Throughout the biblical period, Egypt was an important destination for emigrants from the land of Israel. Reports of Jewish settlements in the land of the Nile come to us from the 6th century B.C.E. onwards. A prophecy in Isa. 19.18 announces: “there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan”. Actual information on the knowledge of Hebrew in Egypt is scarce, however, and mostly negative. The data indicate that Jews living in Egypt were thoroughly acculturated, at…