Naville's
skillful direction, placed all these speculations in quite a new light.
The city under the mounds proved to be none other than Pithom, the
"store" or "treasure city" which the Children of Israel "built for
Pharaoh" (Exod. i. 11). Its character as a store place or granary is
seen in its construction; for the greater part of the area is covered
with strongly built chambers, without doors, suitable for the storing of
grain, which would be introduced through trap doors in the floor
above, of which the ends of the beams are still visible. These curious
chambers, unique in their appearance, are constructed of large, well
made bricks, sometimes mixed with straw, sometimes without it, dried in
the sun, and laid with mortar, with great regularity and precision. The
walls are 10 ft. thick, and the thickness of the inclosing wall which
runs round the whole city is more than 20 ft. In one corner was the
temple, dedicated to the god Tum, and hence called Pe-tum or Pithom, the
"Abode of Tum." Only a few statues, groups, and tablets (some of which
have been presented to the British Museum) remained to testify to its
name and purpose; the temple itself was finally destroyed when the
Romans turned Pithom into a camp, as is shown by the position of the
limestone fragments and of the Roman bricks.
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