{"id":72286,"date":"2020-03-24T17:06:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T15:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72286"},"modified":"2020-03-24T17:06:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T15:06:31","slug":"two-egypts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/two-egypts\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Egypts?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In chapter 44, Jeremiah speaks to the Judeans who have fled to Egypt. He addresses them as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe word which came to Jeremiah for all the Judeans living in the land of Egypt, living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Noph, and in the land of Pathros\u201d (Jeremiah 44:1)<\/span><\/p>\n

He mentions two \u201clands\u201d \u2013 Egypt (in Hebrew <\/span>Mitzrayim<\/span><\/em>) and Pathros. These correspond to an ancient division of Egypt between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. While today our maps have north on top, and so we might think that \u201cupper\u201d means north, it is actually the opposite here. Upper Egypt had the highlands, and the Nile flows north from there to Lower Egypt, where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

This division is reflected in the name Pathros, which in its original form in Ancient Egyptian meant \u201cthe southern land.\u201d But what about the origin of <\/span>Mitzrayim<\/span><\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\n

In Hebrew, <\/span>Mitzrayim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0appears to be in the plural form, ending with the suffix <\/span>-im<\/span><\/em>. There is mention of a different form of the name, <\/span>Matzor<\/span><\/em>, in some biblical passages (e.g. Micah 7:12, II Kings 19:24) which is interpreted as the singular form of <\/span>Mitzrayim<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> According to some scholars, the original division had <\/span>Matzor<\/span><\/em>\u00a0meaning Lower Egypt, Pathros meaning Upper Egypt, and together they were <\/span>Mitzrayim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 the two Egypts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matzor<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>is likely related to a Semitic root meaning \u201cborder.\u201d In Hebrew we have the related word <\/span>metzar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0meaning \u201cnarrow place\u201d or \u201cstrait.\u201d Why was <\/span>Mitzrayim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0called that? Either because the meaning extended from \u201cborder\u201d to \u201cregion\u201d, and therefore applied to the entire land, or because the Egyptians were known for having strict borders (as seen in the story of Joseph and his brothers).<\/span><\/p>\n

But ancient Egyptians did not call their land <\/span>Matzor<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>or <\/span>Mitzrayim<\/span><\/em>. They called it something like \u201cKemet\u201d (or \u201ckm.t\u201d), which may echo Ham, the biblical father of <\/span>Mitzrayim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0(Genesis 10). This name entered Ancient Greek as <\/span>khemeioa<\/span><\/em>, and from to Arabic as <\/span>al-kimiya<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Medieval writers used this name to refer to a form of science coming originating in Alexandria, Egypt as \u201calchemy\u201d. Today alchemy is viewed as an unrealistic pursuit of such goals as turning common metals into gold. But originally it just meant studying natural physical processes. Later a distinction was made between alchemy, and the more \u201cscientific\u201d study of how matter is composed \u2013 and that was given the related name \u201cchemistry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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