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| == Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_81484" /> ==
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| <p> a city of Egypt, now called Assouan, situated at its southern extremity. Ezekiel 29:10 , describing the desolation to be brought upon Egypt, says, "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, [[I]] will make the land of Egypt utterly desolate, from the tower of [[Syene]] even to the border of Cush," or [[Arabia]] or, as some read it, "from [[Migdol]] to Syene," implying, according to either version of the passage, the whole length of the country from north to south. The latitude of Syene, according to [[Bruce]] is 24 0' </p> <p> 45'; that of Alexandria, 31 11' 33"; difference 7 10' 48", equal to four hundred and thirty geographical miles on the meridian, or about five hundred British miles; but the real length of the valley of Egypt, as it follows the windings of the Nile, is full six hundred miles. </p> | | Syene <ref name="term_62665" /> |
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| | <p> is represented by the present Aswam or Essudn, which exhibits few remains of the ancient city, except some granite columns of a comparatively late date and the shrine of a small temple. This building has been supposed by late travelers to have contained the famous well of [[Strabo]] (Geog. 17 p. 817), into which the rays of a vertical sun were reported to fall at the summer solstice a circumstance, says the geographer, that proves the place "to lie under the tropic, the gnomon at midday casting no shadow." But although excavations have been carried on considerably below the pavement, which has been turned up in search of the well it was thought to cover, no other results have been obtained than that this shrine was a very improbable site for such an observatory, even if it ever existed; and that Strabo was strangely misinformed, since the [[Egyptians]] themselves could never in his time have imagined this city to lie under the tropic; for they were by no means ignorant of astronomy, and [[Syene]] was, even in the age of [[Hipparchus]] (B.C. 140, when the obliquity of the ecliptic was about 23 51' 20"), very far north of that line. The belief that Syene was in the tropic was, however, very general in the time of the Romans, and is noticed by Seneca, Lucan, Pliny, and others. But, as, Sir J. G. Wilkinson remarks, "a well would have been a bad kind of observatory if the sun had been really vertical; and if Strabo saw the meridian sun in a well, he might be sure he was not in the tropic"(Mod. Egypt and Thebes, 2, 286). The same writer adds," Unfortunately, the observations of the ancient Greek writers on the obliquity of the ecliptic are not so satisfactory as might be wished; nor are we enabled, especially as La Grange's theory of the annual change of obliquity being variable is allowed to be correct, to ascertain the time when [[Aswan]] might have been within the tropic, a calculation or traditional fact in which, perhaps, originated-the erroneous assertion of Strabo." The latitude of Aswan is fixed by Wilkinson at 240 5' 30", and the longitude is usually given as 32 55'. </p> |
| == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_37697" /> ==
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| <p> Properly [[Seveneh]] or Sebennytus in the eastern delta ''(the '' Ηeracleopolis '' of Manetho, called from '' Ηercules '' the "local god")'' , meaning "a key or opening", a Syene [[Egyptian]] town. "From Migdol to Syene," i.e. from the fortress near [[Pelusium]] on the [[N.]] of [[Suez]] to Syene in the far [[S.]] toward [[Ethiopia]] ( Ezekiel 29:10; Ezekiel 30:6); not as [[Kjv]] "from the tower of Syene." The shepherd kings had Syene for their chief city, from whence they are called Sebennyte Ρharaohs . </p>
| | == References == |
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| == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_17092" /> ==
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| <p> [[A]] city on the southern frontiers of Egypt, towards Ethiopia, between [[Thebes]] and the cataracts of the Nile, and now called Assouan. Pliny says it stands in a peninsula on the eastern shore of the Nile; that is was mile in circumference, and had a Rome garrison. "From Migdol," the tower, "unto Syene," denotes the whole length of Egypt from north to south, Ezekiel 29:10; 30:6 . Few remains of the ancient city are now extant. In its vicinity are quarries of the Egyptian granite called Syenite, which furnished the material for numerous obelisks and colossal statues. </p>
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| == Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_68958" /> ==
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| <p> Town in the south of Egypt, bordering on Ethiopia. Ezekiel 29:10; Ezekiel 30:6 . The expression, 'from the tower of Syene,' is better translated 'from Migdol to Syene,' even unto the border of Ethiopia, as it is in the <i> margin. </i> The word is really [[Seveneh,]] as in the [[R.V.]] It is now called <i> Assuan, </i> about 24 [[N,]] 33 [[E.]] </p>
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| == Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_75109" /> ==
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| <p> '''Sye'ne''' Properly, Seventh, a town of Egypt, on the frontier of Cush, or Ethiopia, Ezekiel 29:10; Ezekiel 30:6, represented by the present ''Aruan'' or ''Es-Suan'' . </p>
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| == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_33703" /> ==
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| Ezekiel 29:10 30:6
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| == Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_54106" /> ==
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| <p> <strong> [[Syene]] </strong> . See Seveneh. </p>
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| == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_62661" /> ==
