Native name: جزيرة فيلة (Ⲉ)ⲓⲏⲃ 𓍋𓃀𓅱𓃰 | |
|---|---|
 West bank of Elephantine Island on the Nile | |
  Elephantine Location in the Nile at Aswan, Upper Egypt | |
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 24°05′N 32°53′E / 24.09°N 32.89°E |
| Adjacent to | Nile |
| Length | 1,200 m (3900 ft) |
| Width | 400 m (1300 ft) |
| Administration | |
Egypt | |
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| 3bw 𓍋𓃀𓅱𓃰 "Elephantine"[1] in hieroglyphs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elephantine (/ˌɛlɪfænˈtaɪniː, -ˈtiː-/ EL-if-an-TY-nee, -TEE-;[2] Ancient Egyptian: 𓍋𓃀𓅱𓃰, romanized: ꜣbw; Egyptian Arabic: جزيرة الفنتين; Greek: Ἐλεφαντίνη Elephantíne; Coptic: (Ⲉ)ⲓⲏⲃ (e)iēb, Coptic pronunciation: [jæb]) 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).[3]
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.[4] The standard reference collection of the Aramaic documents of the Elephantine Papyri and Ostraca is the Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt.[5]
- ^ "3bw" in Faulkner, Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian cf. http://projetrosette.info/popup.php?Id=1012&idObjet=423
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition (Merriam-Webster, 1997; ISBN 0877795460), p. 351.
- ^ "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Bunson, Margaret (1995-11-23), "K", A Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University PressNew York, NY, pp. 130–141, doi:10.1093/oso/9780195099898.003.0011, ISBN 978-0-19-509989-8, retrieved 2024-03-01
- ^ Cook, Edward (2022-09-29). Biblical Aramaic and Related Dialects: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-78788-8.