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Elephantine ( ; ; ; Elephantíne; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological digs on the island became a World Heritage Site in 1979, along with other examples of Upper Egyptian architecture, as part of the "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae" (despite Elephantine being neither Nubian, nor between Abu Simbel and Philae).
The island has been studied through excavation sites. Aramaic papyri and ostraca have been collected to study what life was like on Elephantine during the time of Ancient Egypt. There have been studies about the Elephantine Triad and the Jewish presence that formulated on the island.
The standard reference collection of the Aramaic documents of the Elephantine Papyri and Ostraca is the Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt. They document (among other things) a mercenary community with its own Yahweh temple that coexisted and conflicted with local Egyptian religion, culminating in the temple’s destruction in 410 BCE.
The island may have received its name after its shape, which in aerial views is similar to that of an elephant tusk, or from the rounded rocks along the banks resembling elephants.
Historical texts from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt mention the mother of Amenemhat I, founder of the Twelfth Dynasty, being from"Then a king will come from the South, Ameny, the justified, by name, son of a woman of Ta-seti, child of Upper Egypt" the Elephantine Egyptian nome Ta-Seti."Ammenemes himself was not a Theban but the son of a woman from Elephantine called Nofret and a priest called Sesostris (‘The man of the Great Goddess’).","Senusret, a commoner as the father of Amenemhet, his mother, Nefert, came from the area Elephantine.""Amenemhet I was a commoner, the son of one Senwosret and a woman named NEFRET, listed as prominent members of a family from ELEPHANTINE Island." Many scholars have argued that Amenemhat I's mother was of Nubian origin."The XIIth Dynasty (1991–1786 B.C.E.) originated from the Aswan region. As expected, strong Nubian features and dark coloring are seen in their sculpture and relief work. This dynasty ranks as among the greatest, whose fame far outlived its actual tenure on the throne. Especially interesting, it was a member of this dynasty – that decreed that no Nehsy (riverine Nubian of the principality of Kush), except such as came for trade or diplomatic reasons, should pass by the Egyptian fortress at the southern end of the Second Nile Cataract. Why would this royal family of Nubian ancestry ban other Nubians from coming into Egyptian territory? Because the Egyptian rulers of Nubian ancestry had become Egyptians culturally; as pharaohs, they exhibited typical Egyptian attitudes and adopted typical Egyptian policies." (2025). 9781119620877 ISBN 9781119620877 (2025). 9781681774565 ISBN 9781681774565
Ongoing excavations by the German Archaeological Institute at the town have uncovered many findings, on display in the Aswan Museum located on the island, including a mummy ram of Khnum. Artifacts dating back to prehistoric Egypt have been found on Elephantine. A rare calendar, known as the Elephantine Calendar of Things, which dates to the reign of Thutmose III during the Eighteenth Dynasty, was found in fragments on the island.
Important technological evidence from the German excavations was recently published, datable to the Middle Kingdom. An intentional production of arsenical bronze, evidence of the cementation alloying process of copper with speiss inside ceramic crucibles, and a piece of speiss, were published from the Elephantine archaeological contexts.
In ancient times the island was also a vital stone quarry, providing granite for monuments and buildings all over Egypt.
The main two temples of the island were for the Goddess Satet and the God Khnum. The first temple was the Temple of Satet, founded around 3000 BC and enlarged and renovated over the next 3,000 years. There are records of an Egyptian temple to Khnum on the island as early as the Third Dynasty. This temple was completely rebuilt in the Late Period, during the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt, just before the foreign rule that followed in the Graeco-Roman Period. The Greeks formed the Ptolemaic dynasty during their three-hundred-year rule over Egypt (305–30 BC) and maintained the ancient religious customs and traditions, while often associating the Egyptian deities with their own..]]Most of the present day southern tip of the island is taken up by the ruins of the Temple of Khnum. These, the oldest ruins still standing on the island, are composed of a granite step pyramid from the Third Dynasty and a small temple built for the local Sixth Dynasty nomarch, Heqaib. In the Middle Kingdom, many officials, such as the local governors Sarenput I or Heqaib III, dedicated statues and shrines into the temple.
The other nilometer is a rectangular basin located at the island's southern tip, near the Temple of Khnum and opposite the Old Cataract Hotel. It is probably the older of the two. One of the nilometers, though it is not certain which, is mentioned by the Greek historian Strabo.
Many sources claim that the fabled "Well of Eratosthenes", famous in connection with Eratosthenes' presumed calculation of the Earth's circumference, was located on the island. Strabo mentions a well that was used to observe that Aswan lies on the Tropic of Cancer, but the reference is to a well at Aswan, not at Elephantine. Neither nilometer at Elephantine is suitable for the purpose, while the well at Aswan is apparently lost.
Satis was worshipped from very early times as a war goddess and protector of this strategic region of Egypt. When seen as a fertility goddess, she personified the bountiful annual flooding of the Nile. The cult of Satis originated in the ancient city of Aswan. Later, when the triad was formed, Khnum became identified as her consort and, thereby, was thought of as the father of Anuket. His role in myths later changed; another deity was ascribed duties with the river. At that time his role as a potter enabled him to be assigned a duty in the creation of human bodies.
Anuket was the Goddess of the first cataract and is referred to as the personification of the Nile. A cult is formed on the Island for Anuket.
The temple may have been built in reaction to Manasseh's reinstitution of pagan worship or simply to serve the needs of the Jewish community.
The earliest recount of the Jewish temple is from 525 BC. In 410 BC, the Jewish temple, the House of Yahweh, was burned down by a Persian military commander due to bribery from Khnum priests. While no explicit reasoning has been given for this lash out, it has been suspected that the priests did this because of the Jewish rituals of sacrificing of sheep, especially during Passover. Papyri records that have been collected from this time show Jewish letters asking Bagoas for help rebuilding the temple.
The standard reference collection of the Aramaic documents of the Elephantine Papyri and Ostraca is the Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt.
The Aswan Botanical Garden is adjacent to the west on el Nabatat Island.
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