Caphtor

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Kaphtor ( Ugaritic kptr, kptrw ; Old Babylonian kaptara ; Old Egyptian Keft, Keftu, Keftiu , Hebrew כַּפְתֹּֽור) is the Old Testament name of the region of Crete . In the 13th century BC Chr. Who transferred Egyptians the geographical name only adds to the Levante . A similar development of the localization is noticeable in the writings of the Old Testament. In the Septuagint , however, Kaphtor is later settled in the Cappadocia region.

Mythological connections

Ugaritic Baal bronze statue found in Ras Shamra

In texts from Ugarit , in connection with the divine assumption of the throne by Baal, the ancient Egyptian Memphis is mentioned as the "hereditary land of Kaphtor (kptr)". In the Ugaritic pantheon , Baal did not have a palace of his own before his ascent, which is why the building of the palace required the approval of the sky god Els , which Anat , "Baal's sister", could bring about. Athirat's messenger god Qiju-Amrur was given the divine commission to win Koṯar-asis (“artist and omniscient”) as master builder for the new building . At the same time, the geographical description shows the location of Kaphtor:

"[Carry] age [my message in] your head, [my words] 'between your eyes', [And cross] a thousand [lengths in] the sea ten thousand [lengths] in the two rivers (= poetic for" sea ") . [Put over] Mountains, put over hills, put over the islands on the horizon of the sky ( iht mp šmm ). Drive there, oh fisherman of the Aṯirat , come, oh Qidšu-Amrur (= the messenger god of the Aṯirat )! Then turn to the divine Memphis ( ḥ { q } kpt ) in its entirety, to Kaphtor ( kptr ), his throne, to Memphis ( ḥkpt ), his hereditary land! Over a thousand lengths, ten thousand lengths - bow at the feet of Koṯar (then) and fall down, throw yourself to the ground and honor him! And speak to Koṯar-Ḫasis , repeat to the artist with the working hands: 'A message from my master [n Lady Aṯiratu :]' "

- KTU 1.3 VI 1-24

The main shrine of the craftsman god Ptah was in the Memphis region . Memphis also functioned as the seat of the "ancient Egyptian Hephaestus ". Kaphtor as the seat of the Koṯar-Ḫasis was at the "islands (of the Aegean Sea ) on the horizon of heaven". Cyprus , formerly presumed to be Kaphtor, is just as out of the question as the Nile Delta with regard to the Ugaritic location of Kaphtor , since detailed descriptions of the regions are available from the other Ugaritic sources. The remarks “Hereditary land of Memphis” and “Memphis in its entirety” refer to the divine relationships of the “master builder Koṯar-Ḫasis”, who lived in Crete and was worshiped together with “his heir” Ptah for handicrafts.

Biblical mentions

After Am 9.7  EU and Jer 47.4  EU the country of origin of the Philistines . Itamar Singer assumes that this information originally came from the Philistines themselves.

literature

  • Eric H. Cline: The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze age Aegean (ca. 3000-1000 BC) . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-536550-4 .
  • Manfried Dietrich : Cyprus and the Aegean based on the texts from Ugarit . In: Sabine Rogge: Cyprus - island in the focus of cultures . Waxmann, Münster 2000, ISBN 3-89325-878-7 , pp. 63-90.
  • Volkmar Fritz : The foreign races of Amos. In: Vetus Testamentum. Volume 37, No. 1, Brill, Leiden / Cologne 1987, ISSN  0042-4935 , pp. 26-38.
  • H. Gese: The Amos Problem 9.7. In: According to the text. Essays and contributions to the hermeneutics of the Old Testament. Festschrift for Ernst Würthwein on his 70th birthday. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1987, ISBN 3-525-53564-3 , pp. 33-39.
  • Wolfgang Helck : On the Keftiu, Alasia and Ahhijawa question. In: Hans-Günter Buchholz (Ed.): Aegean Bronze Age. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1987, ISBN 3-534-07028-3 , pp. 218-226.
  • Berit Hildebrandt: Damos and Basileus: Reflections on social structures in the dark centuries of Greece. Utz, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-8316-0737-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The equation of “Keftu, Keftiu” with Crete is meanwhile undisputed in research; according to Eric H. Cline: The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze age Aegean (ca. 3000-1000 BC) . P. 822.
  2. ↑ Berit Hildebrandt: Damos and Basileus. Munich 2007, p. 53.
  3. ↑ Manfred Dietrich: Cyprus and the Aegean based on the texts from Ugarit . In: Sabine Rogge (Ed.): Cyprus - island in the focus of cultures . Waxmann, Münster 2000, ISBN 3-89325-878-7 , p. 70-71 ( online [accessed October 19, 2014]).
  4. ↑ "I did bring Israel up from Egypt , but also the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir ."
  5. ↑ "Yes, the Lord destroys the Philistines, the rest of the island of Kaftor".
  6. ^ Itamar Singer: Towards the image of Dagon the God of the Philistines. In: Syria. Vol. 69, No. 3/4, 1992, pp. 431-450.