Pathros

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PATHROS

PATHROS (Heb. פַּתְרוֹס), region mentioned five times in the Bible (Isa. 11:11; Jer. 44:1, 15; Ezek. 29:14; 30:14), either in connection with *Miẓrayim or with a city of Lower Egypt (Nof = Memphis or *Zoan = Tanis). The name is derived, like the Greek Παθουρης, Φαθωρης (lxx, Jer. 51:1, 15; Ezek. 29:14; 30:14), from the Egyptian expression pa to resy ("the Southern Land"), i.e., Upper Egypt. In the Bible, Pathros is named as a region where Jewish communities existed, both before and after the fall of Jerusalem in 587. According to Ezekiel 29:14, Pathros is considered the original home of the Egyptians.

bibliography:

A. Erman, in: zaw, 10 (1890), 118–9; G. Steindorf, in: Beitraege zur Assyriologie und semitischer Sprachwissenschaft, 1 (1890), 344.

[Alan Richard Schulman]