Succoth

What is known

• There are two distinct biblical places called Succoth, sharing a name that means 'booths/shelters': one in the eastern Nile Delta of Egypt (Exodus 12-13), and one east of the Jordan River in Israel's territory (Genesis 33; Joshua 13; Judges 8), and this entry focuses primarily on the Egyptian Exodus site
• Succoth in Egypt was Israel's first stop after leaving Rameses at the start of the Exodus, where the mixed multitude gathered before heading toward the wilderness (Exodus 12:37; 13:20)
• Separately, on Jacob's return to Canaan from Paddan-aram, he built a house for himself and shelters ('succoth') for his livestock at a site east of the Jordan, which is how that location got its name (Genesis 33:17)
• The Jordan Valley Succoth (commonly identified with Tell Deir 'Alla) later became noted for bronze-casting for Solomon's Temple furnishings, done 'in the plain of Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan' (1 Kings 7:46)
• Tell Deir 'Alla is also famous for the Deir Alla inscription, a 9th-century BC plaster wall text referencing 'Balaam son of Beor,' the same seer named in Numbers 22-24

History

Founded

The Egyptian Succoth is widely connected with the Egyptian toponym Tjeku, which texts such as Papyrus Anastasi VI use for the Wadi Tumilat region east of the Delta rather than for a single town. Tell el-Maskhuta, identified as Pithom/Succoth by Edouard Naville in 1883, proved more complicated under controlled excavation: the University of Toronto Wadi Tumilat Project (1978-1985) found a substantial Hyksos-era settlement, then no New Kingdom occupation levels and a roughly eleven-century gap before the site was resettled and fortified around the time of Necho II's canal works (c. 610-595 BC), continuing through the Persian period — a recognized problem for identifying it with the Exodus-era Succoth. Tell el-Retaba, about 13 km west in the same wadi, shows occupation from the Hyksos period through the seventh century BC with fortifications beginning in the early Nineteenth Dynasty, leading Egyptologists such as Kenneth Kitchen and James Hoffmeier to place the Ramesside Pithom/Tjeku there, with the name later migrating east to Maskhuta

Coordinates

30.5500° N, 31.9833° E

Scripture references

• Genesis 33:17
• Exodus 12:37
• Exodus 13:20
• Numbers 33:5-6
• Joshua 13:27
• Judges 8:5-16
• 1 Kings 7:46

On a modern map

Succoth today

Further reading

• Succoth (Bible) - Wikipedia
• Tell Deir 'Alla - Wikipedia