Succoth
Succoth is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Sinai in modern-day Egypt. Known today as Tell el Maskhuta. It appears across 4 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Succoth in the Sinai region holds an honored place as the first encampment of Israel after the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:37; 13:20; Numbers 33:5–6). After the catastrophic night of the Passover, when the firstborn of Egypt died and Pharaoh finally released the Israelites, the vast company of some 600,000 men, along with women, children, and "a mixed multitude" (Exodus 12:38), moved from Ramesses to Succoth. This was the first steps of the great redemptive journey that would define Israel's identity as a liberated people. Succoth thus marks the boundary between slavery and freedom, between Egypt and the wilderness road to Sinai. The name itself likely derives from the Hebrew word for "booths" or "shelters" (sukkot), echoing the improvisational dwellings the departing Israelites may have constructed. The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) later commanded in Leviticus 23:33–43 was intended to commemorate precisely this wilderness experience of living in temporary shelters. Succoth therefore stands as a memorial site in Israel's liturgical memory, a place where a nation was born in the act of God's deliverance.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of Exodus-era Succoth with Tell el-Maskhuta in the eastern Nile Delta region of Wadi Tumilat has been a subject of considerable scholarly debate. Early excavations by Édouard Naville in 1883 uncovered inscriptions identifying the site as Tjeku, the Egyptian name possibly underlying the biblical Succoth. However, significant pottery and architectural evidence from Tell el-Maskhuta indicates primary occupation in the Saite and Ptolemaic periods rather than the Late Bronze Age, complicating the identification. Some scholars propose Tell er-Retaba nearby as a better candidate for an earlier stratum. The region's strategic position along the eastern frontier of Egypt and its connection to Ramesside building projects remains archaeologically significant.
Verse Appearances (4)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]