Diaspora żydowska w Egipcie w czasach biblijnych

Abstract

Deportations of Jews into the Babylonian captivity began a period of diaspora, because a part of the inhabitants of Judea took shelter in Egypt. In the fifth century BC, on the island of Elephantine ‒ an island in the Nile, near the First Cataract ‒ a colony of Jewish soldiers, who served in the army of Pharaoh, was created. Moreover, a temple following the temple in Jerusalem was built there. After the conquest of Egypt, made by Alexander the Great, the Jewish Diaspora intensively developed. Jews were invited to settle in the newly built port city ‒ Alexandria, which became the capital of the whole Egypt, as well as the scientific and artistic centre. The Judaic literature in Greek language, which was used every day, developed mainly in this city. The establishment of the Septuagint, the Greek Bible translated from Hebrew, was the most significant result of this development. Successive waves of emigration of Jews in the second century BC resulted in creation of the Jewish settlements in Leontopolis, where the temple of the Highest God was also built. During the reign of the Ptolemies, there were also the situations of the persecution of Jews. One such event was successfully completed, and it is called a “miracle of the hippodrome”. Since the conquest of Egypt by the Romans (30 BC), the situation of the Jewish Diaspora was gradually getting worse. In 38 AD, the first defeat of the Alexandrian Jews took place, and the next one occurred. The Jews, dissatisfied with their position, both in Egypt and the surrounding lands, started an armed rebellion, which was brutally suppressed by Romans in the 115-117 AD. It was the end of the Jewish Diaspora in Egypt, the history of which lasted over VII centuries.