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[German version] (Λεπιδότων πόλις; Lepidótōn pólis). Town in upper Egypt, modern Nagʿ el-Mescheich opposite Girga, Egyptian probably Bḥdt-jtt, with remains of a temple of Ramesses II and the rock tomb of a high priest. The chief god was the lioness Mḥjt; but the lepidotus fish was also worshipped here (cf. Hdt. 2,72; Str. 17,812; confirmed by the find of a naos filled with fish bronzes). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography F. Gomaà, s.v. Mescheich, LÄ 4, 107 H. Kees, s.v. L., RE 12, 2066f.

[German version] (Ὄνουφις; Ónouphis). Town in Lower Egypt and the nome named after it (Ὀνουφίτης), first referred to in Hdt. 2,166 as a settlement area of the Calasirieis, later mentioned by ancient geographers (Plin. HN 4,49; Ptol. Geog. 4,5,22 among others) and in a Coptic list of bishops; presumably in the central Delta near modern Maḥallat Minūf. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography A.B. Lloyd, Herodotus, Book II, Commentary 99-182, 1988, 193-4.

(Τάνις; Tánis). [German version] [1] City in the northeast of the Nile Delta This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt City in the northeast of the Nile Delta, Egyptian Ḏn.t, Biblical Zoan, modern (Tell) San el-Hagar, the largest ruin mound in Egypt (177 ha, 30 m high). T. was founded as a residence in place of the abandoned Pi-Ramesses ( c. 20 km to the south) at the beginning of the 21st Dynasty ( c. 1070 BC). Sculptures and other stone from Pi-Ramesses (some of which had already been re-used there) were used for the construction of T. This older building…

[German version] (Σαβάκων/ Sabákōn). First king of the 25th (Nubian) dynasty, Egyptian Šbk­, brother and successor of Pi(anch)i (Pije). In the traditional chronology, his minimally 15-year reign is estimated at c. 716/5 to 702/1 BC. However, since a recently published Assyrian inscription indicates that his successor Sebichus was already king in 706 [1], S. must have ascended the throne in 720 at the latest. In the 2nd year of his reign, S. conquered Egypt and according to Manetho [1] had his adversary Bokchoris burnt ali…

(Μενέλαος/Menélaos, Attic Μενέλεως/Menéleos; Latin Menelaus). [German version] [1] Ruler of Sparta, married to Helena A significant character in the cycle of myths about the Trojan War ( Troy: Cycle of myths). A younger brother of Agamemnon, who ruled the most significant power centre in Greek myth, Mycene, by marriage to Zeus's daughter Helen ( Helene [1]; their only child was a daughter, Hermione) M. became king of a region in the Eurotas valley with its capital Sparta and Amyclae [1], which was significant…

[German version] [1] Ancient name for Egypt Ancient name for Egypt used in Aesch. Supp. 75; see also Steph. Byz., s. v. Αἴγυπτος ( Aígyptos) and Apoll. Rhod. 4,267. The etymology is unclear, perhaps from ἀήρ. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] Town in  Gallia Narbonensis Town in  Gallia Narbonensis (Str. 4,185), probably the place today known as Mont Ventoux. Lafond, Yves (Bochum) [German version] [3] Aphrodite's name in Paphus  Aërias (Ἀερία; Aería). Aphrodite's name in Paphus  Aërias. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [4] Figure from Greek myth Mother of …

[German version] (Νιτρίαι/ Nitríai). Settlement on the western edge of the Nile delta around 15km to the south of Damanhūr, modern Gabal Barng. The area around N. produced natron. Since Ptolemaic times it is documented in Greek sources (e.g. Str. 17,803; Steph. Byz. s.v. Ν.; Pall. Laus. 7,1 and others). In the 2nd cent. BC it had a Jewish synagogue. Around AD 315, the Coptic abbot Apa Amoun founded a Christian hermitic community in this region, which flourished in the 4th-5th cents. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography 1 A. Bernand, Le delta égyptien d'après les textes grecs…

[German version] (λύκων πόλις; lýkōn pólis, ‘wolfs' town’). City on the western bank of the Nile c. 400 km upstream from Cairo, modern Asyūṭ, Egyptian swtj (‘guard’), Assyrian siāutu, capital city of the 13th district of upper Egypt. Because of its position at a narrow stretch of the river, it formed the border of upper Egypt proper and was therefore (and as the point of departure of a caravan road to the western oases) of particular strategic importance. In the 1st Intermediate Period ( c. 2190-1990 BC) it was the main bulwark against the expansion of the Theban rulers northw…

(Πτολεμαίς; Ptolemaís). [German version] [1] Daughter of Ptolemaeus [1] I and Eurydice [4] Daughter of Ptolemaeus [1] I and Eurydice [4]; presumably married to a descendant of the pharaoh Nectanebus [2]; from 298 BC betrothed, and from 287 married to Demetrius [2] Poliorcetes. PP VI 14565. Ameling, Walter (Jena) Bibliography W. Huß, Das Haus des Nektanebis und das Haus des Ptolemaios, in: AncSoc 25, 1994, 111-117  J. Seibert, Historische Beiträge zu den dynastischen Verbindungen in hellenistischer Zeit, 1967, 30 ff. 74 f. [German version] [2] P. from Cyrene Ancient scholar of m…

