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 Mediterranean 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

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
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
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