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[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] I. Mesopotamia Mesopotamia did not develop a generic term for demons. A large number of immortal beings was known that each had their own name and acted as servants of the gods and as enemies or helpers of humans. They did not have cults of their own. Since demons were only able to exercise their limited powers, which manifested themselves in physical and psychological illnesses, with the approval of the gods, they were part of the existing world order. Thus, in the Babylonian tale …

[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…

(Φιλαδέλφεια/ Philadélpheia). [German version] [1] Lydian town founded by Seleucus I This item can be found on the following maps: Christianity | Education / Culture Lydian town founded by Seleucus I (cf. SEG 35, 1985, 1170 [2. 180139; 3. no. 20]) or by Attalus [5] II Philadelphos (who definitely gave the town its name). It lay at the northeast foot of Mt. Tmolus in the fertile valley of the river Cogamis (cf. the coins in HN 655, present-day Alaşehir Çayı), a southern tributary of the Hermus, in southern Catacecaumene [1] on the …

(Ἀλεξάνδρεια; Alexándreia). Name of numerous cities founded by Alexander the Great, including nine in eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. [German version] [1] in Egypt This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt | Caesar | Christianity | Wine | Zenobia | | Diadochi and Epigoni | Alexander | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Hellenistic states | India, trade with | Legio | Legio | Limes | Pilgrimage | Pompeius | Rome | Rome | Athletes | Education / Culture | Egypt Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] A. Topography City on the Egyptian Mediterranean coast foun…

[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 …

I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. General remarks Several hundred prayers have been preserved from the ancient Orient, dating from as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. In some cases, the history of their texts can be traced back for several centuries. A variety of genres usually classified as lamentations, hymns, etc., are actually prayers, since lamentations or hymns of praise to a deity simply represent the occasion for a following prayer, which constitutes the underlying reason for that hymn or lamentation. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] B. Egypt Invocations of th…

[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…

I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. Introduction Judged by the principles of modern historiography, this discipline did not exist in the Ancient Orient. Nevertheless, the past has been treated in the literature in various ways, which indicates that history was an essential source of political and religious identity in the Ancient Orient. Frahm, Eckart (Heidelberg) [German version] B. Mesopotamia Records with a historical orientation do not emerge until the middle of the 3rd millennium BC in the form of royal inscriptions of Lagaš. Deeds are reported f…

[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,…