Elephantine's Jewish community petitions to rebuild its temple
About this date: The Berlin museum dates the surviving petition to 25 November 407 BCE; this marker concerns the petition, not the temple's original foundation.
An Aramaic petition asks the Persian governor in Judah to help authorize the rebuilding of a destroyed temple of Yahu at Elephantine.
Historical context
The document adds a Jewish community in Egypt to the restoration-era map. Its temple shows that surviving religious practice was more varied than a Jerusalem-only picture suggests.
Key points
- The petition is a surviving papyrus document.
- The community addresses an official beyond Egypt.
- The request concerns rebuilding an already existing sanctuary.
People
- Jewish community at Elephantine
- Bagohi
Sources and further reading
- Elephantine temple petition P 13495
Identifies the 407 BCE petition, addressee, and requested rebuilding.