RAAMSES, RAMESES . One of the treasure cities built by the Israelites in Egypt, and the starting-point of the Exodus ( Exodus 1:11; Exodus 12:37 , Numbers 33:3; Numbers 33:5 ). The site is not quite certain, but it was probably one of the cities called in Egyp. P-Ra’messe , House of Ramesse,’ after Ramesses ii. In Genesis 47:11 Joseph, by Pharaoh’s command, gives to Jacob’s family ‘a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses.’ It thus lay in the Land of Goshen (wh. see), and is to be looked for in the first place in the Wady Tumilat. Petrle identifies it with Tell Rotab , where he has found sculptures of the age of Ramesses ii.
F. Ll. Griffith.