Search

[German version] (Εἰλειθυίας πόλις; Eileithyías pólis). City in Upper Egypt, 15 km north of  Edfu on the eastern shore of the Nile, Egyptian Necheb ( nḫb), today al-Kāb. Very early traces of settlements. Important location in the pre-dynasty and early dynasty periods. Aside from the snake goddess Uto of Lower Egypt, the vulture goddess Nechbet is worshipped here and plays an important role as an Upper Egyptian crown goddess at the birth of kings, and, in the Graeco-Roman period, is identified with  Eilithyia. Archaeological findings: Remnants of the temples of Nechbet and Thot. Griesha…

[German version] (Egyptian brhm, Coptic belehmue [ Balnemowi]). Lower Nubian nomadic people whose identification with population groups from the Pharaonic period has not so far been successful.A link with today's Bedja has been postulated [1;2]. They are first mentioned in Theocritus (7,114). According to Str. 17,1,2 they occupied the right bank of the Nile, with the Nubae on the left. Str. 17,1,53 recounts that they were neither numerous nor warlike, even though there were often reports of predatory r…

(Χνοῦβις; Chnoûbis, also Χνοῦμις; Chnoûmis and Χνοῦφηις; Chnoûphēis, Str. 17,817). [German version] [1] Greek form of the Egyptian Chnum Greek form of the Egyptian Chnum, a ram-god, ovis longipes palaeoaegyptiacus, who appears early on as a human with a ram's head.  Elephantine, Esna, Hypselis and Antinoe are regarded as his cult centres. C. functions as a creator-god. In Elephantine he is lord of the cataract region, and along with the goddesses Satet and Anuket is considered to be protector of the sources of the Nile and …

[German version] The ‘Invisible, Hidden One’, known by the Greeks as Ammon and equated with  Zeus (Hdt. 2,42; Plut. De Is. et Os. 9), represented in human form. He appears as Min of Coptus with a disjointed body and an erect phallus. Secondary modes of appearance in animal form are the ram, Egyptian goose and snake -- these probably relate back to local cults. His origins are unknown. He was known from the Middle Kingdom as king of the gods with the main cult site based in  Thebes. Numerous other …

(Egyptian Pr-Wśjr). Name of several places where there was a sanctuary of  Osiris. [German version] [1] City in the mid Nile Delta City in the mid Delta on the left bank of the arm of the Nile called Damiette, south of Sebennytus. Capital of the 9th lower Egyptian district, Djedu and Anedjeth, today Abu Sir Bana (Abusir). Home of the god Anedjti, who may have been a deified ruler and whose symbols of rulership, crook and whip, were transferred to Osiris when the two merged. The holy symbol of the place, the Djed pill…

[German version] [1] Area at the mouth of the Nile Term for the area at the mouth of the Nile, deriving from its resemblance to the triangular shape of the Greek alphabetical letter delta. The delta is bounded in the west by the μέγας ποταμός ( mégas potamós) with the Heracleotic Mouth at Alexandria, and in the east by the Bubastic arm of the Nile including the Pelusian Mouth. Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) [German version] [2] Site below Memphis Site at the fork of the Nile below Memphis (Str. 17,788). Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) [German version] [3] River mouths Even in antiqui…

[German version] Name of the fourth month of the flood season in the Coptic calendar; from the Egyptian k-hr-k, originally the name of a festival [1]. The month begins on 27 November, shifted by the Gregorian calendar reform (October 1582). Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) Bibliography 1 F. Daumas, s.v. Choiak, LÄ 1, 958-960.

[German version] 300 km south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile, Egyptian Ḫmnw, ‘Town of the eight’, after a group of four pairs of ancient gods, modern al-Ašmunein, Greek Hermupolis magna (HM) after  Hermes Trismegistus, who was worshipped there and was equated with the town god  Thot. In the sacred precinct there are remains of the temples of the Pantheon of HM from the middle kingdom to the Roman Imperial period. Under the Ptolemies and Romans HM again experienced a period of flourishing. From the Coptic period, remains of a settlement and a basilica (5th cent. AD) are preserved. Grie…

[German version] [1] In Egypt, cult of fertility and physical strength The worship of fertility and physical strength encouraged the development of numerous bull cults in Egypt. That of A. was one of the earliest and best known. In Memphis a live bull was worshipped, whose special relationship with the local god Ptah was demonstrated by the use of the expressions ‘soul’ ( Ba) and ‘herald’ ( whm) of the god. The bull selected according to certain attributes of its appearance was enthroned as A. and worshipped in the Apieium next to the temple of Ptah (Hdt. 2,153…

[German version] Capital city of the 14th region of Upper Egypt, on the western bank of the Nile, 50 km below Assiut. In the New Kingdom absorbed into Hermoupolis. No remains are preserved. A deity whose home was K. was later equated with Hathor, who was already compared with Isis in the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom. The Greeks called her Aphrodite Ourania (Ael. NA 10,27). Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) Bibliography 1 S. Allam, Beitr. zum Hathorkult, 1963, 23ff. 2 H. Beinlich, s.v. Qusae, LÄ 5, 73f. 3 M. Münzer, Unt. zur Göttin Isis, 1966, 123, 159f.

