,
1986,
p.
45).
Bibliography:
E.
Bickermann,
"The
Diaspora.
The
Captivity,"
in
W.
D.
Davies
and
L.
Finkelstein,
eds.,
The
Cambridge
History
of
Judaism
I,
Cambridge,
1968,
pp.
342-58.
L.
Borchardt,
"Nilmesser
und
Nilstandsmarchen,"
APAW,
1906,
pp.
13
ff.
E.
Bresciani,
"Papiri
aramaici
egiziani
di
epoca
persiana
presso
el
Museo
Civico
di
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1960,
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11-24.
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Persian
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W.
D.
Davies
and
L.
Finkelstein,
eds.,
The
Cambridge
History
of
Judaism
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Cambridge,
1968,
pp.
358-72.
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Assuan,
Il
tempio
tolemaico
di
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1978.
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1986.
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1967,
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The
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(Edda
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