CASIPHIA kə sĭf’ ĭ ə, Heb. כָּסִפְיָ֖א, an unidentified town from which Ezra summoned Levites to return from Babylon and serve the newly restored Jewish community in Jerusalem. The name appears only in Ezra 8:17 twice. However, folk etymologies led to many variants, LXX A & B, Gr. ἐν ἀργυρίῳ τοῦ τόποῦ, “in the silver place”; Gr. ἐν τῷ τοπῳ τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου, “in the place of the treasure” (1 Esd 8:45). The name has been a rich source of Jewish traditions, and other passages of the OT were related to it by the rabbis. The Ger. archeologist H. Winckler attempted to identify the site with ancient Ctesiphon but without success.

Bibliography H. Winckler, “Kasiphja-Ktesiphon,” Altorientalische Forschungen, 2, Bd. III, (1898-1899), 509-530; W. Rudolph, Ezra und Nehemiah (1949), 83ff.