Aramaic correspondence from Elephantine
(Egypt) indicates that Jewish colonists in Egypt built a temple sometime in the
late fifth century BCE. This is surprising, since Jewish law forbade building a
temple other than the one in Jerusalem. In 408 BCE the Elephantine Jews
received permission from Jewish leaders in Jerusalem to rebuilt their temple
after it was damaged by Egyptians. The correspondence between these two parties
shows that although the Jews of Elephantine worshiped Yahweh, they also honored
other deities. Accordingly, the Elephantine correspondence suggests a relaxation
of the strictures imposed on Palestinian Jews under the earlier leadership of
Ezra and Nehemiah. Apparently there were other Jewish colonies in Egypt during
this period. Most or perhaps all of these colonies were destroyed sometime
after 400 BCE when the Egyptians revolved against Persian rule. (Craig A.
Evans, “The Apocrypha and the Time Between the Testaments,” in Apocrypha and
the Septuagint, ed. Bruce W. Longenecker, Marieke Dhont, and James K.
Aitken [Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 1; Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Zondervan Academic, 2026], 4)
