Migdol, or migdal, is a Hebrew word (מגדּלה מגדּל, מגדּל מגדּול) which means either a tower (from its size or height), an elevated stage (a rostrum or pulpit), or a raised bed (within a river). Physically, it can mean fortified land, i.e. a walled city or castle; or elevated land, as in a raised bed, like a platform, possibly a lookout. Migdol is a known loanword from Egyptian (mktr), ''mekter'',M. Vygus. Middle Egyptian dictionary, p. 627 or ''mgatir'' meaning "fort", "fortification", or "stronghold". The corresponding term in Coptic is ⲙⲉϣⲧⲱⲗ ''meštôl''. Figuratively, "tower" has connotations of proud authority. In archaeology, ''migdol'' is a specific type of temple, examples of which have been discovered for instance at Hazor,

Megiddo Megiddo may refer to: Places and sites in Israel * Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley * Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel * Megiddo church (Israel) * Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel * Megiddo Junctio ...

Tel Haror Tel Haror (Hebrew name) or Tell Abu Hureyra (Arabic name; also spelled Hureira and Hareira), also known as ''Tel Heror'', is an archaeological site in the western Negev Desert, Israel, northwest of Beersheba, about 20 km east of the Mediterra ...

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

and

Shechem Shechem ( ), also spelled Sichem ( ; he, שְׁכֶם, ''Šəḵem''; ; grc, Συχέμ, Sykhém; Samaritan Hebrew: , ), was a Canaanite and Israelite city mentioned in the Amarna Letters, later appearing in the Hebrew Bible as the first c ...

Places named Migdol or Migdal in the Hebrew Bible

The

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...

records that the children of Israel encamped at Pi-Hahiroth between Migdol and the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

, before their crossing. It also appears in a couple of extra-biblical sources: Papyrus Anastasis V (20:2-3) implies that Migdol was built by Pharaoh

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The ...

of the 19th dynasty, the same king who first established the city of Piramesses; according to a map of the Way of Horus, Migdol is east of the Dwelling of the Lion, which has been located at Tell el-Borg, near the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula and the estuary of the Ballah Lakes.

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

referred to Migdal-Gad, ‘tower of Gad’, one of the fortified cities of Judah, and also to Migdal-El, ‘tower of God’, one of the fortified towns of

Naphtali According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali (; ) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Bilhah (Jacob's sixth son). He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Naphtali. Some biblical commentators have suggested that the name ''Naphtali'' ...

() and the city of origin of

Mary Magdelene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurr ...

( Magdala) (; ; and ).

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...

referred to Migdol ( Jeremiah 44:1) in its near-geographical relation to Tahpanhes and Memphis, three Egyptian cities where the Jewish people settled after the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC). Ezekiel referred to Migdol in describing the length of the land of Egypt "''from Migdol to

Syene Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of t ...

(Aswan)''". (, ). The letters of

Šuta Šuta, (''"Shuta"''), was an Egyptian commissioner of the 1350– 1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. The name ''Šuta'' is a hypocoristicon-(nickname/petname) for the Ancient Egyptian god Seth, (Seth being the "God of the Desert", and an ' ...

refer to a "Magdalu in Egypt" which Albright identified with Jeremiah's Migdol. The future of biblical archaeology: reassessing methodologies and ... - Page 105 James Karl Hoffmeier, Alan Ralph Millard - 2004 "What is important for us is the identification of the Migdol referred to here and the meaning of the phrase "Akka is like Magdalu in Egypt." Albright, who was certain that the Migdol here is the Migdol of the Bible, translates that ..."

Places in modern Israel named Migdal

Migdal is a town in the northern district of Israel, 8 km north of

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...

. Migdal Ha'emek is a city in modern-day Israel, situated on a large hill surrounded by the Kishon river, west of Nazareth.

References

{{Reflist Torah places