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[German version] (Κερκάσωρος, Κερκέσουρα; Kerkásōros, Kerkésoura). Town in Lower Egypt where, according to Hdt. 2,15; 2,17, the Nile divides into the branches of Pelusium and Canobus, according to Str. 17,806 situated on the west bank opposite Heliopolis, perhaps the Egyptian Ḥwt-šd-bd. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography F. Gomaà, s.v. Hutsched-abed, LÄ 3, 89-90.

[German version] (ὀβελίσκος/ obelískos, Latin obeliscus). Slender column of square cross-section tapering upwards with a pyramid shaped top, Egyptian tḫn, in the Graeco-Roman period also bnbn. In Egypt, obelisks have been connected with the sun cult since the earliest times (Sun god). Their concrete function and significance, however, is unknown. Royal obelisks outside temples and sanctuaries to the sun are attested from the 5th Dynasty (2450-2300 BC). In the New Kingdom they were often erected in pairs in front of the …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Egypt | Caesar | Zenobia | | Diadochi and Epigoni | Alexander | Commerce | Pilgrimage | Aegean Koine | Egypt City in Egypt, situated on the west bank of the Nile about 30 km south of the apex of the Delta. The name M. (Greek. Μέμφις; assyr. Mempi) derived from the name of the pyramid town of king Pepi I. (around 2300), Egyptian Mn-nfr-( Pjpj). The older name, ‘White Wall’ (Egyptian Jnb-ḥḏ; leúkon teíchos/λευκὸν τεῖχος in Hdt. 3,91 and Thuc. 1,104), probably referring to the particularly well-fortified cen…

[German version] (Egyptian Jwnt[- t-nṯrt], Greek Τεντυρα; Tentura), city in Upper Egypt, located on the west bank of the Nile opposite today's Qena, capital of the 6th Upper Egyptian nome. From earliest times, D. was an important centre, and especially significant from the Old Kingdom to the early Middle Kingdom. Details of a large number of the nome's strategoi from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods have been preserved on their monuments. The most important deity was the goddess of love, Hathor. Her sanctuary, dating from the Old Kingdom, was extended …

[German version] (Σε(μ)βρῖται/ Se(m)brîtai). According to Str. 16,4,8 and 17,1,2 the term ('foreigners') for (allegedly 240,000) Egyptian soldiers who under Psammetichus [1] I (664-610 BC) deserted from their garrison in Elephantine (cf. Hdt. 2,30 and Diod. Sic. 1,67) and settled in Sudan. As for the precise location of this settlement the sources conflict (cf. apart from Str. also Plin. HN 6,191 ff.; Ptol. 4,20 ff.). The historicity of Herodotus's account can not be confirmed from Egyptian sources…

(Ψαμμήτιχος; Psammḗtichos). Greek form of the name of several Egyptian rulers of Libyan origin, Egyptian Psmṯk. [German version] [1] P. I Egyptian king 1st king of the 26th Dynasty (664-610 BC), son of Necho [1] I, initially a vassal of the Assyrians, to whom he fled from a Nubian attack (Hdt. 2,152). After the Assyrians expelled the Nubians, he made himself ruler of the whole of Lower Egypt until c. 657, probably with the help of Greek and Carian (Cares) mercenaries (Hdt. 2,151 f.). P. entered into an alliance with Gyges [1] of Lydia and was soon able to free…

[German version] (Μυεκφορίτης; Myekphorítēs). Egyptian district, mentioned only in Hdt. 2,166, located on an ‘island’ (surrounded by arms of the Nile or canals) across from Bubastis and inhabited by Calasirieis. The etymology of the name is unclear, it may mean the 20th district of lower Egypt. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography A.B. Lloyd, Herodotus, Book II, Comm. 99-182, 1988, 195.

[German version] (Καλασιριεῖς; Kalasirieîs). Along with the hermotybies, the Kalasirieis were one of the two classes in the Egyptian caste of warriors (μάχιμοι), instituted, according to Diod. Sic. 1,94, by a king Σεσόωσις/ Sesóōsis (Sheshonk I ?). According to Hdt. 2,166, they were up to 250,000 men strong and lived in Thebes and in certain towns in the Nile Delta. The Egyptian term krj-š (the meaning is uncertain) is attested from the 20th Dynasty on, a corresponding group with military and police functions is attested from the 26th Dynasty until the beginning of Roman rule. Jansen-Wink…

[German version] (Ταχώς, in Manethon Τεώς/ Teṓs; Egyptian Ḏd.ḥr). Second king of the Egyptian 30th Dynasty,  c. 362-360 BC (calculations differ by up to two years), son of his predecessor Nectanebus [1] I and his co-regent during the last three years of his reign (from c. 365). T. tried to exploit the collapse of Persian power in western Asia, and in c. 360 BC, he led a campaign to Syria, with a great number of Greek mercenaries under the Spartan king Agesilaus [2] and a fleet under the Athenian Chabrias. During this campaign, T.'s brother Tjahapimu, who …

