16 



EDOUARD NAVILLE ON 



it was a region of pastures, and could be given to strangers 

 for grazing their cattle, without driving out the natives or 

 depriving them of their land. A country of that kind was 

 much mere convenient for shepherds like the Hebrews, than 

 other pails of Egypt, well cultivated, and where the popula- 

 tion was very dense. In that sense Goshen was for them 

 the "best cl the land."* 



Moreover, as we know from the excavations at Bubastis, 

 this city was one of the chief residences of the Hyksos 

 kings, who raised there more important constructions even 

 than those of Tanis, which was generally considered as 

 having been their capital. It is quite possible that Joseph 

 resided frequently at Bubastis, which was at the entrance of 

 the land of Goshen. Therefore he had his family close by, 

 and he could easily communicate with them. Thus Goshen, 

 properly speaking, was the region situate east of Zagazig, 

 towards Tell el-Kebir, and extending in the south beyond 

 Belbeis in the direction of Heliopolis. It is a country which 

 is familiar to the travellers who, as is the fashion now, take 

 the road of Port Said for coming into Egypt or for leaving 

 it. They pass through the land of Goshen in its whole 

 length, and not only the original Goshen of the family of 

 Jacob, but all the region to which this name was given, and 

 which extended further in proportion as the people increased 

 in number. It is probable that all the land occupied by the 

 Israelites was called Goshen, and thus it became synonymous 

 with another name which is purely Egyptian, and which 

 dates only from the XlXth dynasty, I mean the name land 

 of Rameses, which is found as late as the Septuagint, and 

 even afterwards. 



It is probable that this name dates from Rameses II., a 

 vain and boastful king, who, as far as we can ascertain, was 

 the persecutor of the Israelites, and whose chief desire seems 

 to have been to cover the land with as many constructions 

 as possible bearing his name, either by raising new ones or 

 by usurping on a large scale the works of his predecessors. 

 There were several cities of Raineses in Egypt ; one of them 

 was certainly in Goshen. In the same document which I 

 quoted before, the narrative of the pilgrimage made by a 

 woman in the 4th century, the author says that " going 

 towards the city of Arabia she passed through the city of 

 Rameses, the ruins of which were considerable ; but the only 

 monument to be seen was a stone on which were sculptured 



* Genesis xlvii., 11. 



