Bible Locations

Syene was a city on the southern border of Egypt, at the first cataract of the Nile, now Aswan. It marked Egypt's southern limit, just as Migdol marked the north. Ezekiel 29:10 says, "I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste from Migdol to Aswan, as far as the border of Cush," and Ezekiel 30:6 repeats "from Migdol to Aswan." Isaiah 49:12 says, "See, they will come from afar, some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan," picturing exiles returning from distant places. Some translations read "Sinim." Syene was a source of red granite used for obelisks and statues, and the Unfinished Obelisk still lies in a quarry there. On the nearby island of Elephantine, a Jewish military colony lived in the 400s BC, and papyri found there mention their temple of Yahu.