[German version] [1] D. Magna (μεγάλη Διόσπολις; megálē Dióspolis) in the Graeco-Roman era the name of the ancient wst in Upper Egypt, thus named because of the identification of  Zeus and  Amun, whose greatest temple was located there. In the name Djeme ( Ḏmt/ Ṯmt), a southern district of the city on the west bank of the Nile, the Greeks recognized their Thḗbai ( Thebes) [2. 465-473]. Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) [German version] [2] D. Parva (μικρά or respectively ἄνω Δ; mikrá or anō D.), in the Graeco-Roman era the name of the ancient ḥwt sḫm, indicating a local Amun cult, …

[German version] Town on the western bank of the Nile, 20 km south of Luxor, capital of the 4th Upper Egyptian district, Egyptian jwnj or jwnj šmʿj, ‘Upper Egyptian  Heliopolis’, or jwnw mnṯw, the ‘Heliopolis of Month’, Greek H. The chief god is Month, household and royal god of the rulers of the 11th dynasty (20th cent. BC); his temple is attested from that time, was destroyed in the Persian period and restored in the 30th dynasty. The worship of the bull Buchis with its own necropolis (Bucheum) is significant. After the dec…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | | Alexander | Oracles Name of the place of the oracle of the ram-headed  Amun Re in the Temple of Aghurmi built in the oasis of Siwa under the auspices of Amasis. The sanctuary has Libyan origins. The Cyrenian Ammon or Semitic Baal Chammon worshipped there [1], were aligned with  Zeus and the Egyptian Amun, as ‘Amun in Siwa, Master of Advice’ [2]. The pronouncements of the oracle were made through the movements of a cult image carried o…

[German version] Term for military posts on Roman military roadways, especially in Upper Egypt and in the Lower Nubia that was dependent on Rome, that were opposite the places whose names were linked with contra, on the other side of the Nile: 1. C. Copto opposite Coptus (Itin. Anton 159). 2. C. Lato opposite Esna (ibid., 165). 3. C. Apollonos opposite Edfu (ibid., 165). 4. C. Thumis opposite a so far unknown town between Edfu and Kom Ombo (ibid., 160). 5. C. Ombos opposite Kom Ombo (ibid., 160). 6. C. Syene opposite Assuan (ibid., 167). 7. C. Taphis opposite Tafa (ibid., 164). 8.  C. Talmis oppos…

[German version] [1] Builder of the largest pyramid of Giza In Diod. Sic. 1,63 name of the builder of the largest of the three pyramids of  Giza ( Cheops). Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) [German version] [2] Town in Upper Egypt In ancient authors the name of an important town in Upper Egypt, the modern Achmim, 200 km north of Luxor on the right bank of the Nile; capital of the 9th district of Upper Egypt (Panopolites). Diod. Sic. 1,18 uses the form Chemmo. Besides Ipw the names w n Mnw and Ḫntj Mnw have come down in ancient Egyptian, indicating the local deity Min, normally equa…

[German version] Egyptian god, represented as a canine creature lying on a chest or as a person with the head of a dog (cf. also Upuaut of Assiut, Chontamenti of  Abydus). His name, jnpw, means ‘child’, a reference either to a young animal or a child of the royal house, which could mean Horus, the heir to the throne of Osiris. In Plut. De Is. et Os 14, A. is Osiris' son from a liaison with Nephthys. Other sources name his mother as Hesat of Atfih, who had the head of a cow. The most important area for this cult is the 17th Uppe…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt | | Pilgrimage City in central Egypt opposite Hermopolis Magna on the eastern bank of the Nile. Founded by  Hadrianus in AD 130 at the place where his favourite  Antinous had drowned. Right-angled road grid and theatre, triumphal arch, colonnades, circus, hippodrome, Temple of  Serapis, Temple of Antinous and a mint. Capital city of the Thebais under Diocletian. Bishopric since the 3rd cent. The ruins were used in the 19th cent. for the construction of the sugar refinery in Roda. Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) Biblio…

[English version] [1] Erbauers der größten Pyramide von Giza Bei Diod. 1,63 Name des Erbauers der größten der drei Pyramiden von Giza (Cheops). Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) [English version] [2] Stadt in Oberägypten Bei ant. Schriftstellern gebrauchter Name einer bedeutenden Stadt in Oberägypten, des h. Achmim, 200 km nördl. von Luxor auf dem rechten Nilufer, Hauptstadt des 9. oberägypt. Gaues (Panopolites). Diod. 1,18 gebraucht die Form Chemmo. Altägypt. sind neben Ipw die Namen w n Mnw und Ḫntj Mnw überliefert, die auf den Ortsgott Min hinweisen, der in der Rege…

[English version] Name des vierten Monats der Überschwemmungsjahreszeit im kopt. Kalender, geht auf ägypt. k-hr-k­, urspr. ein Festname [1], zurück. Beginn des Monatsanfangs am 27.11., seit der gregorianischen Kalenderreform (Okt. 1582) verschoben. Grieshammer, Reinhard (Heidelberg) Bibliography 1 F. Daumas, s.v. Ch., LÄ 1, 958-960.

[English version] [1] im ägypt. Kult verehrter Stier Die Verehrung von Zeugungskraft und physischer Stärke hat in Ägypten zahlreiche Stierkulte gefördert. Der des A. gehörte sehr früh zu den bekanntesten. In Memphis verehrte man einen lebendigen Stier, dessen bes. Verhältnis zum Ortsgott Ptah sich in den Bezeichnungen “Seele” ( Ba) und “Herold” ( whm) des Gottes manifestierte. Der nach bestimmten äußeren Merkmalen ausgesuchte Stier wurde als A. inthronisiert und im Apieion neben dem Ptahtempel (Hdt. 2,153; Strab. 17,801) verehrt. Nach seinem Tod w…