Rhinocorura
Encyclopedia
Rhinocorura or Rhinocolura was the name of a region and associated town (or towns) and rivers lying between Ancient Egypt
and the Land of Israel
. The name may refer explicitly to:
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
and the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
. The name may refer explicitly to:
- Rhinocorura, a desert location on the border between Ancient EgyptAncient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
and the Land of IsraelLand of IsraelThe Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
mentioned by StraboStraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
(Geographia XVI, 2, 31-32) and Diodorus SiculusDiodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
(Historic Library Vol 1, Chap. 60). This appears to be the original usage of the name, which means "cut-off noses" in GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. Diodorus Siculus relates that it was founded by the Ethiopian king ActisanesActisanesActisanes was a legendary king of Ethiopia who conquered Egypt and governed it with justice. He founded the city of Rhinocolura on the confines of Egypt and Syria, and was succeeded by Mendes, an Egyptian. Diodorus Siculus says that Actisanes conquered Egypt in the reign of Amasis. Some...
as a place of exile for those found guilty of robbery whom he punished by cutting off their noses. Strabo's version of the story claims that it was settled by Ethiopians who had attempted to invade Egypt and were subsequently punished by having their noses cut off. It may be identical with the Egyptian border fortress Tjaru, to which officials, who had committed crimes, were banished after having their noses cut off.
- Rhinocorura, the "Brook of EgyptBrook of EgyptThe Brook of Egypt is the name used in some English translations of the Bible for the Hebrew Nachal Mitzrayim used for the river defining the westernmost border of the Land of Israel. Popular Bible commentaries identify it with Wadi El-Arish although the identification is problematic...
". Identified as the PelusianPelusiumPelusium was a city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, 30 km to the southeast of the modern Port Said. Alternative names include Sena and Per-Amun , Pelousion , Sin , Seyân , and Tell el-Farama...
branch of the Nile - in ancient times the easternmost branch of the Nile, which subsequently ran dry. It was located roughly where the present Suez CanalSuez CanalThe Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
lies. This usage of the term is found in the Septuagint translation of IsaiahBook of IsaiahThe Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
27:12. Presumably the locality mentioned by Strabo and Diodorus Siculus lay in its vicinity and gave its name to the river.
- Rhinocolura, the name of one or two (depending on interpretation), coastal towns mentioned by PlinyPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
and JosephusJosephusTitus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
. Pliny writes ambiguously: "and the two towns of Rhinocolura, inland Raphia, Gaza and inland Anthedon". (Pliny, Historia Naturalis, V,14.) Josephus mentions a coastal Rhinocolura near Gaza, Anthedon and Raphia. (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, 15:4; Book 24, 11:5). He also mentions Rhinocolura in connection with Pelusium (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 14, 14:2; The Jewish War, Book 1, 14). The coastal Rhinocolura (or one of them if there were two) is commonly identified with El-Arish. It is uncertain if this is identical to the Rhinocorura of Strabo and Diodorus Siculus. Archaeologists have found no evidence of occupation prior to the Hellenistic period at El-Arish.
- Rhinocolura or Rhinocorura, the Wadi El-Arish. The drying up and disappearance of the Pelusian arm of the Nile led Biblical commentators to identify the Rhinocurara of the Septuagint (the "Brook of EgyptBrook of EgyptThe Brook of Egypt is the name used in some English translations of the Bible for the Hebrew Nachal Mitzrayim used for the river defining the westernmost border of the Land of Israel. Popular Bible commentaries identify it with Wadi El-Arish although the identification is problematic...
") with the Wadi El-Arish which provides water to El-Arish identified with the coastal Rhinocolura of Pliny and Josephus.
- Rhinocolura or Rhinocorura (in LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
Rhinocoruritanus), a CatholicCatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
titular seeTitular seeA titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular bishop", "titular metropolitan", or "titular archbishop"....
and suffragan of PelusiumPelusiumPelusium was a city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, 30 km to the southeast of the modern Port Said. Alternative names include Sena and Per-Amun , Pelousion , Sin , Seyân , and Tell el-Farama...
representing the SinaiSinai PeninsulaThe Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
.