Raamses was likely in or near Goshen, since it was the starting point for the exodus (Exodus 12:37; Numbers 33:3–5). It is usually thought to be near modern-day Qantir.1 The location of Pithom was also likely in the northeastern part of Egypt.2 However, neither location can be known with certainty.
The text calls these cities store cities
and they may have been used to store food (2 Chronicles 32:28) or military supplies, such as troops and weapons (2 Chronicles 17:12), or both. It seems likely that they had some military purpose since they were located near Egypt’s border.3 (The Septuagint, for example, translates the word as fortified cities
).
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.