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[German version] (Παθῦρις; Pathŷris). City in Upper Egypt c. 30 km south of Luxor near modern Ǧabalain. The name derived from an old sanctuary to Hathor, Egyptian Pr-Ḥwt-Ḥr ('house of Hathor'), from this also derived the Greek designation Aphroditopolis (Str. 17,1,47). In the pre-Ptolemaic period, P. belonged to the 4th nome of Upper Egypt. Under the Ptolemies, it was the main town in the new nome of Pathyrites. There are numerous Greek and Demotic papyrus finds from a military settlement dating to the 2nd cent. BC. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography A. Calderini, s.v. P., Di…

[German version] Name of the first Nile cataract on the border between Egypt and Nubia near  Elephantine, first attested in Hdt. 2,17. The name alludes to the noisy roaring of the water (Cic. Rep. 6,19). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography H. Kees, s.v. Katadupa, RE 10, 2458.

[German version] (Φάκουσ(σ)α/ Phákous(s)a and similar). Town in the north-east of the Nile delta, modern Fāqūs. Its ancient Egyptian name is unknown. P. is not attested until the Ptolemaic period. Str. 17,1,26 describes it - probably incorrectly - as the departure point of a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea (Ptolemaïs [4]). According to Ptol. Geog. 4,5,24, P. was the metropolis of the nome of Arabia. In the Christian period, P. was a diocesan town. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography St. Timm, Das christlich-koptische Ägypten in arabischer Zeit, vol. 2, 1984, 923-926.

[German version] Name of the (mostly stone) jugs in which the Egyptians interred entrails, often stored in their own boxes. They came under the protection of four gods (‘Sons of Horus’) and four goddesses ( Isis,  Nephthys,  Neith,  Selcis) and often are inscribed with sayings that correlate the parts of the corpse with the corresponding divinities. From the 1st interim period (2190-1990 BC) the lid of the Canope was mostly shaped like the head of a human, from the 19th dynasty also as heads of th…

[German version] (Μώμεμφις; Mṓmemphis). Town in the north-western Nile delta, according to Str. 17,803 a regional capital in Roman times; centre of a cult of Aphrodite (ibid.; Diod. Sic. 1,97), i.e. the Egyptian Hathor (later also of Isis: POxy XI, 1380, 14f.). According to Herodotus (2,163; 169), the decisive battle between Amasis [2] and Apries took place at M. (and this is supported by Egyptian sources), while Diod. Sic. (1,68) places this at Marea (representing M. as the site of the victory of …

[German version] (Καρανίς; Karanís). Important Greek settlement (κώμη) on the northern edge of the  Fayum, now Kom Ausīm; founded in the early Ptolemaic period and abandoned again in the 5th cent. AD. Large parts of the town are still well preserved and have been carefully excavated; among these are two temples. From C. come c. 5,000 Greek Papyri and Ostraka, mostly from Roman times (2nd-3rd cents. AD). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography A. Calderini, s.v. Karanis, Dizionario dei nomi geografici e topografici 3, 1978, 70-79 R. Alston, Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt…

[German version] (Πικραὶ λίμναι/ Pikraì límnai). Term (Str. 17,1,24) for the brackish 'bitter lakes' on the Isthmus of Suez, ancient Egyptian km-wr, 'great black (lake)'. In the 3rd and early 2nd millennia there were fortifications there, later the canal to the Red Sea (Ptolemaïs) was routed through these waters. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography K.W. Butzer, s.v. Bitterseen, LÄ 1, 824f.

[German version] (Προσωπῖτις, Προσωπίτης/ Prosōpîtis, Prosōpítēs). Region in the south-western Nile delta, situated between the branch of Canopus and another watercourse (according to Hdt. 2,41 an island), probably the area of the 4th administrative district of Lower Egypt, according to Hdt. 2,165 the area where the Hermotybians settled. Apart from the capital city Nikiu there were several other cities here, among others Atarbechis where Aphrodite (= Hathor) was worshipped and where mass burials of c…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Colonization Egyptian city on the edge of the East Delta, today known as Tall Dafana (Egyptian Ṯbn?). According to Hdt. 2,30, it was a border fortress of  Psametichus I; archaeological discoveries dating from the New Kingdom, the 26th Dynasty and later, including fortifications, weapons and Greek ceramics. It is possible that it could also have been one of the stratópeda of Greek and Carian mercenaries mentioned in Hdt. 2,154. It is disputed as to whether it is the same as the OT Thachpanches. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibl…

[German version] [1] City in Middle Egypt City in Middle Egypt, north of Minia on the east bank of the Nile, nowadays called Tehne (el-Gebel). There is evidence of A. dating from the Ptolemaic period and official documentation dating back to Roman times. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] Egyptian king Third king of the 29th Dynasty (393/2-380 BC, Egyptian Hkr), kinship with predecessors and successors is uncertain. He formed an alliance with Athens and  Evagoras of Salamis to fight against the Persians and, in 385-83 BC, was abl…

