Potiphar

Potiphar or Potifar /ˈpɒtɨfər/ is a person in the Book of Genesis's account of Joseph. Potiphar is said to be the captain of the palace guard and is referred to without name in the Quran. Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, is taken to Egypt where he is sold to Potiphar as a household slave. Potiphar makes Joseph the head of his household, but Potiphar's wife, furious at Joseph for resisting her attempts to seduce him into sleeping with her, accuses him falsely of attempting to rape her. Potiphar casts Joseph into prison, where he comes to the notice of Pharaoh through his ability to interpret the dreams of other prisoners.

Potiphar's wife is named in neither the Bible but the Quran mentions as "Zuleikha". The mediaeval Sefer HaYashar, a commentary on the Torah, gives it as Zuleikha, as do many Islamic traditions and thus the Persian poem called Yusuf and Zulaikha (from Jami's Haft Awrang ("Seven thrones")). Because of the Egyptian location wherein the scene is staged, it is not impossible to scope in this biblical tale also a more recent echo of the very old Egyptian fable of the two brothers Bata and Anpu.

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