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(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)

[German version] I. Introduction The healing of illness is, in principle, within the province of any deity or hero in possession of superhuman powers of assistance. But in the reality of cult practice, the healing function came to be concentrated in certain deities and heroes whose powers were particularly strong [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 W. A. Jayne, The Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations, 1925. [German version] II. Mesopotamia and Syria In Mesopotamia, a series of deities were associated with healing powers through names, epithets, and ref…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia While attention in old Egyptian culture was largely centred on existence after death, the concerns of Mesopotamia were almost exclusively with the present. A significant part of the cultural energy of ancient Mesopotamia was devoted to keeping human actions in harmony with the divine, so as to ward off such misfortunes as natural catastrophes, war, sickness and premature death. As such, heavy responsibility rested on the ruler as mediator between the world of gods and that of men. In Mesopotamia everything which is and happens was seen as a man…

(Νέα πόλις/ Néa pólis, Νεάπολις/ Neápolis, ‘New City’). [German version] [1] Town on the northern coast of the Aegean This item can be found on the following maps: | Macedonia, Macedones | Moesi, Moesia Town on the northern coast of the Aegean to the west of the mouth of the Nestus river, across from the island of Thasos, modern Kavalla (Str. 7a,1,36; Ps.-Scyl. 67), probably a Thasian colony but the exact period of foundation is unknown. Early in the 6th cent. BC, autonomous silver coinage modelled on that of Eretria [1] (HN 196…

(Ἀρσινόη; Arsinóē). I. Myth [German version] [I 1] Daughter of Leukippos Daughter of Leucippus, sister of the Leucippids, who were abducted by the Dioscuri, she was the mother by Apollo of the Messenian Asclepius (Hes. fr. 50; Apollod. 3,117f.; Paus. 2,26,7; 4,3,2). In Sparta A. had a shrine (Paus. 3,12,8); on the agora of Messene there was an A. spring (Paus. 4,31,6), in the Messenian Asclepieum there was, amongst other things, a painting of A. (Paus. 4,31,11f.). The relationship of the Messenian to the …

[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…

[German version] King in Lower Egypt ( c. 720-715 BC), Egyptian Bk-n-rn.f, second and last ruler of the 24th dynasty. He was dethroned by the Nubian king, Shabako, who conquered the whole of Egypt around 715 BC and, according to  Manetho, had B. burned alive. B.'s reign has very little contemporary attestation. All the greater, then, is his fame in later Egyptian and ancient tradition, which regarded him as a sage and a great legislator. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography Th. Schneider, Lex. der Pharaonen, 1994, 93f. LÄ 1, 846 RE 3, 66f.

(Egyptian hbj > Greek ἶβις; îbis). [German version] I. Egypt The ibis was considered a sacred bird (Hdt. 2, 65; 67; 75 and other ancient writers) in Egypt, where three species were found. Above all, the ‘Sacred ibis’ ( Threskiornis aethiopicus) was worshipped as the holy animal of  Thot, god of the moon and writing, and often represented. Ibis burials are known starting in the New Kingdom; in the Late Period, there were breeding colonies and animal cemeteries with mummified ibises everywhere in Egypt, particularly extensive in the chief cult centres of Thot. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) B…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient, Egypt, Old Testament In the ancient Orient, the curse is considered to be a magically effective utterance by which the speaker destroys enemies or objects of their sphere, excludes them from the community or at the very least reduces their vitality. How effective this is depends upon the status of the speaker, the social context and the use of set phrases. There is no evidence of colloquial curses in the Near East and hardly any from Egypt. In the Near East set curse phrases are preserved from the mid 3rd millennium onward i…

(Φίοψ/ Phíops or Φιός/ Phiós). Greek form of the name of two Egyptian kings (Egyptian Pjpj). [German version] [1] P. I Third king of the 6th Egyptian dynasty Third king of the 6th dynasty ( c. 2300-2250 BC). Under his reign, expeditions to the Sinai [1], to Byblos [1], Nubia and Punt are attested. An inscription of P. was found in Palace G in Ebla. A courtier reported in his funerary inscription that there was a secret investigation of a harem conspiracy led by the queen [1. 98-110]; the same report mentions five military campaigns against Asian nomads. The name of the pyramid (-town) of P. ( Mn-nf…

