Migdol

Migdol, or migdal, is a Hebrew word (מגדּלה מגדּל, מגדּל מגדּול) which means either a tower (from its size or height), an elevated stage (a rostrum or pulpit), or a raised bed (within a river). Physically, it can mean fortified land, i.e. a walled city or castle; or elevated land, as in a raised bed, like a platform, possibly a lookout.

mktr[1] in hieroglyphs
Era: Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 BC)

mꜥgꜣdjr[2] in hieroglyphs

Migdol of Medinet Habu, Theban Necropolis, Egypt

Migdol is a known loanword from Egyptian (mktr), mekter,^[1] or mgatir^[2] meaning "fort", "fortification", or "stronghold". The corresponding term in Coptic is ⲙⲉϣⲧⲱⲗ meštôl. Figuratively, "tower" has connotations of proud authority.

In archaeology, migdol is a specific type of temple, examples of which have been discovered for instance at Hazor, Megiddo, Tel Haror, Pella and Shechem.

Places named Migdol or Migdal in the Hebrew Bible

The Book of Exodus records that the children of Israel encamped at Pi-Hahiroth between Migdol and the Red Sea, before their crossing. It also appears in a couple of extra-biblical sources:^[3] Papyrus Anastasis V (20:2-3) implies that Migdol was built by Pharaoh Seti I of the 19th dynasty,^[4] the same king who first established the city of Piramesses; according to a map of the Way of Horus, Migdol is east of the Dwelling of the Lion,^[5] which has been located at Tell el-Borg,^[6] near the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula and the estuary of the Ballah Lakes.^[7] Its exact location has been identified with the site of T-211.^[8][9][10]

Joshua referred to Migdal-Gad, 'tower of Gad', one of the fortified cities of Judah, and also to Migdal-El, 'tower of God', one of the fortified towns of Naphtali (Joshua 19.38).

Jeremiah referred to Migdol (Jeremiah 44:1) in its near-geographical relation to Tahpanhes and Memphis, three Egyptian cities where the Jewish people settled after the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC). At this time, the city's name had moved its location to Tell Qedua.^[11][12]

Ezekiel referred to Migdol in describing the length of the land of Egypt "from Migdol to Syene (Aswan)". (Ezekiel 29:10, Ezekiel 30:6).

The letters of Šuta refer to a "Magdalu in Egypt" which Albright identified with Jeremiah's Migdol.^[13]

Places in modern Israel named Migdal

Migdal is a town in the northern district of Israel, 8 km north of Tiberias.

Migdal Ha'emek is a city in modern-day Israel, situated on a large hill surrounded by the Kishon river, west of Nazareth.

References

1. M. Vygus. Middle Egyptian dictionary, p. 627
2. E. A. Wallis Budge (1920). An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. Vol I. John Murray. p. 290.
3. Falk, D. A. (2018). "What We Know about the Egyptian Places Mentioned in Exodus". TheTorah.com.
4. The site is referred to as, e.g., “Migdol of Seti-Merneptah (Seti I).” Gardiner, LEM, 67.
5. The map is located in the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak Temple.
6. It was excavated by James Hoffmeier from 1998-2007; James K. Hoffmeier, Excavations in North Sinai: Tell el-Borg I (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2014), 1-33.
7. James K. Hoffmeier and Stephen O. Moshier, “The Ways of Horus,” Excavations in North Sinai: Tell el-Borg I. ed. James K. Hoffmeier (Winona Lake, IA: Eisenbrauns, 2014), 44.
8. Seguin, Joffrey (2007). Le Migdol: du Proche-Orient à l'Egypte (in French). Paris: Sorbonne Université Presses. pp. 117–122. ISBN 978-2-84050-521-1.
9. Hoffmeier, James K. (2008). "The Search for Migdol of the New Kingdom and Exodus 14:2: An Update". Buried History. 44: 3–12. ISSN 0007-6260.
10. Hoffmeier, James K. (2018). "A Possible Location in Northwest Sinai for the Sea and Land Battles between the Sea Peoples and Ramesses III". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 380: 1–25. doi:10.5615/bullamerschoorie.380.0001. ISSN 0003-097X.
11. Oren, Eliezer D. (1984). "Migdol: A New Fortress on the Edge of the Eastern Nile Delta". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 256: 7–44. doi:10.2307/1356923. ISSN 0003-097X.
12. Hoffmeier, James K. (2018–2019). "The Curious Phenomenon of Moving Military Sites on Egypt's Eastern Frontier". Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. 45: 105‒134.
13. The future of biblical archaeology: reassessing methodologies and ... - Page 105 James Karl Hoffmeier, Alan Ralph Millard - 2004 "What is important for us is the identification of the Migdol referred to here and the meaning of the phrase "Akka is like Magdalu in Egypt." Albright, who was certain that the Migdol here is the Migdol of the Bible, translates that ..."