Wadi Tumilat (

Old Egyptian The Egyptian language or Ancient Egyptian ( ) is a dead Afro-Asiatic language that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts which were made accessible to the modern world following the deciphe ...

Tjeku/Tscheku/Tju/Tschu) is the dry river valley (

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

) to the east of the Nile Delta. In

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

, it was a distributary of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

. It starts near the modern town of

Zagazig Zagazig ( ar, الزقازيق ' , rural: ) is a city in Lower Egypt. Situated in the eastern part of the Nile delta, it is the capital of the governorate of Sharqia. It is located on the Muweis Canal and is a hub of the corn and cotton ...

and the ancient town of

Bubastis Bubastis ( Bohairic Coptic: ''Poubasti''; Greek: ''Boubastis'' or ''Boubastos''), also known in Arabic as Tell-Basta or in Egyptian as Per-Bast, was an ancient Egyptian city. Bubastis is often identified with the biblical ''Pi-Beseth'' ( h ...

and goes east to the area of modern

Ismaïlia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includi ...

. In ancient times, this was a major communication artery for caravan trade between Egypt and points to the east. The

Canal of the Pharaohs The Canal of the Pharaohs, also called the Ancient Suez Canal or Necho's Canal, is the forerunner of the Suez Canal, constructed in ancient times and kept in use, with intermissions, until being closed for good in 767 AD for strategic reasons du ...

was built there. A little water still flows along the wadi. The current

Sweet Water Canal Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketone ...

also flows along the wadi. The Arabic name "Wadi Tumilat" is believed to reflect the existence in the area, in ancient times, of an important temple of the god

Atum Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem or Tem, is an important deity in Egyptian mythology. Name Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb ''tm'' which means 'to c ...

(Old Egyptian ''pr-itm'', 'House of Atum', changed over time into 'Tumilat', as well as into '

Pithom Pithom ( Ancient Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ; Ancient Greek: or ) was an ancient city of Egypt. Multiple references in ancient Greek, Roman, and Hebrew Bible sources exist for this city, but its exact location remains somewhat uncertain. A number o ...

').

Archaeology

Wadi Tumilat has the ruins of several ancient settlements. The earliest site excavated is that of Kafr Hassan Dawood, which dates from the

Predynastic period Prehistoric Egypt and Predynastic Egypt span the period from the earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period around 3100 BC, starting with the first Pharaoh, Narmer for some Egyptologists, Hor-Aha for others, with ...

to the Early Dynastic Period. Late in the New Kingdom of Egypt period, there was a well fortified site at Tell el-Retabah. But then, in the

Saite Dynasty The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXVI, alternatively 26th Dynasty or Dynasty 26) dynasty was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC (although others followed). The dynasty's reign (664–525 ...

period, the major settlement and fort were moved east to

Tell el-Maskhuta Pithom ( Ancient Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ; Ancient Greek: or ) was an ancient city of Egypt. Multiple references in ancient Greek, Roman, and Hebrew Bible sources exist for this city, but its exact location remains somewhat uncertain. A number ...

, only to the east.

Necho II Necho II (sometimes Nekau, Neku, Nechoh, or Nikuu; Greek: Νεκώς Β'; ) of Egypt was a king of the 26th Dynasty (610–595 BC), which ruled from Sais. Necho undertook a number of construction projects across his kingdom. In his reign, accordi ...

(610–595 BC) initiated—but may have never completed—the ambitious project of cutting a navigable

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

from the

Pelusiac The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in ...

branch of the

to the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

. Necho's Canal was the earliest precursor of the Suez Canal, and it went through Wadi Tumilat. It was in connection with a new activity that Necho founded a new city of ''Per-Temu Tjeku'' which translates as 'The House of

of Tjeku' at Tell el-Maskhuta. Around 1820,

Muhammad Ali of Egypt Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...

, the

Ottoman Governor of Egypt The Ottoman Empire's governors of Egypt Eyalet, Egypt from 1517 to 1805 were at various times known by different but synonymous titles, among them ''beylerbey'', viceroy, governor, governor-general, or, more generally, ''wāli''. Furthermore, th ...