Name of four Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Ḏḥwtj-msjw ('Thot is born'). Their chronology is uncertain, as the lengths of the reigns of T. I and II are unknown and T. III's ascent of the throne has been astronomically dated to 1504, 1490 or (most credibly) 1479 BC. [German version] [1] T. I Throne name -ḫpr-k-R, third king of the 18th Dynasty, c. 1496-1482 (only three regnal years are safely attested). T. undertook campaigns to Nubia and Syria as far as the Euphrates, during which the first conflicts with Mittani occured.  He was the first Phar…

(Ταποσῖρις; Taposîris). [German version] [1] Town in the Nile Delta Town in the Nile Delta (modern Abusir), about 50 km to the west of Alexandria [1] between Lake Mareotis and the sea; first recorded in the Ptolemaic period and named after a temple of Osiris (enclosure walls are extant). In the Christian period, a church was incorporated into the temple. Another large church building was discovered outside the area of the town. In addition, there are remains of a lighthouse and of (interior) port installations. T. ( megálē) was probably a transit and customs station for trade a…

[German version] [1] Egyptian city in the eastern Nile delta This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt City in the eastern Nile delta, east of the Damiette arm of the Nile, Egyptian T-rmw, modern Tell Moqdam; one of the largest hills of ruins in the delta. L. is documented from the Middle Kingdom, but the majority of finds and mentions come from the period after the New Kingdom. L. was of great significance in the 3rd intermediate period (1080-714 BC), when it was the residence of a local king. In the Ptolemaic era, L.…

[German version] (Νίτητις/ Nítētis). According to Hdt. 3,1-3 daughter of the Egyptian king Apries; Amasis [2] pretended she was his daughter and gave her in marriage to Cambyses [2]; in response to this deception Cambyses attacked Egypt. In the Egyptian version she was the wife of Cyrus [1] I and Cambyses' mother. Although the name is Egyptian ( Njtt-jj.tj), the princess is not documented in Egyptian sources. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin)

[German version] I. Egypt and the Near East The cat was particularly significant in Egypt where there is evidence of it being kept as a pet from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC at the latest; the period of its domestication, however, stretched far into the 1st millennium. The Egyptian cat used to be regarded as the precursor of the European domestic cat, but today it is assumed that the origin of the latter was the Near East: it was first mentioned in Mesopotamia [1] in the 17th cent. BC as a wil…

[German version] I. Terminology and Definition The modern term ‘palace’ is derived from the Palatine (Mons Palatinus), one of Rome’s seven hills, on which the residences of the Roman emperors were located. Palaces are buildings that a ruler uses as a residence and for representation. Depending on additional functions, they could have other names in Antiquity, relating to their respective use. Nielsen, Inge (Hamburg) II. Ancient Near East [German version] A. Structural History In the Ancient Near East and Egypt, the palace was originally a house with considerably expa…

Greek form of the name of two Egyptian kings. [German version] [1] N. I. Local ruler in the western Nile Delta ( Nkw). Local ruler in the western Nile Delta c. 672-664 BC, father of Psammetichus I, the founder of the 26th Dynasty. N. was the only one of the Delta princes to be pardoned by Assurbanipal despite his participation in an anti-Assyrian conspiracy and was reinstalled as ruler in Saïs. According to Hdt. 2,152,3, N. was killed during the Nubians' advance north (probably in 664 under Tanutamun). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] N. II. Egyptian king of the 26. …

[German version] (Πανῶν πόλις; Panôn pólis). City in Upper Egypt, on the eastern bank of the Nile, c. 200 km north of Luxor, Egyptian Jpw or Ḫnt-Mnw, from this Greek Χέμμις ( Chémmis; Hdt. 2,91) and the modern name Aḫmīm. The name Πανῶν πόλις or Πανὸς πόλις ( Panòs pólis; 'city of Pan') is based on the identification of the main deity of P., the ithyphallically depicted god of fertility Min, with Greek Pan. Isis and (Min-)Horus were also worshipped in P. and the latter was presumably identified by Hdt. 2,91 with Perseus. The competitions in h…

[German version] [1] Town in Upper Egypt The Greek town called κυνῶν πόλις ( kynôn pólis); ‘town of dogs’; Str. 17,812) was at times the capital city of the 17th nomos of Upper Egypt (κυνοπολίτης; Kynopolítēs) and according to Ptol. 4,5,29 was situated on an island. C. (Egyptian Ḥr-dj) is often mentioned in texts of the New Kingdom and was the cult town of the dog-headed god  Anubis. Under Ramses XI it was destroyed in a civil war. Its exact location is unknown, presumably it was near Sheikh Fadl where a dog cemetery was also found. Plut. De …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt | India, trade with (Φιλαί/ Philaí, Egyptian P-Jrk, probably a Nubian name). Small island at the southern end of the first Nile cataract, with a famous temple of Isis and a number of smaller sanctuaries. Blocks incorporated in the buildings, which show the names of kings, prove that there was a sanctuary under Taharka (690-664) at the latest, and a temple of Isis from the time of Amasis [2] at the latest. The earliest still visible buildings date…

[German version] (Egyptian mr-wr) is the name of the holy bull of Heliopolis [1], which was worshipped in an animal selected for certain features (black coat, hair against the grain, particularly large testicles). The bull Onouphis (Ὄνουφις; Egyptian Wnn-nfr, a designation of Osiris) described in Ael. NA 12,11 may therefore have been a form of M. Theologically M. was considered the soul ( ba) of the Sun God and its herald (corresponding entirely to the relationship of the apis bull to Ptah). The cow goddess Hesat was regarded as its mother. The name M. is f…