The Jewish Temple at Elephantine

Abstract

The Jewish Temple at the military garrison on Elephantine island has been known from papyrus sources since 1911. Built sometime in the sixth century, it was destroyed in 410 BCE at the hands of the priests of the Egyptian god, Khnum. Although rebuilt, the temple was eventually abandoned sometime after 400 BCE. The papyri, obtained from locals on the island, date to the Persian period and reveal much about the lives of the Jewish mercenaries who worshiped in the temple. Thanks to recent excavations by the German Archaeological Institute of Cairo, the author is able to offer a tentative reconstruction of what the temple might have looked like and how it might have functioned, and concludes that it comes closer to the description of the Wilderness Tabernacle in Exodus than any other known remains!