(Ὄμβοι; Ómboi). Two towns in Egypt. Their names are derived from Egyptian nbw, 'gold', possibly indicating that they were points of departure for the search for gold in the neighbouring desert regions. [German version] [1] Town in the 5th nome of Upper Egypt Egyptian Nbwt, town in the 5th nome of Upper Egypt, close to modern Ṭūḫ. Cult town of the god Seth, of whose temple little remains. As a result of the vilification of Seth, the town lost its importance after the New Kingdom. Juv. 15,33f. mentions a dispute between the residents of O. …

[German version] (Λητοῦς πόλις; Lētoûs pólis). City at the south-western tip of the Nile delta, Egyptian ( S) ḫm, modern Ausim (north-west of Kairo), main city of the 2nd Lower Egyptian district. The main god of L. was the falcon-shaped god of heaven ( M) ḫntj-jrtj, who loses and regains his eyes at sunrise and sunset (sun and moon) and thereby symbolizes the daily cycle of the sun. Later he was identified with Haroeris. The sacred animals of the God of L. were mainly the ichneumon and the shrew-mouse (numerous bronze figures are extant,…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Christianity | Limes (Παραιτόνιον; Paraitónion). Port c. 300 km west of Alexandria [1], modern Marsā Maṭrūḥ, the point of departure of the road to the oasis of Siwa (Ammoneion), also called ἡ Ἀμμωνία/ hē Ammōnía (Str. 17,799). P. was important as a port and for border security during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods; during the New Kingdom, there was a fortress close to modern Umm ar-Raḫam. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin)

(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] Part of a granite tablet discovered in 1799 by French soldiers near the settlement of Rosetta (el-Rashid) on the Egyptian Mediterranean coast (now in the British Museum in London), bearing text in three languages. The inscription is a decree regarding the cult of the ruling monarch in the Egyptian temples, passed by a priestly synod in Memphis on 27 March, 196 BC, on the occasion of the coronation of Ptolemaeus [I 8] V Epiphanes and meant to be displayed in all of the country's te…

[German version] (Λευκὴ ἀκτή; Leukḕ aktḗ). ‘White cape’ on the Libyan coast of Egypt, near the small Catabathmus, modern Ras al-Abja (on the Ras al-Kanais, c. 60 km east of Marsa Matruh), mentioned in e.g. Str. 10,489; 17,799; Ptol. 4,5,3. According to POxy. XI,1380,45, Isis was venerated at Leuke Akte as Aphrodite, Muchis and Eseremphis. There was also an oracle sanctuary of Apollo ( Horus). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography H. Kees, s.v. L.A., RE 12, 2261.

[German version] (Καλάσιρις; Kalásiris).The priest C. is one of the main figures in  Heliodorus' [8] novel Aithiopiká. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography H. Kees, s.v. Kalasiris, RE 10, 1547  A.B. Lloyd, Herodotus, Book II, vol. 2, 1976, 342.

[German version] Large oasis c. 80 km south-west of Cairo with a lake in the north. Name from Egyptian p-jm (‘the sea’, older names ts̄, ‘lake land’ and š-rsj, ‘southern lake’, Greek ἡ λίμνη ( hē límnē) or Κροκοδιλοπολίτης νομός ( Krokodilopolítēs nomós), from 256/5 onwards Ἀρσινοίτης νομός/ Arsionoḯtēs nomós). The capital city Šdjt ( Arsinoe [III 2]) is mentioned early but it was not until the 12th Dynasty that F. was developed through dam construction, especially under Amenemhet III ( c. 1853-1808) who was still considered a local hero in Roman times. The chief god wa…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Education / Culture (Θμοῦις/ Thmoûis; Egyptian T-mw(t), 'new-land'), the modern ( Tall) Timay, town neighbouring Mendes in the northeast of the Nile delta; first mentioned in Jos. BI 4,659, but significantly older (cf. archaeological finds [1]; Hdt. 2,166). In the Roman period T. replaced Mendes as district capital; Amm. Marc. 22,16 cites T. among the most significant cities of Egypt. By 250 AD (until the 10th/11th cent.) T. was a bishopric. In the later…

[German version] Town west of Alexandria [1], situated on the southern bank of Lake Mareotis in a famous wine-growing area (Str. 17,799); Egyptian mrt, modern Kaum al-Idrís, regarded in the Egyptian temple lists as in the 3rd district of lower Egypt, in Roman times however itself the capital of the Mareotis. M. is first attested in Hdt. 2,18, where it is stated that the inhabitants felt that they were Libyans. From the beginning of the 26th dynasty to the Persian period, the border garrison against Libya was situated …