Editing Land of Goshen (section)

==Identification==
{{Location map+|Egypt|width=200|caption=Locations of [[Pithom]], [[Avaris|Raamses]] and On ([[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]) in northern Egypt|places=
{{Location map~|Egypt|
lat_dir=N|lat_deg=30|lat_min=47|lat_sec=00|
lon_dir=E|lon_deg=31|lon_min=50|lon_sec=00|label=Pithom|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Egypt|
lat_dir=N|lat_deg=30|lat_min=33|lat_sec=07|
lon_dir=E|lon_deg=32|lon_min=05|lon_sec=55|label=Raamses|position=top}}
{{Location map~|Egypt|
lat_dir=N|lat_deg=30|lat_min=07|lat_sec=46|
lon_dir=E|lon_deg=31|lon_min=17|lon_sec=20|label=On|position=bottom}}}}
In 1885, [[Édouard Naville]] identified Goshen as the 20th [[nome (Egypt)|nome]] of Egypt, located in the eastern Delta, and known as "Gesem" or "Kesem" during the [[Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt]] (672–525 BCE). It covered the western end of the [[Wadi Tumilat]], the eastern end being the district of Succoth, which had [[Pithom]] as its main town, extended north as far as the ruins of [[Pi-Ramesses]] (the "land of Rameses"), and included both crop land and grazing land.{{sfn|Van Seters|2001|pp=267-269}}

The scholars Isaac Rabinowitz, Israel Ephʿal, Jan Retsö, and David F. Graf identify the land of Goshen with the parts of the Qedarite kingdom of "Arabia" located to the east of the Nile Delta and around Pithom, and which became known to ancient Egyptians as {{transliteration|egy|Gsm}} ({{lang|egy|{{script|Egyp|'''𓎤𓊃𓅓𓏏𓊖'''}}}}){{sfn|Van Seters|2001|pages=267-269}} and to Jews as the {{transliteration|he|ʾEreṣ Gōšen}} ({{lang|he|אֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן}}), that is the {{lit|Land of Gešem}},{{sfn|Retsö|2013|pp=300-301}} after either the Qedarite king Gešem{{sfn|Retsö|2013|pp=250-251}}{{sfn|Ephʿal|1984|pp=210-214}} or after his dynasty.{{sfn|Ephʿal|1984|pp=210-214}} Although the scholar [[John Van Seters]] has opposed the identification of ʾEreṣ Gōšen with the Qedarite territories in eastern Egypt based on claims that the Qedarites never ruled the region of the Wādī Ṭumīlāt,{{sfn|Van Seters|2001|pp=267-269}} the discovery in the Wādī Ṭumīlāt region of Qedarite remains, such as a shrine to the goddess [[Al-Lat|al-Lāt]], makes Van Seters's opposition to this identification untenable.{{sfn|Rabinowitz|1956}}{{sfn|Ephʿal|1984|pp=210-214}}{{sfn|Graf|1997|p=223}}{{sfn|Retsö|2013|pp=300-301}}

The scholars [[Sarah Israelit Groll|Sarah I. Groll]], [[Manfred Bietak]] and Mark Janzen reject any connection between the Land of Goshen and the territories of the Qedarite king Gešem, proposing instead that the biblical placename is related to the lake ''gsm'' mentioned in ''Papyrus Anastasi IV''. In their view, the biblical land should be identified with the western part of the Wādī Ṭumīlāt with its large overflow lake.{{sfn|Groll|1998|p=190}}{{sfn|Bietak|2015|p=22}}{{sfn|Janzen|2024|pp=342-345}}