Talk:Elephantine

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ancient Egypt, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Egyptological subjects on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Ancient EgyptWikipedia:WikiProject Ancient EgyptTemplate:WikiProject Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt articles

Mid

This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

WikiProject Ancient Egypt to-do list:

Needed articles.

We should have an article on every pyramid and every nome in Ancient Egypt. I'm sure the rest of us can think of other articles we should have.

Cleanup.

To start with, most of the general history articles badly need attention. And I'm told that at least some of the dynasty articles need work. Any other candidates?

Standardize the Chronology.

A boring task, but the benefit of doing it is that you can set the dates !(e.g., why say Khufu lived 2589-2566? As long as you keep the length of his reign correct, or cite a respected source, you can date it 2590-2567 or 2585-2563)

Stub sorting

Anyone? I consider this probably the most unimportant of tasks on Wikipedia, but if you believe it needs to be done . . .

Data sorting.

This is a project I'd like to take on some day, & could be applied to more of Wikipedia than just Ancient Egypt. Take one of the standard authorities of history or culture -- Herotodus, the Elder Pliny, the writings of Breasted or Kenneth Kitchen, & see if you can't smoothly merge quotations or information into relevant articles. Probably a good exercise for someone who owns one of those impressive texts, yet can't get access to a research library.

Africa: Egypt / Sudan Low‑importance

	Africa portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Africa, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Africa on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AfricaWikipedia:WikiProject AfricaTemplate:WikiProject AfricaAfrica articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Egypt portal This article is supported by WikiProject Egypt (assessed as Low-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject Sudan (assessed as Low-importance).

Islands

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Islands, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of islands on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.IslandsWikipedia:WikiProject IslandsTemplate:WikiProject IslandsIslands articles

Jewish history Mid‑importance

	Judaism portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Jewish history, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Jewish history on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Jewish historyWikipedia:WikiProject Jewish historyTemplate:WikiProject Jewish historyJewish history-related articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Pronunciation[edit]

When I was a grad student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I believe we usually pronounced this name like the common adjective elephantine. Now I am at the Oriental Institute in Chicago, and the Egyptologists here generally pronounce it ELL-luh-funt-TEE-nee. I can see arguments for a valid pronunciation ELL-luh-funt-TIE-nee as well. Now obviously the OI pronunciation has the backing of professional experts, but I was wondering if anyone had data as to how Egyptologists (as well as archaelogists, classicists, semiticists and other professionals who might need to use the name) in other parts of the English-speaking world pronounce this name. --Iustinus 18:33, 26 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I live in Aswan. I interact with Egyptian archaeologists in both English & Arabic, but not with foreign Egyptologists. I also see foreign tourists & local tour guides a fair bit. I don't think I've ever heard any pronunciation other than /ˌɛləfʌnˈtiːn/ ELL-luh-fun-TEEN. I don't know how European & American archaeologists & Egyptologists generally pronounce the name, but I was surprised to see the pronunciation given on this page. I'm also perplexed by the Egyptian Arabic name given: In Arabic, people usually say جزيرة أسوان Jizīrit Aswān: Aswan Island. Pathawi (talk) 15:35, 30 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Well of Eratosthenes[edit]

The article claimed previously that the Well of Eratosthênes was "probably the nilometer" on the Elephantine island. Eratosthenes supposedly used the well in his calculation of the circumference of the Earth. The claim seems to be quite common and it could be a misinterpretations of the reference by Strabo, and the well or nilometer used by Eratosthenes was probably in Syene (Aswan), not in Elephantine. Neither of the nilometers are suitable for the purpose. The old version of the article referenced an actual scientific article from 1914, [1], which is probably wrong about the location of the well as the picture in the article does not appear to be neither of the two nilometers. The picture may be mislabeled and the article wrong. Magi42 (talk) 19:01, 25 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Shape of small islands are unknowable?[edit]

What would be so hard about realizing the shape of an island 1200 meters long? You could tell it was lenghty and narrow easy enough, and you could realize one side is concave, the other convex; the point on the north end would be obvious; hence the tusk shape. Anyone could draw a map in the dirt and say Huh, looks like a tusk. But these people surveyed their land, measured and built pyramids, etc. It's ridiculous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Friendly person (talk • contribs) 02:27, 15 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Khnum, a Ram-headed deity, is reminiscent of the blowing the Ram horn at Rosh Hashana[edit]

Boy, this is pretty far fetched. As the article states, this was an outpost manned only in part by Israelite (Jewish would be an anachronism) soldiers far from their home. To ascribe a local deviation in worship to the Israelite community at home, which would have no reason at all to worship a foreign idol, is truly a stretch of the imagination. Perhaps you intended to imply that these soldiers might have been drawn to worshipping a Ram's headed idol, because it reminded them of the shofar blowing on the New Year. That would seem possible, but not a very important point to emphasize. Pollira (talk) 02:45, 10 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: 311_History of Ancient Egypt[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 9 January 2024 and 22 March 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Lunabean0204 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Starkid25, GabrielleGutierrez.

— Assignment last updated by Johnstoncl (talk) 18:16, 2 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]