Zoan

Zoan was an ancient Egyptian city where God performed miracles through Moses; it is probably to be identified with Tanis .

Zoan was an ancient city of Egypt, mentioned in several contexts in the Bible. It was one of the cities built by the Israelites during their enslavement in Egypt (Num.13.22). The fields of Zoan were the site of God's miracles and mighty acts during the time of Moses (Psa.78.12,43). The princes of Zoan are described as fools, unable to give wise counsel to Pharaoh (Isa.19.11,13). Zoan is also mentioned as a place where the rebellious Israelites sent messengers, seeking help from Egypt rather than trusting in God (Isa.30.4). Ezekiel prophesied that Zoan would be in terror and face God's judgment (Ezk.30.14). Zoan is most likely to be identified with Tanis, an important city in the Nile Delta region of ancient Egypt. It served as a capital during the 21st and 22nd dynasties.

(Old Egypt. Sant= “stronghold,” the modern San). A city on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, called by the Greeks Tanis. It was built seven years after Hebron in Palestine (Num. 13:22). This great and important city was the capital of the Hyksos, or Shepherd kings, who ruled Egypt for more than 500 years. It was the frontier town of Goshen. Here Pharaoh was holding his court at the time of his various interviews with Moses and Aaron. “No trace of Zoan exists; Tanis was built over it, and city after city has been built over the ruins of that” (Harper, Bible and Modern Discovery). Extensive mounds of ruins, the wreck of the ancient city, now mark its site (Isa. 19:11, 13; 30:4; Ezek. 30:14). “The whole constitutes one of the grandest and oldest ruins in the world.”

This city was also called “the Field of Zoan” (Ps. 78:12, 43) and “the Town of Rameses” (q.v.), because the oppressor rebuilt and embellished it, probably by the forced labour of the Hebrews, and made it his northern capital.