ELEFANTINA. — A granite island situated at the outlet of the first cataract of the Nile, from which point the river becomes navigable as far as its mouth. From antiquity it was a strategic and commercial center of primary importance. Its Egyptian name is Jēb, Jēbu (“the land of the elephants”; cf. Fl. Giuseppe, Bell. Jud., IV, 10, 5). An arm of the Nile, 90 m wide, separates E. from the city of Sūn (Sāwēnāh in Ex. 29, 10; 30, 6), in Greek Σαβγη (Herodotus, II, 28), today Assuan. The Aramaic papyri originating from E., from the fifth century B.C., are important.
The papyri were discovered and published from 1898 to 1900. They demonstrate the existence at E. of a Jewish military colony before the conquest of Cambyses. Aristeas’s letter speaks of Jewish troops in the pay of Psammetichus II in the war against Nubia (before 586 B.C.). But the origin of this Jewish community, which spoke and wrote Aramaic, is not clear. Did it trace its origins to the Jewish mercenaries present in Egypt before the fall of Jerusalem, or to those who took refuge there after this catastrophe? Or to elements of the Kingdom of Israel killed in Assyria, or to Samaritan elements?
The most important papyrus is no. 30 (ed. Cowley), dated “on the 20th of marhešwān in the 17th year of King Darius (II),” hence approximately the end of November 408 B.C.
It is a letter that Jēdōnāh, head of the Jewish community of E., sends to Bagōhī (Bagoas), peḥāh (the preferred Persian term) of Jerusalem, asking for his intervention so that permission may be granted to rebuild at E. “the temple of the god Jhw (Jahweh),” which the priests of the god Ḥnūb (Guān, the sacred ram) had destroyed, taking advantage of the absence of ’Arām, Persian governor of Upper Egypt. It is stated that the community had sent a letter of the same tenor, immediately after the events had occurred, to the high priest Jēhōhānān, a letter that remained unanswered, and that it was now sending a similar one to the sons of Sinuballit (= Sanaballat), peḥāh of Samaria. The high priest Jēhōhānān is the Jōhānān contemporary with Ezra (Esl. 10, 6), and his contemporaneity with Bagoas, peḥāh of Jerusalem, is attested by Fl. Giuseppe in Antiq. Jud., XI, 7, 1. Sanaballat is the peḥāh of Samaria, a bitter enemy of Nehemiah. The most characteristic fact is that there existed at E. a genuine temple of Jahweh before the conquest of Cambyses (ll. XIII-XIV), in which offerings, incense, burnt offerings, and sacrifices were presented (ll. XXI, XXV, XXVIII). The degeneration of genuine Yahwistic worship was undoubtedly not perceived by these Jewish emigrants, who in good faith had sought help precisely from that high priest of Jerusalem who was bound to repudiate them as schismatics: indeed, the high priest, unable to defend their cause and unwilling to humiliate their good faith, had very wisely preferred to remain silent. One of the principal motives for the destruction of the temple must have been the offering of sheep, an act that was exceedingly sacrilegious toward the ram-god.
Papyrus 21 (ed. Cowley), earlier than the destruction of the temple (the fifth year of Darius II, that is, 419 B.C.), informs us about the celebration of Passover at E., which, on the basis of a decree of Darius, was to be celebrated in a place separated from the rest of the population: one immediately thinks of the slaughtering of the paschal lamb. But the worship of Jahweh did not prevent these Jews from worshiping and making monetary offerings to other deities as well, for example, ’Ašimbēth’ēl (or ’Išmbēth’ēl) and ’Anathbēth’ēl (papyrus 22, ed. cit.).
A group of papyri in perfect condition, originating from a family archive, informs us about the social conditions: legal transactions involving real estate, high-interest loans, written marriage settlements, and a condition of greater emancipation for women, who could also request a divorce. A clear distinction emerges between the civilian and military populations, the latter being divided into deghei (literally “flag,” “standard”), each designated by the name of its commanding officer.
One papyrus has preserved for us an Aramaic text of the story of ’Aḥlōār (v.), but unfortunately not a single line of biblical text has been found. Certainly the garrison, protected by the Persians, dispersed when their rule came to an end. The latest papyrus is no. 35 (the fifth year of the Pharaoh Amyrtaeus, that is, 400 B.C.).
BIBLI: Editions: A. Cowley, Aramaic papyri of the fifth century B. C., Oxford 1933. — Studies: T. Witzel, Documenti aramaici del sec. V a. C., in Rivista storico-critica delle scienze teologiche, 2 (1900), p. 680 ff.; Ed. Meyer, Der Papyrus-Jund von Elephantine, Lipala 1912; L. Heemeyuin, Elephantine, in DBL, II, pp. 962-1032; A. Vincent, La religion des Judio-aramiens d'Elephantine, Parigi 1937; G. Ricciotti, Storia d'Israele, II, 5ª ed., Torino 1947, §§ 166-79. Francesco Pericoli Ridofini