his army actually did appear on the borders of Egypt; but how far he
succeeded in conquering the land is unknown. The complete conquest of
Egypt certainly did not come until the Persian period under the leadership
of the cruel Cambyses.

VII. The Jewish Colony at Elephantine. Jeremiah and Ezekiel also refer
to the Jewish colonists at Memphis and at Pathros, which is the biblical
designation of upper Egypt. Many of the colonists who had settled there
had doubtless fled before the conquests of Jerusalem. The presence of a
great number of Jews in Egypt at a later period indicates that even at
this early date more exiles were probably to be found in Egypt than in
Babylon. Recent discoveries on the island of Elephantine in the upper
Nile, opposite the modern Assuan, have thrown new light upon the life of
these Jewish colonists. These records consist (1) of a series of
beautifully preserved legal documents written in Aramaic on papyrus and
definitely dated between the years 471 and 411 B.C. They include contracts
between the Jews residing on the island of Elephantine regarding the
transfer of property and other legal transactions. They contain many
familiar Jewish names, such as Zadok, Isaiah, Hosea, Nathan, Ethan,
Zechariah, Shallum, Uriah, and Shemaiah. They indicate that by the earlier
part of the Persian period a large and wealthy colony of Jewish traders
and bankers was established on this island. They appear to have lived in a
community by themselves, but in the heart of the city, side by side with
Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, and Greeks, whose property
In some cases joined their own. The Jews had their own court which ranked
equally with the Persian and Egyptian law courts. Even native Egyptians,
who had cases against the Jews, appeared before it. The names of Arameans
and Arabs also appear in its lists of witnesses. From these contemporary
documents it is clear that the Jews of upper Egypt enjoyed great
privileges and entered freely into the life of the land. Ordinarily they