[German version] (καλάσιρις; kalásiris). According to Hdt. 2,81, a fringed linen undergarment worn by the Egyptians; according to Democr. (FGrH 267, F.1) also worn by Persians and Ionians, probably to be connected with the Egyptian warrior class of the Kalasirieis. Cf. Calasiris. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin)

[German version] (Τάρκος/ Tárkos, Assyrian Tarqû, Egyptian  Th()rq(), in scholarly literature usually Taharka/o). Nubian king, third and most significant ruler (690-664 BC) of the Egyptian 25th Dynasty, throne name Ḫwj-Nfrtm-R. When he was 20 years old, he was summoned by his brother(?) and predecessor Sebichus from Nubia to Egypt, and led the Egyptian army in the (lost) battle of Eltekeh (ANET, 287 f.; 2 Kg 19,9) in 701 BC. In 690 BC, he succeeded Sebichus to the throne, according to his own account as his chosen succe…

(Νείλου πόλις/ Neílou pólis). [German version] [1] Settlement in Middle Egypt Settlement in Middle Egypt, 13 km north of Banī Suwaif, Coptic Tilodj, modern Dalāṣ. The settlement is not known from ancient Egyptian times; N. was a diocesan town in the Christian period. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] Village in the Fayum Village in the Fayum, near Soknopaiou Nesos, modern Tall ar-Ruṣaṣ, with an Isis cult. Known from numerous papyrus finds from the later Ptolemaic to the Byzantine period. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography 1 A. Calderini, s.v. Nilopolis, …

Name of two Egyptian kings of the 30th Dynasty. [German version] [1] N. I Egyptian king, founder of the 30th Dynasty (380-363/2). Νεκτανέβις/-νίβις ( Nektanébis/- níbis), Egyptian Nḫt-nb.f; founder of the 30th Dynasty, son of a general Tachos ( Ḏd-ḥr) from Sebennytus. N. himself was a general under his predecessor Nepherites II, whom he overthrew shortly after his accession. Egypt had hardly any allies at the time, nevertheless it was able to ward off a Persian invasion attempt in 373 BC, in which the Athenian general Iphicrates participated on the Per…

[German version] (Plin. HN 3,3; λιβυκὸν ὄρος; libykòn óros, Hdt. 2,8; λιβυκὰ ὄρη; libykà órē, Ptol. 4,5,10, Str. 17,819). Name of the mountains bordering the Nile valley on the west in contrast to the ‘Arabian’ mountain range of the east bank. According to the ancient geographers, the Nile valley often forms the border between Libya and Arabia and consequently between Africa and Asia. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography H. Kees, s.v. L.m., RE 13, 148.

(Σέθως; Séthōs). Name of two pharaohs, Egyptian Stẖj. [German version] [1] S. I Second king of the 19th dynasty, c. 1290-1279 BC, already designated successor during the short reign of his father Ramesses [1] I. One of his epithets ('he who repeats creation') suggests that his reign was supposed to be seen as the beginning of a new era, and indeed it was: most of the defining characteristics of the 19th dynasty, which became particularly distinct in the time of his son Ramses [2] II, began with S. He undertook sev…

[German version] (Μέτηλις; Métēlis). Town in the north-western Nile delta, east of Alexandria; the precise location of M. and its Arab successor settlement of Maṣil remains unclear, but probably near Fuwwa (Kom el-Aḥmar?). In the Roman period, M. was the capital of a new nome of Metelites on the territory of the former 7th Lower Egyptian district. Its chief deity was Hathor/ Isis, who was honoured in the shape of a falcon (Egyptian bjk); the placename Bechis (Βῆχις; Bêchis), given by Steph. Byz. for M., is derived from this. In the Byzantine and Arab periods (until the 11…

[German version] Fourth king of the 26th dynasty (589-570 BC), Egyptian Wḥ-jb-R, Hophra in the OT, son and successor to Psametich II. At the beginning of his reign, he intervenes unsuccessfully in Palestine against the rule of the Chaldaeans. His support of the Libyans of Cyrenaica against the Greeks there is just as unsuccessful. After a defeat, the army installs  Amasis as the new king. A. is beaten; the sources give contradictory accounts of his death, but he is buried as a king in Sais. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography Th. Schneider, Lex. der Pharaonen, 1994, 81-83 LÄ 1, 35…