Pathros

Pathros is the biblical name for Upper Egypt (the Thebaid of Greek geographers), the long southern region of the Nile valley extending from Memphis toward the first cataract at Aswan. The name likely derives from the Egyptian Pa-to-res, meaning the southern land. Pathros is mentioned in Isaiah 11:11 as one of the distant lands from which God will gather the scattered remnant of Israel in the great future restoration.

The prophet Jeremiah addressed significant communities of Jewish exiles who had fled to Egypt after Jerusalem's fall, specifically targeting those who had settled in Pathros and continued to worship the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 44:1, 15). Ezekiel prophesied judgment on Egypt including Pathros (Ezekiel 29:14; 30:14), declaring it would become a lowly kingdom. The Table of Nations in Genesis 10:14 identifies Pathrusim — inhabitants of Pathros — as a son of Mizraim (Egypt), establishing the region's place in the genealogical record of nations.