Caphtor
Caphtor (Hebrew: כפתור) is a locality mentioned in the Bible and related literature. The people of Caphtor are called Caphtorites (or Caphtorim) and are named as a division of the ancient Egyptians. Caphtor is also mentioned in ancient inscriptions from Egypt, Mari and Ugarit. Traditional Hebrew sources place Caphtor in the region of Pelusium. Other sources associate Caphtor with localities such as Cilicia, Cyprus, or Crete.
Traditional accounts
The Caphtorites are mentioned in the Table of Nations, Genesis 10:13-14 as one of several divisions of Mizraim (Egypt). This is reiterated in 1Chronicles 1:11-12 as well as later histories such as Josephus' Jewish Antiquities i.vi.2, which placed them explicitly in Egypt and the Sefer haYashar 10 which describes them living by the Nile.
Josephus (Jewish Antiquities I, vi) using extra-Biblical accounts provides context for the migration from Caphtor to Philistia. He records that the Caphtorites were one of the Egyptian peoples whose cities were destroyed during the Ethiopic War.
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