Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate)
A Ramesside fortress-town in the Wadi Tumilat with Egyptian and Semitic residents
Found 1905 — W. M. Flinders Petrie (1905–06); Hans Goedicke (1977–81); Polish-Slovak mission led by Sławomir Rzepka and Jozef Hudec (from 2007)
Where Tell el-Retaba, Wadi Tumilat, eastern Delta (Egypt)
Dates from c. 1650–800 BCE (main fort c. 1290–1100 BCE) · Second Intermediate Period–Third Intermediate Period · Israelite forced labor; store city of Pithom
Now at Site (open excavation); finds in Egyptian Museum, Cairo, and Ismailia Museum
How Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate) was found
Petrie found a temple of Atum and a massive wall. Recent work has uncovered Hyksos-period Semitic burials, a Ramesses II fortress with a monumental gate, and a later 20th-Dynasty fort with stables.
What it is
A walled town about 500 by 200 meters. Layers include Hyksos-era graves with Canaanite features, a temple to Atum ('Per-Atum' = Pithom), a thick mudbrick fortress wall of Ramesses II, and stables of Ramesses III.
Why it matters for the Bible
Most Egyptologists now think Tell el-Retaba was Pithom in the New Kingdom, before the name shifted east to Tell el-Maskhuta. The site sits in the Wadi Tumilat, the natural road from Goshen to Sinai, and its Ramesside walls are the kind of building project the Bible describes. Its Semitic-influenced burials show Asiatics living here before the New Kingdom.
The Hebrew word: pee-TOHM
פִּתֹם
פִּתֹם is pronounced pee-TOHM and means Pithom; store city built by Israel (Strong's H6619).
Places
- Pithom — פִּתֹם (pee-TOHM) — Egyptian: Per-Atum, house of Atum
Events
Building of the store cities
Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate) in Scripture
Exodus 1:11 Pithom is named as a store city the Israelites built; Tell el-Retaba is the leading candidate.
Questions people ask
What is Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate)?
A walled town about 500 by 200 meters. Layers include Hyksos-era graves with Canaanite features, a temple to Atum ('Per-Atum' = Pithom), a thick mudbrick fortress wall of Ramesses II, and stables of Ramesses III.
When was Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate) discovered?
It was found in 1905 by W. M. Flinders Petrie (1905–06); Hans Goedicke (1977–81); Polish-Slovak mission led by Sławomir Rzepka and Jozef Hudec (from 2007), at Tell el-Retaba, Wadi Tumilat, eastern Delta.
Where is Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate) today?
Site (open excavation); finds in Egyptian Museum, Cairo, and Ismailia Museum.
Which Bible verses does Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate) relate to?
Exodus 1:11.
Is Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate) authentic?
The identification as Pithom is favored by most current researchers but competes with Tell el-Maskhuta; the site itself is securely dated.
Related discoveries
- סֻכּוֹתTell el-MaskhutaNaville's 'Pithom' of 1883, now dated mainly to the 7th century and later
- אֱדוֹםPapyrus Anastasi VIA border official lets Shasu of Edom through the fort to the pools of Pithom
- עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹתPi-Ramesses (Qantir)The Delta capital of Ramesses II, the 'Rameses' of Exodus 1:11
- מֵיטַב הָאָרֶץWadi TumilatThe green valley from the Delta to the Bitter Lakes, the heart of Goshen
- גִּבְעַת שָׁאוּלGibeah of Saul (Tell el-Ful)Albright's Iron Age fortress on the ridge north of Jerusalem, beneath an unfinished royal palace
- קָדֵשׁKadesh-Barnea (Tell el-Qudeirat)The oasis where Israel camped for a generation; fortresses found, but from later kings
Sources
- Rzepka et al., 'Tell el-Retaba 2007–2008', Ägypten und Levante 19 (2009)
- Slovak Institute of Egyptology: Tell el-Retaba