Exiled after the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash, a Jewish community seeks guidance
“The Passover Letter” is the name given by scholars to a papyrus scroll discovered over a century ago on Elephantine, an island located on the Nile that
is part of the modern-day city of Aswan, Egypt. Dated around 419 BCE, the letter is the earliest documentary evidence after the Tanach of the celebration of Pesach. It was sent from Jerusalem as a response to the Jews of Elephantine, who wanted to know how to celebrate the Yom Tov, and is filled with instructions. The letter is on display in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.
Elephantine,
Gateway to the South
In ancient times, Elephantine was the southernmost city in Egypt. South of Elephantine, the Nubian Desert stretches for a distance of about 140 miles, beyond which lies Sudan, the homeland of the Nubian (Kush) civilization. Although Sudan was a military threat to Egypt, the two nations traded with each
other, with their trade routes meeting at Elephantine. The city protected the Egyptian border and ensured the safe passage of products to and from Nubia.
According to one theory, the name Elephantine was derived from the elephants that were brought from the south of Africa to Nubia. Another name for the city in ancient Egyptian was Yebo, which also meant elephant. Others say that it wasn’t elephants but the ivory from their tusks that was traded at Elephantine.
In all, 175 documents were discovered at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries on Elephantine, written in a slew of ancient languages including Hieratic (the hieroglyphics used by the Egyptian priests), Demotic (the vernacular), Latin, Greek, Coptic, Egyptian and Aramaic, on subjects ranging from politics, religion, family and business concerns. Among the papyri are official and personal letters, contracts, lists and literary works such as a collection of proverbs called The Words of Achikar. Many of these documents are in libraries and museums all over the world, including the Brooklyn Museum in New York.
Jewish Garrison
at Elephantine
After the first Beis Hamidkash was destroyed in 586 BCE, some 10,000 Jews were exiled by Nevuchadnetzar to Bavel (Babylonia), the capital of the Chaldean Empire. They consisted mostly of talmidei chachamim, professionals and the wealthy. Many of the Jewish soldiers, by contrast, fled to Egypt and formed the
Jewish garrison community in Elephantine.
Mention is made of these soldiers in Melachim II (25:26): “All the people, young and old, and the officers of the troops fled to Egypt because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.”
Decades later, Ezra Hasofer called upon the Jews in the Diaspora to return to Eretz Yisrael, after Cyrus (Koresh) the Great of Persia gave the go-ahead to the Jews to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash. But there were quite a few communities that were comfortable in their new homes, and refused to heed the call. The
Jews of Elephantine were happy with their economic situation and religious freedom. They did not want to return to Jerusalem.
The Passover Letter is only one of many documents that reveal the presence of the Jewish military colony serving Persian interests on the island of Elephantine. They also illustrate in detail what life was like on this southern border of the Persian Empire, which ruled “from Hodu to Kush” (India to Nubia), as recounted in Megillas Esther 1:1.
The Jews who had made their way to Elephantine erected a magnificent temple, a halachically questionable endeavor, with a cedar roof and five stone gateways. One scholar claims that they probably took their cue from the Navi Yeshayahu (Isaiah 19:19) who prophesied, “In that day, there shall be an altar to the L-rd inside the land of Egypt and a pillar to the L-rd at its border.” The temple was equipped with an altar for sacrifices of meal, burnt offerings and incense.
The Elephantine Jews observed Shabbos, celebrated Pesach and gave their children Hebrew names. They spoke Aramaic, the language spoken in Jerusalem, rather than Egyptian, the language of their new land.
In 410 BCE, just nine years before the Passover Letter was written, the Egyptian
priests connived with the local Persian governor Vidranga to destroy the Jewish temple in Elephantine. The Jews mourned its destruction and prayed for the downfall of the perpetrators. They also wrote to their coreligionists in Jerusalem and Samaria to intercede with the Persian authorities in Egypt to have their temple restored. According to the papyri and other archeological evidence it was indeed rebuilt.
The Elephantine Jews originally wrote to Yochanan the kohen gadol (not to be confused with the father of Matisyahu of the Chanukah narrative) and his associates in Jerusalem for help. Three years went by, during which they received no reply. (According to some scholars, this may indicate their disapproval of a temple outside the holy city. It is not known if the Jews of Elephantine were ignorant of the prohibition against bringing korbanos outside Jerusalem or they assumed for some reason that it didn’t
apply to them.)