, brought 500 Syrians to the Wadi and equipped them with animals and labor to construct 1,000

sakia A sāqiyah or saqiya ( ar, ساقية), also spelled sakia or saqia) is a mechanical water lifting device. It is also called a Persian wheel, tablia, rehat, and in Latin tympanum. It is similar in function to a scoop wheel, which uses buckets, ...

s for the cultivation of

mulberry trees ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

for

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, '' Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively stud ...

. The irrigation system was repaired by cleaning and deepening the existing canals. Labor was provided by forcing

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...

s to work. Tell Shaqafiya in the Wadi is also associated with the Canal and its operation. The site of Tell el Gebel is mostly of the Roman period. In 1930, a team from the German Institute in Cairo conducted a survey of Wadi Tumilat. Later on, some

Hyksos Hyksos (; Egyptian '' ḥqꜣ(w)- ḫꜣswt'', Egyptological pronunciation: ''hekau khasut'', "ruler(s) of foreign lands") is a term which, in modern Egyptology, designates the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt (fl. c. 1650–1550 BC). T ...

tombs were also discovered in the area at Tell es-Sahaba. The earth and its inhabitants (1886) (21116337912)

Wadi Tumilat Project

Modern excavations at Tell el-Maskhuta were carried out by the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

"Wadi Tumilat Project" under the direction of John S. Holladay Jr. They worked over five seasons between 1978 and 1985. As many as 35 sites of archaeological significance have been identified in the Wadi. The three large tells in the Wadi are Tell el-Maskhuta, Tell er-Retabah, and Tell Shaqafiya. Tell er-Retabah has been investigated by the archaeologist Hans Goedicke of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

Biblical references

There are several biblical references to the area of Wadi Tumilat. For example, the ancient

is believed to be here. The western end of the Wadi Tumilat is identified as part of the

Land of Goshen The land of Goshen ( he, אֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן, Modern: ''ʾEreẓ Gōšen'', Tiberian: ''ʾEreṣ Gōšen'') is named in the Hebrew Bible as the place in Egypt given to the Hebrews by the pharaoh of Joseph (Book of Genesis, ), and the ...

. Wadi Tumilat—an arable strip of land serving as the ancient transit route between Egypt and

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

across the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

—is also seen by scholars as the biblical "Way of Shur".''Israel: Ancient Kingdom Or Late Invention?''
Daniel Isaac Block, ed. B&H Publishing Group, 2008 Biblical scholar Edouard Naville identified the area of Wadi Tumilat as Sukkot (Tjeku), the 8th Lower Egypt nome. This location is also mentioned in the Bible.

Notes

Bibliography

*Carol A. Redmount
''The Wadi Tumilat and the "Canal of the Pharaohs"''
Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Apr., 1995), pp. 127–135 The University of Chicago Press * Ellen-Fowles Morris: ''The architecture of imperialism - Military bases and the evolution of foreign policy in Egypt's New Kingdom.'' Brill, Leiden 2005, . *

Alan Gardiner Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner, (29 March 1879 – 19 December 1963) was an English Egyptologist, linguist, philologist, and independent scholar. He is regarded as one of the premier Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century. Personal life G ...

: ''The Delta Residence of the Ramessides, IV'' In: ''Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'' Nr. 5, 1918, S. 242-271. * Edouard Naville: ''The store-city of Pithom and The route of the Exodus.'' Trübner, London 1903. * Herbert Donner: ''Geschichte des Volkes Israel und seiner Nachbarn in Grundzügen - Teil 1.'' Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, , S. 102-103. *

Jacques-Marie Le Père Jacques-Marie Le Père (Paris, 25 April 1763 – Granville, 15 June 1841) was a French civil engineer. Life He accompanied the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria, was director of 'Ponts et Chaussées' (bridges and roads) in Egypt. After accomp ...

: ''Mémoire sur la communication de la mer des Indes à la Méditerranée par la mer Rouge et l'Isthme de Sueys.'' In ''Description de l'Égypte, État moderne I.'' Imprimerie Impériale, Paris 1809, S. 21 - 186,
in Volume 11
''État Moderne'', 2. Auflage, Digitalisat auf Google Bücher).

External links