Wadi Tumilat (

Old Egyptian The Egyptian language or Ancient Egyptian ( ) is a dead Afro-Asiatic language that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts which were made accessible to the modern world following the deciphe ...

Tjeku/Tscheku/Tju/Tschu) is the dry river valley (

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

) to the east of the Nile Delta. In

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

, it was a distributary of the Nile. It starts near the modern town of

Zagazig Zagazig ( ar, الزقازيق ' , rural: ) is a city in Lower Egypt. Situated in the eastern part of the Nile delta, it is the capital of the governorate of Sharqia. It is located on the Muweis Canal and is a hub of the corn and cotton ...

and the ancient town of

Bubastis Bubastis ( Bohairic Coptic: ''Poubasti''; Greek: ''Boubastis'' or ''Boubastos''), also known in Arabic as Tell-Basta or in Egyptian as Per-Bast, was an ancient Egyptian city. Bubastis is often identified with the biblical ''Pi-Beseth'' ( h ...

and goes east to the area of modern

Ismaïlia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includi ...

. In ancient times, this was a major communication artery for caravan trade between Egypt and points to the east. The

Canal of the Pharaohs The Canal of the Pharaohs, also called the Ancient Suez Canal or Necho's Canal, is the forerunner of the Suez Canal, constructed in ancient times and kept in use, with intermissions, until being closed for good in 767 AD for strategic reasons du ...

was built there. A little water still flows along the wadi. The current

Sweet Water Canal Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketone ...

also flows along the wadi. The Arabic name "Wadi Tumilat" is believed to reflect the existence in the area, in ancient times, of an important temple of the god Atum (Old Egyptian ''pr-itm'', 'House of Atum', changed over time into 'Tumilat', as well as into '

Pithom Pithom ( Ancient Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ; Ancient Greek: or ) was an ancient city of Egypt. Multiple references in ancient Greek, Roman, and Hebrew Bible sources exist for this city, but its exact location remains somewhat uncertain. A number o ...

').

Archaeology

Wadi Tumilat has the ruins of several ancient settlements. The earliest site excavated is that of Kafr Hassan Dawood, which dates from the Predynastic period to the Early Dynastic Period. Late in the New Kingdom of Egypt period, there was a well fortified site at Tell el-Retabah. But then, in the Saite Dynasty period, the major settlement and fort were moved east to Tell el-Maskhuta, only to the east. Necho II (610–595 BC) initiated—but may have never completed—the ambitious project of cutting a navigable canal from the

Pelusiac The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in ...

branch of the Nile to the Red Sea. Necho's Canal was the earliest precursor of the Suez Canal, and it went through Wadi Tumilat. It was in connection with a new activity that Necho founded a new city of ''Per-Temu Tjeku'' which translates as 'The House of Atum of Tjeku' at Tell el-Maskhuta. Around 1820, Muhammad Ali of Egypt, the Ottoman Governor of Egypt, brought 500 Syrians to the Wadi and equipped them with animals and labor to construct 1,000

sakia A sāqiyah or saqiya ( ar, ساقية), also spelled sakia or saqia) is a mechanical water lifting device. It is also called a Persian wheel, tablia, rehat, and in Latin tympanum. It is similar in function to a scoop wheel, which uses buckets, ...

s for the cultivation of

mulberry trees ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

for sericulture. The irrigation system was repaired by cleaning and deepening the existing canals. Labor was provided by forcing peasants to work. Tell Shaqafiya in the Wadi is also associated with the Canal and its operation. The site of Tell el Gebel is mostly of the Roman period. In 1930, a team from the German Institute in Cairo conducted a survey of Wadi Tumilat. Later on, some Hyksos tombs were also discovered in the area at Tell es-Sahaba. The earth and its inhabitants (1886) (21116337912)

The earth and its inhabitants (1886) (21116337912)

Wadi Tumilat Project

Modern excavations at Tell el-Maskhuta were carried out by the University of Toronto "Wadi Tumilat Project" under the direction of John S. Holladay Jr. They worked over five seasons between 1978 and 1985. As many as 35 sites of archaeological significance have been identified in the Wadi. The three large tells in the Wadi are Tell el-Maskhuta, Tell er-Retabah, and Tell Shaqafiya. Tell er-Retabah has been investigated by the archaeologist Hans Goedicke of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Biblical references

There are several biblical references to the area of Wadi Tumilat. For example, the ancient

is believed to be here. The western end of the Wadi Tumilat is identified as part of the Land of Goshen. Wadi Tumilat—an arable strip of land serving as the ancient transit route between Egypt and Canaan across the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

—is also seen by scholars as the biblical "Way of Shur".''Israel: Ancient Kingdom Or Late Invention?''
Daniel Isaac Block, ed. B&H Publishing Group, 2008 Biblical scholar Edouard Naville identified the area of Wadi Tumilat as Sukkot (Tjeku), the 8th Lower Egypt nome. This location is also mentioned in the Bible.

Notes

Bibliography

*Carol A. Redmount
''The Wadi Tumilat and the "Canal of the Pharaohs"''
Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Apr., 1995), pp. 127–135 The University of Chicago Press * Ellen-Fowles Morris: ''The architecture of imperialism - Military bases and the evolution of foreign policy in Egypt's New Kingdom.'' Brill, Leiden 2005, . *

Alan Gardiner Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner, (29 March 1879 – 19 December 1963) was an English Egyptologist, linguist, philologist, and independent scholar. He is regarded as one of the premier Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century. Personal life G ...

: ''The Delta Residence of the Ramessides, IV'' In: ''Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'' Nr. 5, 1918, S. 242-271. * Edouard Naville: ''The store-city of Pithom and The route of the Exodus.'' Trübner, London 1903. * Herbert Donner: ''Geschichte des Volkes Israel und seiner Nachbarn in Grundzügen - Teil 1.'' Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, , S. 102-103. *

Jacques-Marie Le Père Jacques-Marie Le Père (Paris, 25 April 1763 – Granville, 15 June 1841) was a French civil engineer. Life He accompanied the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria, was director of 'Ponts et Chaussées' (bridges and roads) in Egypt. After accomp ...

: ''Mémoire sur la communication de la mer des Indes à la Méditerranée par la mer Rouge et l'Isthme de Sueys.'' In ''Description de l'Égypte, État moderne I.'' Imprimerie Impériale, Paris 1809, S. 21 - 186,
in Volume 11
''État Moderne'', 2. Auflage, Digitalisat auf Google Bücher).

External links