A letter was then sent to Bagoas, the Persian governor of Judea, in
which they mention that they had also written to Delaiah and Shelemaiah, the sons of Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, about their predicament. It is interesting to note that the Samaritans (Shomronim) were similar to the Elephantine Jews in that they both had connections with Judaism but diverged from halachah. Apparently, the Elephantine Jews did not share the same animosity toward the Samaritans that their Judean brethren harbored. They clearly wanted someone to endorse their efforts to rebuild their temple, and it apparently didn’t matter whether the help came from the kohen gadol of Jerusalem or the Samaritans.
Correspondence between the Jews of Elephantine and the Persian government was found among the many other documents. They shed much light on the Books of Ezra and Nechemiah as well as confirm their historicity. In fact, the mention of the governor of Samaria by name is one of the strongest corroborations of Ezra and Nechemiah ever found in archeology and fixes their dates. The Elephantine papyri also demonstrate that the Aramaic of Ezra was in use during the 5th century BCE. In addition, these papyri show that the Persians took a genuine interest in the affairs of their subjects and that letters were sent back and forth.
The Passover Letter
The Passover Letter dates to the period of time when Darius II reigned over the Persian Empire. The extant fragment is written in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Persian Empire, on both sides, and is about eight and a quarter inches wide. What the original width was, is difficult to determine, as the left end was
apparently torn off at a fold in the papyrus. It is believed that not
more than an inch or two is missing from the bottom. Unfortunately, that is not the extent of the damage. An entire section is missing from the lower right-hand corner, so that not more than two-thirds of the original text remains. What does remain, however, is perfectly legible, and there is no question as to its correct
interpretation.
Here is an English translation:
To my brethren Yedoniah and his colleagues, the Jewish garrison,
from your brother Hananiah. May G-d seek the welfare of my brothers at all times.
Now, in this year, the fifth year of King Darius, word was sent from
the king to Arsame saying, “Authorize a festival of unleavened bread
for the Jewish garrison.” Accordingly, count 14 days in the month of
Nisan and observe the Passover, and from the 15th to the 21st day of
Nisan observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Be ritually clean and
take heed. Do no work on the 15th or the 21st day, nor drink beer,
nor eat anything in which there is leaven from the 14th at sundown
until the 21st of Nisan. For seven days it shall not be seen among you.
Do not bring it into your dwellings but seal it up between these dates.
By order of King Darius for my brethren Yedoniah and the Jewish
garrison from your brother Hananiah.
Yedoniah was a kohen and leader of Elephantine Jewry. From
other papyri we know that his full name was Yedoniah ben Gemarya. Hananiah was the Jewish secretary to Arsame, the Persian satrap over Egypt.
It is interesting to note that the instructions for Yom Tov do not include the second day that is added on for those in chutz laaretz. The Yom Tov Sheini was established by the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period.
The letter discusses the “sealing” or hiding away of chametz,so that it isn’t seen. Sealing, derived from the Aramaic verb “chatham,” may also mean “cutting off.” There is no mention of the selling of chametz as is done in modern times.
Discovered by a Jew
Otto Rubensohn (1867–1964), who discovered the PassoverLetter in 1907, was a German-Jewish classical archaeologist who studied at the Universities of Berlin and Strasbourg and was associated with the German Archaeological Institute at Athens.
From 1901 to 1907 he worked on behalf of the Royal Museums of Berlin and the Papyruskommission, and was involved in a number of archaeological excavations in Egypt. It was while performing excavatory work at Fayum on the island of Elephantine that he uncovered a cache of papyri scrolls.
In 1909 he was appointed director of the newly-established Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, and later taught in a gymnasium (secondary school) in Berlin while continuing to pursue his archaeological research. In March 1939 he and his wife fled Germany to Switzerland. His most important book, Das Delion von
Paros, was published when he was 94 years old.
When the first batch of Elephantine papyri was published by
Oxford in 1906 they caused a tremendous sensation. The Passover Letter was published in 1908, by Professor Edward Sachau of the University of Berlin.
by Pearl Herzog
AMI MAGAZINE // APRIL 20, 2016 // 12 NISAN 5776