Name of eleven pharaohs, Egyptian R-msj-sw (“Re (the sun god) is the one who gave him birth”), vocalized Rīamašeša in Babylonian, rendered in Greek by Ῥαμέσσης and the like. [German version] [1] R. I Dynasty founder (Throne name Mn-pḥtj-R). The founder of the 19th dynasty ( c. 1292-1290 BC) came from a non-royal family (from the eastern Delta?) and was a high-ranking officer before he was named as vizier and heir to the throne by his predecessor Haremhab. His son Sethos I was probably immediately designated as his successor. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] R. II Egy…

[German version] (Σιρβωνὶς λίμνη/ Sirbōnís límnē). Coastal lake east of Pelusium on the northeastern border of Egypt, separated from the Mediterranean by only a narrow strip of land, west of Mount Casium. According to Strabo, it was 200 stadia long, 50 stadia wide and rather deep (16,2,32; 16,2,42). The lake was claimed to be dangerous due to marshiness (cf. Diod. Sic. 1,30; 16,46) and to seaquakes (Str. 16,2,26). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin)

[German version] (Νηίθ; äg. Njt.t (?)). Egyptian goddess with her main cult site at Sais in the western Nile delta. With regard to monuments as well as to personal names, N. was the most prominent goddess of the Early Period (1st half of 3rd millennium BC). Later, especially during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom, she receded in comparison to other divinities; from the 26th Dynasty on, however, when Sais became the royal residence, she regained pre-eminent importance. Originally, N. may have been…

[German version] (Egyptian Ḥwt-[t]-ṛj-jb, Arabic Tall Atrı̄b). Capital city of the 10th Lower Egyptian district, in the southern central delta. Main god Chentechtai in older times honoured as a crocodile, in the New Kingdom mostly as a falcon. A. gains additional significance in the New Kingdom. In the 9th-7th cents. BC it forms with  Heliopolis an independent principality. Ammianus Marcellinus (22,16) counts it as one of the most important cities of Egypt. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography P. Vernus, Athribis, Bibliothèque d'études coptes 74, 1978 LÄ 1, 519-24.

[German version] City in the west delta to the north of Sais in the 6th region of Lower Egypt; actually a twin city which, in older sources, only appears in the names of its parts Pe and Dep. The name B. has its origins in the Egyptian Prw dyt, house of Wśdy (Uto), who, in the form of a snake, is the national and crown goddess of Lower Egypt and who, together with  Horus, is the most important local deity. B. was already settled in prehistoric times and was apparently an important centre. Archaeological finds and epigraphic reports about B., ho…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt | Syria | Zenobia | | Diadochi and Epigoni | Alexander | Commerce | Pilgrimage | Rome | Rome | Egypt (Πηλούσιον/ Pēloúsion; Latin Pelusium). City at the far northeastern corner of the Nile delta (southeast of Port Said), Egyptian Sjn, earlier Snw, 'fortification', from Ptolemiac times also known as P-Pr-jr-Jmn, Coptic ΠΕΡΕΜΟΥΝ, modern Tall al-Faramā. The Greek name P. probably originated from a popular etymological derivation of the Egyptian sjn, 'clay' = Greek pēlós (cf. Str. 17,1,21). Based on the city's name…

(Ἀμασις; Ámasis). Greek form of the name of two Egyptian kings. [German version] [1] Generally Amosis or Ahmose Generally Amosis or Ahmose, c. 1540/30-1515/05 BC, founder of the 18th dynasty and of the New Kingdom. He completes the expulsion of the  Hyksos, conquers their capital city, Auaris, as well as southern Palestine and Lower Nubia [1. 45-47; 3]. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] Egyptian king Egyptian Jḥ-msw, 5th ruler of the 26th dynasty (570-526 BC), overthrows his predecessor  Apries, when the latter sends him out to quell a mutin…

[German version] According to Hdt. 2,137-40, a blind king of a city of the same name, during whose reign the Ethiopians, under S(h)abako, conquered Egypt. Not historically verifiable; this is probably a reminder of the continuing existence of independent rulers in the Delta during the rule of the Nubian kings (25th dynasty). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography A. B. Lloyd, Herodotus, Book II, Commentary 99-182, 1988, 90-92.

[German version] (Ξοίς; Xoís). Egyptian city in the northwestern Nile Delta, Egyptian ( pr-) Ḫsww, chief town of the Sixth District of Lower Egypt. Parts of the ancient settlement are beneath modern Saḫā; no others are extant. There are no archaeological remains from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC and few textual references; most of the finds are from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. According to a dubious piece of information in Manetho [1] (FGrH 609 F 2,10), the 14th Dynasty ( c. 1650 BC) is supposed to originate from X. During the troubles at the end of the 19th Dynasty ( c. 1200 BC), th…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt (Egyptian Pr-Bstt, Arabic Tell Basta). Town in the south-eastern delta of the Tanis arm of the Nile. Its primary deity was Bastet, originally a lion goddess, later particularly worshipped as a cat. Her festival is described in Hdt. 2,60. Temple structures are evident from as early as the Old Kingdom, but B. only gained significance with the 22nd dynasty, when it -- alongside Tanis -- became the residence of the Libyan kings. No later than the…