Ostrakine

Ostrakine (Greek: Ὀστρακίνη or Latin: Ostracena) was an Ancient Egyptian city at a location that is known as El Felusiyat today.

Location

Ostrakine was located on the road between Alexandria and Gaza at Lake Bardawil, a saltwater lagoon near the Meditarranean coast of the northern Sinai.

History

Established as a harbour in the first century BC,^[1] near Sirbonis, the longtime border between Egypt and Syria,^[2] archaeological evidence suggests that Ostrakine was a centre of glass-making in the classical period.^[3] A bishopric during the Byzantine period, there is evidence of three Byzantine churches,^[4] and that the town remained important as a stop along the trade route in the early Muslim period.^[5]

Tradition

Ostrakine has traditionally been thought to be the site of the tomb of the prophet Habakkuk^[6] and the martyrdom of James the Less ^[7]

Madaba Map

Ostrakine is depicted on the Madaba map [3]

Notes

1. ^ Oked, Sarit, Patterns of the Transport Amphorae at Ostrakine During the 6th Century, ARAM Periodical Peeters Online Journal, 1996, Vol 8 No.1 [1]
2. ^ Mooren, Léon, Lake Serbonis and Sabkhat Bardaawill, Peeters Publishers, p. 474
3. ^ Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Sargalassos Archaeological Research Project, Glass as subject of study [2]
4. ^ Figueras, Pau, the Road Linking Palestine and Egypt along the Sinai Coast, The Madaba Mosaic Map retrieved 09-08-10
5. ^ Horden, Peregrine and Purcell, Nicholas, The Corrupting Sea, a Study of Mediterranean history, Wiley-Blackwell p. 171
6. ^ Figueras
7. ^ A religious encyclopædia: or, Dictionary of Biblical, historical, doctrinal and practical theology, New York: 1910, Funk & Wagnalls, p. 1140