Epilogue

This concluding chapter attempts to define who the Elephantine Jews were by summing up the results of a review of all the evidence, including the texts from the Aramaic papyrus in Demotic script. In the more than one hundred years that have passed since the discovery of the Elephantine Jews, several versions of their story have sought to define who they really were. Most scholars have argued that the diaspora community came into being sometime between 650 and 550 BCE. Where the Elephantine Jews came from has been a matter of controversy. While many have considered it likely that they migrated from Judah, the hypothesis of Samarian origins has been vigorously defended as well. Here, the chapter presents Papyrus Amherst 63 as the basis of a compelling narrative to take the place of earlier versions of the story.

A Military Colony and Its Religion

This chapter pays attention to the Egyptian experience of the Elephantine Jews. It maintains that there are two areas in Egyptian life that merit a renewed inquiry because they are central to the Elephantine experience. One is the role of Jews as soldiers in the service of the Persians; the other concerns their religion. On both scores, the Papyrus Amherst 63 has bearing—modest in one case, significant in the other. This chapter looks first at the military side of the colony, then discusses various aspects of the religious life of what was essentially a temple community, and finally seeks to present the profile of the various gods that the Jews venerated.

The Aramean Diaspora in Egypt

This chapter focuses on the origins of the Arameans of Syene (Aswan) and their relations with the Jews. These Arameans were their neighbors on the mainland and their colleagues in the garrison at Syene, a city neighboring Elephantine. The Arameans were pastoralists, who moved their flocks from place to place and set up their camps for only a few months at a time. It was a lifestyle that has been called seminomadic. The corresponding social structures were those of the clan and the tribe. Most Aramean kingdoms, however, were dimorphic. This meant that some inhabitants were settled, while others continued to be “wandering Arameans.” The Aramean soldiers garrisoned in Syene had come to Egypt at the same time as most of the Jews. Their number was higher than that of the Jews, and yet their story is largely unknown compared to their Elephantine neighbors.

The Aramean Heritage

This chapter explores the Aramean heritage of the Elephantine Jews. They had Jewish names, and their temple was devoted to the ancestral Jewish god. Yet they spoke Aramaic, used Aramaic wisdom literature to hone their scribal skills, venerated several Aramean gods besides Yaho, and referred to themselves as Arameans. In terms of culture, they seem to have been as much Aramean as Jewish, if not more. They apparently had a mixed heritage. In order to reflect this double identity, several scholars call them “Judeo-Arameans.” The binomial serves as a reminder of the complex background of the Elephantine Jews. They have come to be defined as Jews, but this chapter considers that perhaps they were not so Jewish during an earlier period of their existence.