Mizraim (; cf.
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
مصر, ''Miṣr'') is the
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
name for the land of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, with the dual suffix ''-āyim'', perhaps referring to the "two Egypts":
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient E ...
and
Lower Egypt. Mizraim is the dual form of matzor, meaning a "mound" or "fortress," the name of a people descended from
Ham
Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...
. It was the name generally given by the Hebrews to the land of Egypt and its people.
Neo-Babylonian
The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and bein ...
texts use the term ''Mizraim'' for Egypt.
The name was, for instance, inscribed on the
Ishtar Gate
The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon (in the area of present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq). It was constructed circa 575 BCE by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of the city. It was pa ...
of Babylon.
Ugaritic
Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic language, classified by some as a dialect of the Amorite language and so the only known Amorite dialect preserved in writing. It is known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologist ...
inscriptions refer to Egypt as ''Mṣrm'',
in the
14th century B.C. Amarna tablets
The Amarna letters (; sometimes referred to as the Amarna correspondence or Amarna tablets, and cited with the abbreviation EA, for "El Amarna") are an archive, written on clay tablets, primarily consisting of diplomatic correspondence between t ...
it is called ''Misri'',
and
Assyrian records called Egypt ''Mu-ṣur.''
The Classical Arabic word for Egypt is ''Miṣr'' / ''Miṣru'', the name that refers to Egypt in the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
, though the word is pronounced as ''Maṣr'' in Egyptian colloquial Arabic. Some Ancient Egyptian inscriptions at the time of Pharaoh
Amenhotep IV
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...
refer to Egypt as ''Masara'' and to Egyptians as ''Masrawi''.
According to
Genesis 10
The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known socie ...
, Mizraim son of
Ham
Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...
was the younger brother of
Cush and elder brother of
Phut
Phut or Put ( he, ''Pūṭ''; Septuagint Greek ''Phoud'') is the third son of Ham (one of the sons of Noah), in the biblical Table of Nations (Genesis ; cf. 1 Chronicles ). The name Put (or Phut) is used in the Bible for Ancient Libya, but a fe ...
whose families together made up the
Hamite branch of
Noah's descendants. Mizraim's sons were
Ludim
Ludim is the Hebrew term for a people mentioned in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. In the Biblical ''Table of Nations'' Genesis 10:13 they were descended from Mizraim. The biblical scholar Victor P. Hamilton believes that the available evidence "suggests" t ...
,
Anamim __NOTOC__
Anamim (, ''‘Ănāmīm'') is, according to the Bible, either a son of Ham's son Mizraim or the name of a people descending from him. Biblical scholar Donald E. Gowan describes their identity as "completely unknown."
The name should pe ...
,
Lehabim
This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections.
A Accaba, descendants of
For the descendants of "Accaba" (1 Esd ...
,
Naphtuhim,
Pathrusim
Pathrusim together with Casluhim were descendants of Mizraim (i.e., Egypt) according to the genealogies in Genesis, who inhabited Pathros (i.e., Upper Egypt).
In Saadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch, the '' Sa'idi people'' ( ...
,
Casluhim
The Casluhim or Casluhites ( he, כסלחים) were an ancient Egyptian people mentioned in the Bible and related literature.
Biblical accounts
According to the Book of Genesis () and the Books of Chronicles (), the Casluhim were descendants of ...
, and
Caphtorim
Caphtor ( he, ''Kaftōr'') is a locality mentioned in the Bible, in which its people are called Caphtorites or Caphtorim and are named as a division of the ancient Egyptians. Caphtor is also mentioned in ancient inscriptions from Egypt, Mari, a ...
.
[Bullinger, 2000, p. 6.]
In the
Book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...
, it is considered the ''house of bondage''. Regarding the
passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...
,
Moses says to the
sons of Israel, "Remember this day, in which ye
came out from Mizraim, out of the house of bondage; for
by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place; there shall no
leavened bread
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made food ...
be eaten."
The
book of Deuteronomy forbids the sons of Israel from abhoring a ''Mizri'', an Egyptian, "because you were a stranger in his land."
