apr 1, 455 BC - Sanballet in Elephatine Papyri

Description:

Wikipedia contributors. (2026, March 9). Sanballat the Horonite. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:45, March 24, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanballat_the_Horonite&oldid=1342602853


Sanballat the Horonite (Biblical Hebrew: סַנְבַלַּט, romanized: Sanḇallaṭ), or Sanballat I, was a Samarian leader, official of the Achaemenid Empire, and contemporary of Nehemiah, the governor of Yehud province, who lived in the mid-to-late 5th century BC. He and his family are mentioned in the contemporary Elephantine papyri and ostraca as well as the Book of Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible.

_____

Neh 2

7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. 9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.

Added to timeline:

Date: