The Jewish Colony at
Elephantine
In 1893, a
large number of ancient papyri were found in the desert around Aswan, the
southern border of Egypt along the Nile River. These turned out to be written
in Aramaic and recorded the activities of a Jewish military settlement that was
stationed on the island of Elephantine, in the middle of the river. This colony
had lived at the site since the time of Pharaoh Hophra about 585 BC, if not
earlier. However, the documents that were recovered all come from the last
quarter of the fifth century during Persian rule. They list marriage contracts,
sales of slaves, divorce settlements, and, most interestingly of all, letters
to the high priests and governors back in Judah.
Many of their practices do not agree with the
regulations of the pentateuchal laws, especially Deuteronomy. Women, for
instance, had the right to divorce, which is not found in the Bible. The colony
also had a temple to Yahweh, a thing expressly forbidden by Deuteronomy’s law
that only Jerusalem was to have a temple. Some of the letters between the
colony, which called itself Yeb in
Aramaic, and the Palestinian officials dealt with the question of a temple to
Yahweh that was destroyed by a mob of Egyptians in 411 to 410 BC. Apparently
the Persian forces were off somewhere, and the local people rose up against the
Jewish battalion that served on the island. The Jewish colonists wrote to
Sanballat the governor of Samaria, to Bagohi the governor of Judah, as well as
to Johanan the high priest in Jerusalem for permission to rebuild their temple.
Sanballat at least answered and the temple was rebuilt. Since the colony could
write to both governors in 410 for permission to do something against the
Pentateuch’s law, some experts have concluded that Ezra’s reforms could not yet
have been made by that date. They see it as proof that Ezra must have come
after Nehemiah during the reign of the second King Artaxerxes. It is not a very
strong piece of evidence, however, since we know so little about Jerusalem from
these letters.
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TWO LETTERS FROM ELEPHANTINE The Jewish military colony at Elephantine
in southern Egypt was founded sometime in the sixth century. In 410 BC, while
the Persian governor was out of the country, local Egyptian pagans burned the
Jewish temple to Yaho (Yahweh) on the island, and the Jews wrote to Bagoas,
governor of Judea, asking him to persuade their own governor of Egypt,
Arsames, to have the temple rebuilt. Following are two documents that deal
with the rebuilding: 1. Memorandum
of what Bagoas and Delaiah said to me: Let it be a memorandum to you in Egypt
to say to Arsames concerning the altarhouse of the God of heaven, which was
built in the fortress of Elephantine long ago, before Cambyses, which that
scoundrel Widgang destroyed in the 14th year of king Darius, that it be
rebuilt in its place as it was before, and that meal-offering and incense be
offered upon that altar as was formerly done. (A. E. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B. C.,
no. 32; another translation can be found in ANET 492) 2. Your
servants Yedoniah, the son of G(emariah) by name, one, Ma’uzi, the son of
Nathan, by name, one, Shemaiah, the son of Haggai, by name, one, Hosea the
son of Yathom, by name, one, Hosea, the son of Nathun, by name, one: five
persons in all, Syenians who (ow)n (proper)ty in the fortress of Elephantine,
say as follows: “If your lordship is (favour)able and the temple of Yahu
ou(r) God (is rebuilt) in the fortress of Elephantine as it was form(erly
built), but sheep and oxen and goats are (no)t offered there, but incense and
meal-offering … and your lordship iss(ues) an edict (to this effect), we will
pay to your lordship’s house the sum of … in si(lver …) a thou(sand) ardabs
of barley.” (Cowley, no. 33; also ANET 492)
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Strangely
enough, alongside the name of Yahweh (usually spelled yeho or yahu), the
letters mention other divine names: Eshem-Bethel, Herem-Bethel, Anath-Yahu, and
Anath-Bethel. Are these other gods worshiped beside Yahweh in this foreign
temple? Or are they merely names for aspects of Yahweh’s presence: “Name of the
House of God” (Eshem-Bethel), “Sign of God’s Presence” (Anath-Bethel), and so
on? It is not easy, to be sure, but it is always possible that some Jews over
the years had accepted pagan practices into their faith. Or perhaps Israelite
religion was far more diverse than the biblical sources indicate. The only hint
of it is that one list mentions separate tax support for Yahweh, Eshem-Bethel,
and Anath-Bethel. Another point of interest in these letters deals with the
Feast of Unleavened Bread. It seems clear that the Persian governor had a say
in regulating its ceremonies. A letter dated 417 gives the decisions about the
feast from the Persian official Arsham.
While our information is only partial, the Elephantine
papyri do give us a small glance into the daily life of Jewish settlers outside
of the homeland of Palestine. It reveals that they were more liberal in their
marriage laws and treatment of women, and that there was a certain diversity in
religious practice at the end of the fifth century BC, indicating that Ezra’s
reforms had not yet spread out from Judah. It shows what a close grip the
Persian government kept on all aspects of the religious decisions of subject
peoples. But it also shows that Jews did look to Jerusalem for leadership even
from so far away as southern Egypt. (Lawrence Boadt, Rethinking
the Old Testament: An Introduction, 2d ed. [New York: Paulist Press, 2012],
403-5)
