PITHOM

PITHOM
PITHOM (Egyptian Per Atum, "House of the god Atum"), a city mentioned once in the Bible (Ex. 1:11) as one of the two treasury cities (see also ramses ) which the Israelites were forced to build for Pharaoh. The identification of Pithom with the site of Tell el-Maskhutah near the eastern end of the Wadi Tumilat has been accepted for many years by a large number of scholars despite the lack of any definite evidence that the town located there, Tjeku (= biblical Succoth?), was called Pithom (Per Atum) earlier than the Egyptian 22nd Dynasty (c. 945–730 B.C.E.) or that Ramses II, the supposed pharaoh of the bondage, had built a completely new city there (as implied in Ex. 1:11). The 19th-Dynasty Egyptian text mentioning the "pools of Per-Atum of Merneptah which are in Tjeku" (Papyrus Anastasi IV, 4:56) may or may not refer to this city. An alternative identification of the site as Tell er-Ratabeh, about 22 miles west of Ismailia, has also been proposed and has been accepted by some. The most recent and most convincing identification depends on the Egyptians' use of Per (literally "house") in a wider, administrative context as the large   region, under the control of the temple of a particular god. Per could then refer to a city sacred to that god, as did Per Amun to Thebes and Per Bastet to Bubastis. Since Atum was a manifestation of the sun god, Per Atum could very well have meant heliopolis (called On in the Bible). It is quite probable that the Beth-Shemesh of Jeremiah 43:13 is a Hebrew translation of Per Atum. Such an identification is well supported by the size, importance, and fame of Heliopolis. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: E.P. Uphill, in: JNES, 27 (1968), 291–316; 28 (1969), 15–39. (Alan Richard Schulman)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

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  • Pithom — (, Ptol. v. 17. § 1, Latin: Heroopoliticus Sinus ) which runs up the Egyptian mainland as far as Arsinoë (near modern Suez) (polytonic|κόλπος Ἡρώων); the modern Gulf of Suez. (Theophrast. Hist. Plant. iii. 8.) It was the capital of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Pithôm — Ville d Égypte antique Noms en égyptien ancien Per Atoum (pr Tm(w)) en grec Heroon polis Actuellement Tell er Retabeh …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Pithom — Pithôm Article de la série Lieux égyptiens Lieux Nomes / Villes Monuments / Temples Région Basse Égypte / Moyenne Égypte Haute Égypte / Nubie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Pithom — (ägypt. Pi Atum, d.h. Haus des Gottes Tum, griech. Pathumos, später Heroonpolis), Stadt in der nordägyptischen Landschaft Gosen (dem heutigen Wadi Tumilât), bei deren Bauten die Juden nach 2. Mos. 1,11 angeblich Frondienste leisten mußten. Die im …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Pithom — (ägypt. Pitum), alte Stadt in Unterägypten im östl. Delta, bei deren Bau angeblich die Juden Frondienste geleistet haben; Ruinen bei Tell el Maschuta (im Wâdi Tumilât) …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Pithom — Pithom,   ägyptisch Per Atum [»Haus des Gottes Atum«], im Altertum Hauptstadt des achten unterägyptischen Gaues im östlichen Delta. Nach biblischer Überlieferung (2. Mose 1, 11) leisteten die Juden bei ihrem Bau Frondienste; wahrscheinlich… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Pithom — Tjeku in Hieroglyphen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Pithom — /puy theuhm/, n. one of the two cities built by Israelite slaves in Egypt. Ex. 1:11. Cf. Raamses. * * * ▪ ancient city, Egypt Egyptian  Per Atum  or  Per Tum (“Estate of Atum”) , probably modern  Tall al Maskhūṭah        ancient Egyptian (Egypt,… …   Universalium

  • Pithom —    Egyptian, Pa Tum, house of Tum, the sun god, one of the treasure cities built for Pharaoh Rameses II. by the Israelites (Ex. 1:11). It was probably the Patumos of the Greek historian Herodotus. It has now been satisfactorily identified with… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

  • Pithom —    In Jewish lore, a SERPENT DEMON summoned for prophecy. Pithom is mentioned in the Talmud. The demon is human in form, with his head resting on his breast between his shoulders. He utters oracular pronouncements from his armpits or with his… …   Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology

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