According to
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
's ''
Chronicon In historiography, a ''chronicon'' is a type of chronicle or annals. Examples are:
* ''Chronicon'' (Eusebius)
* ''Chronicon'' (Jerome)
*'' Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham''
*''Chronicon Burgense''
*'' Chronicon Ambrosianum''
*'' Chronicon Compostellan ...
'',
Manetho had suggested that the great age of antiquity of which the later Egyptians boasted had actually preceded the
Great Flood
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval ...
and that they were really descended from Mizraim, who settled there anew. A similar story is related by medieval Islamic historians, such as
Sibt ibn al-Jawzi
Shams al-Din Abu al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn Kizoghlu (c. 581AH/1185–654AH/1256), famously known as Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī ( ar, سبط ابن الجوزي ) was a notable preacher and historian.
Title
He is the grandson of the great Hanbali scholar A ...
, the Egyptian
Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam, and the Persians
al-Tabari and
Muhammad Khwandamir
Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, commonly known as Khvandamir (also spelled Khwandamir; 1475/6 – 1535/6) was a Persian historian who was active in the Timurid, Safavid and Mughal empires. He is principally known for his Persian universal history, the ...
, stating that the
pyramids
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
, etc. had been built by the wicked races before the Deluge but that Noah's descendant Mizraim (Masar or Mesr) was later entrusted with reoccupying the region. The Islamic accounts also make Masar the son of a Bansar or Beisar and grandson of Ham, rather than a direct son of Ham, and add that he lived to the age of 700. Some scholars think it likely that Mizraim is a dual form of the word ''Misr'' meaning "land" and was translated literally into
Ancient Egyptian as ''Ta-Wy'' (the Two Lands) by early
pharaohs
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
at
Thebes, who later founded the
Middle Kingdom.
However, according to
George Syncellus
George Syncellus ( el, Γεώργιος Σύγκελλος, ''Georgios Synkellos''; died after 810) was a Byzantine chronicler and ecclesiastic. He had lived many years in Palestine (probably in the Old Lavra of Saint Chariton or Souka, near Tekoa ...
, the ''
Book of Sothis
The ''Book of Sothis'' is a document known mainly by transmission by George Syncellus (died after 810 CE), purporting to have been written by the historian Manetho (who lived during the early 3rd century BCE). Modern scholars are nearly unanimous ...
'', attributed to
Manetho, identified Mizraim with the legendary first Pharaoh
Menes
Menes (fl. c. 3200–3000 BC; ; egy, mnj, probably pronounced *; grc, Μήνης) was a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt and as the founder of the ...
, who is said to have unified the
Old Kingdom
In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
and built
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
. Mizraim also seems to correspond to
Misor Misor was the name of a deity appearing in a theogeny provided by Roman era Phoenician writer Philo of Byblos in an account preserved by Eusebius in '' Praeparatio Evangelica'',van der Toorn, K. et al., ''Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bibl ...
, who is said in
Phoenician mythology
Sanchuniathon (; Ancient Greek: ; probably from Phoenician: , "Sakon has given"), also known as Sanchoniatho the Berytian, was a Phoenician author. His three works, originally written in the Phoenician language, survive only in partial paraphras ...
to have been the father of
Taautus
Taautus of Byblos, according to the Phoenician writer Sanchuniathon, was the son of Misor and the inventor of writing, who was bequeathed the land of Egypt by Cronus.
Sanchuniathon's writings, through the translation of Philo, were transmitted to ...
, who was given Egypt, and later scholars noticed that it also recalls Menes, whose son or successor was said to be
Athothis
Djer (or Zer or Sekhty) is considered the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the mid- thirty-first century BC and reigned for c. 40 years. A mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was disc ...
.
However, the author
David Rohl
The New Chronology is an alternative chronology of the ancient Near East developed by English Egyptologist David Rohl and other researchers beginning with ''A Test of Time: The Bible - from Myth to History'' in 1995. It contradicts mainstream ...
has suggested a different interpretation:
References
Bibliography
*
{{Authority control
Children of Ham (son of Noah)