Rameses (Place) — Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

Place (also called Ra’amses or Ramses) mentioned with Pithom in Exodus 1:11 (KJB “Raamses”) as one of the locations where the Hebrews were engaged in a building program for the pharaoh. Here they were afflicted with heavy burdens by the pharaoh’s officers. In due course they escaped their oppression and set out for the Promised Land (Ex 12:37; Nm 33:3). The identification of this place and the period is important for establishing the date of the exodus from Egypt.

Show passage in OET: EXO 1:11

OET-RV EXO 1:11

11 Then they appointed overseers to work them in slave gangs, and using them as forced labour, they built the store cities at Piton and Ra’meses for Par’oh (Pharaoh).

OET-LV EXO 1:11

11 And_they _appointed on/upon/above_him/it overseers _of slave _gangs so _as to_afflict _it with_their _forced _of_labour and_he/it _built cities _of stores for_Parˊoh DOM Pithom and_DOM Raˊməşēş.

Show passage in OET: EXO 12:37

OET-RV EXO 12:37

37 Then the Israelis walked from Ra’meses toward Sukot—about 600,000 strong men on foot, not counting women and children.

OET-LV EXO 12:37

37 And_ the _people _of Yisrā^ʼēl/(Israel) _they _set _out from_Raˊməşēş to_Şukkōt were_about_six hundred(s) thousand foot _soldier[s] the_men apart_beside from_little _one[s].

Show passage in OET: NUM 33:3

OET-RV NUM 33:3

3 The day after they celebrated the ‘pass-over’ (around the end of March), they left Ra’meses city, raising one fist in full view of all Mitsrayim.

OET-LV NUM 33:3

3 And_they _set _out from_Raˊməşēş in_month (the)_first on_the_fif- teen day of_month (the)_first from_the _next _day _of the _passover the _people _of Yisrā^ʼēl/(Israel) they _went _out with_a _hand raised to_the _eyes _of all _of Miʦrayim.

Jump to OET EXO 1:11 section.

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Jump to OET NUM 33:3 section.

The great Ramses II (c. 1290–1224 BC) built extensively in the east Delta region. The ambitious pharaoh determined to add a center of his creation, using as a nucleus the old family seat of Avaris, where his father had built a summer palace. On the north side of Avaris, he built a majestic palace that he named Pirameses. The location of its site is much debated, having been variously located at Pelusim (on the Mediterranean Sea) and at Tanis (or Zoan). This latter suggestion is now rejected since the stonework was reused material taken from elsewhere and not original. However, 19 miles (30.6 kilometers) south of Tanis, near the town of Qantir, considerable remains of a palace commenced by Seti I, with an adjacent glazing factory, dwellings of princes and high officials, and traces of a temple and public audience halls, are now recognized as the site of Ra’amses (Pirameses). The old Hyksos center was destroyed when these foreigners were expelled early in the 18th dynasty (c. 1552–1306 BC). The place was then abandoned but later rebuilt under the 19th dynasty. Ramses II lavishly adorned his father’s palace and established nearby a marshaling place for his chariots, a mustering place for his infantry, and a mooring place for his ships.