PI-HAHIROTH pī hə hī’ rŏth (פְּנֵ֣י הַֽחִירֹ֔ת, perhaps Sem. popular etymology, mouth of the canals; conjectured Egyp. original, pr Ḥrt, House of [the Goddess] Heret; HAHIROTH [Num 33:8]). A place on the Sea of Reeds (Heb. יַמ־ס֑וּף, traditionally tr. “Red Sea,” e.g. Exod 13:18, KJV, RSV) near Baal-zephon (Exod 14:2, 9), where Pharaoh was miraculously defeated. Its identification is dependent upon one’s general interpretation of the route of the Exodus (q.v.).

One view would identify the Sea of Reeds with Lake Sirbonis and place Pi-hahiroth near the Mediterranean Sea on Lake Sirbonis. This theory is supported by the facts that other military disasters have occurred there and that Mons Casius on the Mediterranean may be Baal-zephon (q.v.). A second theory, keeping the Hebrews in the S to avoid the way of the Philistines (Exod 13:17), places Pi-hahiroth just N of modern Suez. At present, this view attracts relatively little support. Third, it may be placed near modern Tell Defneh (i.e. Classical Daphne; Egyp. Tahpanhes) on the assumption that Baal-zephon is Tahpanhes. The evidence for this, a reference to “Baal-zephon and all the gods of Tahpanhes,” is less than conclusive since Baal-zephon was also worshiped elsewhere in Egypt. Nevertheless, this view seems more compatible with contemporary identifications of Raamses and Pithom (q.v.). Other identifications also have been offered.

Bibliography “Exodus and Journey to Canaan,” HDB (1900); W. F. Albright, BASOR, CIX (1948), 16; E. G. Kraeling, Rand McNally Bible Atlas (1956), 104-107; “Encampment by the Sea,” NBD (1962); “Pi-Hahiroth,” IDB (1962).