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Egypt
Ezekiel 30:18 “At Tehaphnehes the day shall also be darkened, When I break the yokes of Egypt there. And her arrogant strength shall cease in her”
Egypt’s Hebrew name is Mitsrayim H4714 – miṣrayim. Tahpanhes is an Egyptian city mentioned by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel (as Tehaphnehes). It’s prominent enough to be mentioned along Memphis (Jeremiah 2:16), and served as a city of refuge for the Judeans who had fled the Babylonian invasion (Jeremiah 43:7-9, 44:1). The name Tahpanhes is Egyptian and probably means the same as the name Tahpenes, namely “Head Of The Age” or rather “Beginning Of Earth As We Know It”, although other translations like from the Hebrew word H8471 – tᵊḥap̄nᵊḥēs, say it means “thou will fill hands with pity”. It was known to the Greeks as Daphnai and has been identified with the modern Tell Defenneh, situated on the Nile in the northeast Delta.
Both Jeremiah (who was forced to go to Egypt) and Ezekiel in Babylon, YHWH foretold the destruction of Egypt, including Tahpanhes, by the Babylonians (Jeremiah 46:14, Ezekiel 30:18), which was around 586BC. This is a period known as the “Late Period”, which began around this time and lasted until around 332BC with Ancient Egypt’s glory finally coming to an end during the Wars of Alexander the Great.
Jeremiah found himself in Tahpanhes, with the following Scriptures in Jeremiah 43:8-10, “Then the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, “Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes; and say to them, ‘Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them.”
According to history and escavations during 1886, a platform of brickwork, which has been tentatively described as the pavement at the entry of Pharaoh’s palace, has been discovered at Tahpanhes. It is said that once the Greeks took over, only the deserted remains of the docks and buildings were visible.
