Pi-HaHiroth (פִּי הַחִירֹתPī haḤīrōṯ), is the fourthstation of the Exodus mentioned inExodus 14:2. The fifth and sixth stationsMarah andElim are located on theRed Sea. The biblical booksExodus andNumbers refer to Pi-HaHiroth as the place where theIsraelites encamped betweenMigdol and the sea, oppositeBaal Zephon, while awaiting an attack by thePharaoh, prior tocrossing the Red Sea.[1]
SomeEgyptologists think the name reflects the Egyptianpr-ḥwt-ḥrt, a place mentioned inPapyrus Anastasis III.[2] In fact, part of the mystery can be resolved by understanding the initial syllable ′Pi,′ which corresponds to the Egyptian wordPr orPi, asHouse of such as in ′Pithom′ or ′Pi-Ramesses′. The next literary fragment ′Ha′ (ḥwt) would indicate the ′temple′, representing an Egyptian convention beginning with the hieroglyphicpr-ḥwt, “estate of the temple”, while the fact that the name ends with the goddess determinative indicates that the final element,ḥrt, istheophoric.[2]: 199
TheRevised Version of theBible at the first use of the name Pi-HaHiroth has a link to a footnote that says "Or, where the desert tracks begin".[3]
The Egyptologist David A. Falk suggests that Pi-HaHiroth was located somewhere on the way from theSea of Reeds (pȜ ṯwfy) towardsPi-Ramesses, based on the description of the site's location inPapyrus Anastasis III.[4]Strong's Concordance simply locates Pi-HaHiroth as 'a place on the eastern border of Egypt'.[5]