Editing Caphtor (section)

===Egyptian inscriptions===
The name ''k-p-t-ȝ-r''  is found written in hieroglyphics in a list of locations in the [[History of Ptolemaic Egypt|Ptolemaic]] [[temple of Kom Ombo]] in [[Upper Egypt]] and is regarded as a reference to Caphtor.

The reference to ''k-p-t-ȝ-r'' should not be confused with other inscriptions at the temple and from earlier sites mentioning a locality called ''Keftiu'' listed amongst lands to the northeast of Egypt and having different spelling and pronunciation, although it has been conjectured by some scholars that this is also a reference to Caphtor.<ref name="Strange"/> Attempts to identify Caphtor with Keftiu go back to the 19th century <ref>Steiner, ''From Minoan farmers to Roman traders: sidelights on the economy of ancient Crete'', 1999, Stuttgart, p.124</ref><ref>Dickinson, ''The Aegean Bronze age'', 1994. Cambridge University Press, pp.243-4</ref><ref>Roemer, ''Ancient perspectives on Egypt'', 2003, Routledge-Cavendish, p.10</ref> and argue that ''r'' changed to ''y'' in the Egyptian language.<ref>Bromiley, Geoffrey Williams, ''The international standard Bible encyclopedia'' / general ed.: Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1999, p.844</ref> However the name ''k-p-t-ȝ-r'' more closely resembling "Caphtor" is from the (late) Ptolemaic era and still has the "r" and references to "Keftiu" occur separately at the same site. Those arguing for the identification suggest that ''k-p-t-ȝ-r'' is an Egyptian transliteration of the Semitic form of the name and that "Keftiu" is the true Egyptian form.<ref name="Strange"/> Sayce had however already argued in the 19th century that the names in the text in which ''k-p-t-ȝ-r'' occurs were not transliterations of the Semitic forms. Other scholars have disagreed over whether this can be said for the occurrence of ''k-p-t-ȝ-r''.<ref name="Strange"/>

The equation of Keftiu with Caphtor commonly features in interpretations that equate Caphtor with Crete, Cyprus, or a locality in Anatolia. [[Jean Vercoutter]] in the 1950s had argued, based on an inscription of the tomb of [[Rekhmire]] that Keftiu could not be set apart from the "islands of the sea" which he identified as a reference to the [[Aegean Sea]]. However in 2003, Claude Vandersleyen pointed out that the term ''wedj wer'' (literally "great green") which Vercoutter had translated "the sea" actually refers to the vegetation growing on the banks of the Nile and in the Nile Delta, and that the text places Keftiu in the Nile Delta.<ref>Claude Vandersleyen, ''Keftiu: A Cautionary Note'', Oxford Journal of Archaeology, vol 22, issue 2, 2003</ref>

This issue is not settled though.  In Caphtor / Keftiu:  a New Investigation, John Strange argues that the late geographical lists referenced in the preceding paragraph cannot be taken at face value, as they appear to be "random" collections of antique place names, and contain other corruptions and duplicates.<ref name="Strange1980">{{cite book|author=John Strange|title=Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c9QUAAAAIAAJ&q=kpt3r&pg=PA43|year=1980|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=90-04-06256-4|page=43}}</ref>