PITHOM . One of the ‘treasure cities’ built by the Israelites in Egypt ( Exodus 1:11 etc.). It is the Egyptian Petôm (‘House of Etôm’), the site of which is now marked by Tell el-Maskhuta in the Wady Tumilat. The researches of Naville and Petrie indicate that the city dates as far back as the 12th Dyn., and was occupied down to very late times. It was capital of the 8th nome of Lower Egypt, and in it was worshipped a form of the sun-god under the name of Etôm.
F. Ll. Griffith.