What is…
Pi-hahiroth
Meaning: place where the reeds grow (Septuagint and Coptic Versions read “farmstead”)
This is the name of a place in Egypt where the children of Israel camped (Exodus 14:2, 9), how long is uncertain.
Some have identified it with Ajrud, a fortress between Etham and Suez. The condition of the Isthmus of Suez at the time of the Exodus is not exactly known, and so this, with the other places mentioned as encampments of Israel in Egypt, cannot be definitely ascertained.
The isthmus has been formed by the Nile deposits. This increase of silt deposit still goes on, and so rapidly that within a period of 50 years the mouth of the Nile advanced northward about 4 miles.
In the maps of Ptolemy (of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD) the mouths of the Nile are 40 miles further south. (See Exodus.)
More information
- What is The Exodus in the Bible?
- What is the Nile River? and what is its biblical significance?
Answers about Ancient Egypt in the Bible- Places in the Bible