Caphtor
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Caphtor is the land of the Biblical Caphtorim (Egyptian Keftiu, Mari Kaptara), said in Gen. 10:13-14 to descend from Ham's son Mizraim (Egypt). It is commonly identified with Crete (Hertz 1936), although it has also been linked to Cyprus, and the nearby coasts of Anatolia. By some accounts, both Cyprus and Crete together were known as "the isles of the Caphtorim".
The name keftiu is found written in hieroglyphics in the temple of Kom Ombo in Upper Egypt and possibly in the Egyptian tomb of Rekhmire.
The Caphtorim arrived in Philistia from Caphtor following a catastrophe that destroyed their homeland. Biblically, they are referred to as a remnant.
In the Biblical tradition, peoples with cultural roots in Egypt populated the land where they developed a new identity and had even branched into the Gaza Strip as the Philistines by the time the Hebrews developed in Canaan under the biblical patriarch Abraham.
The name means chaplet or crown.
References
- Hertz J.H. (1936) The Pentateuch and Haftoras. Deuteronomy. Oxford University Press, London.
- Deuteronomy 2:23
- Book of Jeremiah 47:4
- Book of Amos 9:7