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| <p> (Heb. Seveneh, סְוֵנֵה; Sept. Συήνη; Vulg. ''Syene),'' a town of Egypt on the frontier of Cush, or Ethiopia. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the desolation of Egypt "from Migdol to Seveneh, even unto the border of Cush" (29, 10), and of its people being slain "from Migdol to Seveneh" (30, 6). Migdol was oh the eastern-border, (See Mignol), and Seveneb is thus rightly identified with the town of Syene, ''wihichi'' was always the last town of Egypt on the south, though at one time included in the name Nubia. Its ancient Egyptian name is ''Sun'' (Brugsch, ''Geogr. Inschrifit.'' 1, 155, tab. 1, ''No.'' 55), preserved in the [[Coptic]] ''Sonan, Senon,'' and the Arabic ''Aswdn.'' The modern town is slightly to the north of the old site, which is marked by an interesting early [[Arab]] burial-ground, covered with remarkable tombstones having inscriptions in the Cufic character. Champollion suggests the Coptic derivation sa "causative," and buen or ouen, "to open" as if it signified the opening or key of Egypt (L'Egypte, 1, 161-166), and this is the meaning of the hieroglyphic name. It is the natural boundary of Egypt at the south (Pttolem, 9:5; Pliny, Hist. Nat. 5, 10; 12:8 Strabo, p. 787, 815), being situated at the foot of the first cataract on the Nile (Murray, Handbook for Egypt, p. 463). See Jour. Sac. Lit, Oct. 1851, p. 158. (See [[Egypt]]). </p>
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| == Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_16718" /> ==
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| <p> Sye´ne, a city of Egypt, situated in the Thebaïs, on the southern extremity of the land towards Ethiopia. Ezekiel, describing the desolation to be brought upon Egypt through its whole extent, says, 'Thus saith the Lord, [[I]] will make the Land of Egypt utterly desolate, from the tower of Syene even to the border of [[Cush]] (Arabia),' or, as some read, 'from Migdol to Syene,' implying, according to either version of the passage, the whole length of the country from north to south. Syene is represented by the present Assouan, which exhibits few remains of the ancient city, except some granite columns of a comparatively late date, and the sekos of a small temple. </p>
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| ==References == | |
| <references> | | <references> |
| | | <ref name="term_62665"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/syene+(2) Syene from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref> |
| <ref name="term_81484"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/syene Syene from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref> | |
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| <ref name="term_37697"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/syene Syene from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_17092"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/syene Syene from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_68958"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/syene Syene from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_75109"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/syene Syene from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_33703"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/syene Syene from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_54106"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/syene Syene from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_62661"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/syene Syene from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_16718"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/syene Syene from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref>
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| </references> | | </references> |
Syene [1]
is represented by the present Aswam or Essudn, which exhibits few remains of the ancient city, except some granite columns of a comparatively late date and the shrine of a small temple. This building has been supposed by late travelers to have contained the famous well of Strabo (Geog. 17 p. 817), into which the rays of a vertical sun were reported to fall at the summer solstice a circumstance, says the geographer, that proves the place "to lie under the tropic, the gnomon at midday casting no shadow." But although excavations have been carried on considerably below the pavement, which has been turned up in search of the well it was thought to cover, no other results have been obtained than that this shrine was a very improbable site for such an observatory, even if it ever existed; and that Strabo was strangely misinformed, since the Egyptians themselves could never in his time have imagined this city to lie under the tropic; for they were by no means ignorant of astronomy, and Syene was, even in the age of Hipparchus (B.C. 140, when the obliquity of the ecliptic was about 23 51' 20"), very far north of that line. The belief that Syene was in the tropic was, however, very general in the time of the Romans, and is noticed by Seneca, Lucan, Pliny, and others. But, as, Sir J. G. Wilkinson remarks, "a well would have been a bad kind of observatory if the sun had been really vertical; and if Strabo saw the meridian sun in a well, he might be sure he was not in the tropic"(Mod. Egypt and Thebes, 2, 286). The same writer adds," Unfortunately, the observations of the ancient Greek writers on the obliquity of the ecliptic are not so satisfactory as might be wished; nor are we enabled, especially as La Grange's theory of the annual change of obliquity being variable is allowed to be correct, to ascertain the time when Aswan might have been within the tropic, a calculation or traditional fact in which, perhaps, originated-the erroneous assertion of Strabo." The latitude of Aswan is fixed by Wilkinson at 240 5' 30", and the longitude is usually given as 32 55'.
References
