Editing Arish (section)

== Etymology ==
There are several hypothetical possibilities for the origin of the modern name of the city, which is first mentioned under it in the 9th century. One possibility is that the name might be an Arab phonetic transcription of a pre-existing toponym. However, there is no name that fully qualifies as such, apart from the Ariza ({{Langx|grc|Αριζα}}) of [[Hierocles (author of Synecdemus)|Hierokles]], which is difficult to interpret.

Another possibility is that the name el-Arish was given to a city that already existed in the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period. However, no Arab source mentions such a change of name for any city in the region, and there is no plausible explanation for this change.

A third possibility is that the name el-Arish was created when a new settlement of some "huts" ({{Langx|ar|عرش|translit=ʕarš}}) was established in the [[7th century|7th]] or [[8th century]]. It is possible that the city of Rinokoloura fell into ruins in the first half of the 7th century, and a new community arose that the new inhabitants started to call el-Arish, after their poor living conditions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Verreth |first=Herbert |title=The northern Sinai from the 7th century BC till the 7th century AD. A guide to the sources |publisher=Leuven |year=2006 |volume=1 |pages=322–325}}</ref>

M. Ignace de Rossi derived the Arabic name from the Egyptian {{langx|cop|ϫⲟⲣϣⲁ(ⲓ)|translit=Jorsha|translation=noseless|label=none}}, an analogue of Greek Rinocorura.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rossii |first1=Ignatii |title=Etymologiae Aegyptiacae |date=1808 |location=Rome |pages=16–17}}</ref>

A Coptic-Arabic colophon dating to [[1616]] mentions the writer "Solomon of Shorpo, son of Michael, from the city of Mohonon" (ⲥⲱⲗⲟⲙⲟⲛ ⲛϣⲱⲣⲡⲟ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲓ ⲙⲓⲭⲁⲏⲗ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ ⲙⲟϩⲟⲛⲟⲛ); in the Arabic version, the writer is identified as being "of el-Arish".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hebbelynck |first=Adolphe |title=Codices Coptici Vaticani |publisher=Vatican Library |year=1937 |location=Vatican |page=92}}</ref> Timm raises the possibility that ''Shorpo'' ({{Langx|cop|ϣⲱⲣⲡⲟ}}) may be another name for el-Arish.