1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pelusium

PELUSIUM, an ancient city and port of Egypt, now representedby two large mounds close to the coast and the edge ofthe desert, 20 m. E. of Port Said. It lay in the marshes at themouth of the most easterly (Pelusiac) branch of the Nile, whichhas long since been silted up, and was the key of the land towardsSyria and a strong fortress, which, from the Persian invasion atleast, played a great part in all wars between Egypt and the East.Its name has not been found on Egyptian monuments, but it maybe the Sin of the Bible and of Assur-bani-pal's inscription.Pelusium ("the muddy") is the Faramā of the Arabs, Peremounin Coptic; the name ṭīna which clings to the locality seemsetymologically connected with the Arabic word for clay or mud.The site, crowned with extensive ruins of burnt brick of theByzantine or Arab period, has not yielded any importantremains. (F. LL. G.)