Elephantine: 9 Things That You Need To Know About The Ancient Egyptian City
The city of Elephantine might not have been as well renowned as the likes of Thebes and Memphis, or even Kom Ombo; however, whatever Elephantine lacked in terms of fame, it certainly made up for in terms of religious significance. An island city, Elephantine was actually the Greek name of the Egyptian city ꜣbw. This city was famous for the worship of Khnum, the ram-headed god of the Nile in ancient Egyptian religion and mythology.
Below we present to you the 9 major things that you need to know about Elephantine, the island on the Nile River.
The name reflects it actual shape
The name of the island was derived from the shape of the island, which from above almost looks like the shape of an elephant tusk.
Alternatively, some historians opine that the name came from the somewhat elephant-shaped rocks in the area.
Elephantine history and facts
Elephantine was part of the Upper Egyptian city of Aswan
At the widest point, the Island of Elephantine reaches around 405 meters. From the north to the south, the island measures about 1220 meters.
Elephantine lies downstream of the Nile’s First Cataract, which in turn is found at the southern part of Upper Egypt’s border with the northernmost part of Nubia. Thus Elephantine was part of the ancient Egyptian city of Aswan.
The island had an important stone quarry
Some archaeologists reason that Elephantine might have had a very massive stone quarry, from which granite was shipped down the Nile River to feed into the construction of massive architectural buildings in Lower Egypt.
Ancient Egyptian god Khnum was the most worshiped deity in Elephantine
Egyptian god Khnum | Khnum was revered by the Egyptians as the one that stood watch over the Nile at its source (believed to be Elephantine), making him Lord of the First Cataract of the Nile.
In all of ancient Elephantine, there was perhaps no other deity that received reverence as much as the one given to the ram-headed god Khnum. According to ancient Egyptian religion and mythology, Khnum was the deity who fashioned the Cosmic Egg at the beginning of time. From that egg, came a number of celestial bodies, including the sun.
Also Khnum was believed to be the deity that molded human beings out of clay on his potter’s wheel. For this, he earned the title “Divine Molder”.
Often times, ancient Egyptians worshiped him together with his consort Satet (or Satis), a river deity of the Nile and a war goddess.
Read More: List of Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Ancient Egyptians believed that Elephantine was the source of the Nile River
For several millennia, the ancient Egyptians held the belief that the Nile River stemmed from the island of Elephantine. Since the Nile was the lifeblood of the Egyptian civilization Elephantine became a very important place in ancient Egypt. To the ancient Egyptians, Elephantine was a place that needed the constant watch of extremely powerful deities like the Elephantine Triad, which was made up of Khnum, Anuket, and Satet.
Jewish presence in Elephantine
According to some ancient texts, Elephantine had a number of Judean soldiers for hire around 7 BCE. The mercenaries were tasked to prevent incursions from Nubia. As a result, a small Jewish settlement sprang up, which included the families of those mercenaries.
When the Babylonian rulers sacked the city of Jerusalem in 6 BCE, a significant number of Judean refugees made their way down south to Elephantine. There, the Judean migrants set up a reasonably thriving society with a number of temples in honor of their god, Yahweh.
Elephantine history and facts |Image: What is left of the temple to Yahweh at Elephantine
Elephantine once had temples of Thutmose III and Amenhotep III
In the year 1822, Elephantine was robbed off its temples of 18th Dynastic pharaohs Thutmose III and Amenhotep III following the purposeful destruction of them by an Albanian Ottoman governor called Muhammad Ali Pasha. Perhaps out of complete disregard of the rich historical structures, the destruction of those temples was just one of the acts carried out by the pasha on his way to becoming ruler of Egypt and the Sudan.
Read More: 10 Major Accomplishments of Pharaoh Amenhotep III
Mummified remains of ram
In recent years, archaeologists have unearthed mummified remains of rams from the ancient Egyptian era. Mummification of the dead, be it human or animal, was quite a common practice in the land of Egypt. It was believed that mummification provided a conduit through which the deceased could make it safely into the afterlife. The discovery of those mummified rams does not come as a surprise as Elephantine patron deity was Khnum, a deity depicted with the head of a ram.
Aswan Museum in Elephantine
Elephantine – Aswan Museum
The famous Aswan Museum can be found on the island of Elephantine. The museum usually displays unearthed artifacts dating back to the BCE era of ancient Egypt. Some of the most important items on display are the mummified ram of Khnum.
Read More: Greatest Ancient Egyptian Cities
