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[German version] (Καρανίς; Karanís). Important Greek settlement (κώμη) on the northern edge of the  Fayum, now Kom Ausīm; founded in the early Ptolemaic period and abandoned again in the 5th cent. AD. Large parts of the town are still well preserved and have been carefully excavated; among these are two temples. From C. come c. 5,000 Greek Papyri and Ostraka, mostly from Roman times (2nd-3rd cents. AD). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography A. Calderini, s.v. Karanis, Dizionario dei nomi geografici e topografici 3, 1978, 70-79 R. Alston, Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt…

[German version] (Πικραὶ λίμναι/ Pikraì límnai). Term (Str. 17,1,24) for the brackish 'bitter lakes' on the Isthmus of Suez, ancient Egyptian km-wr, 'great black (lake)'. In the 3rd and early 2nd millennia there were fortifications there, later the canal to the Red Sea (Ptolemaïs) was routed through these waters. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography K.W. Butzer, s.v. Bitterseen, LÄ 1, 824f.

[German version] (Προσωπῖτις, Προσωπίτης/ Prosōpîtis, Prosōpítēs). Region in the south-western Nile delta, situated between the branch of Canopus and another watercourse (according to Hdt. 2,41 an island), probably the area of the 4th administrative district of Lower Egypt, according to Hdt. 2,165 the area where the Hermotybians settled. Apart from the capital city Nikiu there were several other cities here, among others Atarbechis where Aphrodite (= Hathor) was worshipped and where mass burials of c…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Colonization Egyptian city on the edge of the East Delta, today known as Tall Dafana (Egyptian Ṯbn?). According to Hdt. 2,30, it was a border fortress of  Psametichus I; archaeological discoveries dating from the New Kingdom, the 26th Dynasty and later, including fortifications, weapons and Greek ceramics. It is possible that it could also have been one of the stratópeda of Greek and Carian mercenaries mentioned in Hdt. 2,154. It is disputed as to whether it is the same as the OT Thachpanches. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibl…

[German version] [1] City in Middle Egypt City in Middle Egypt, north of Minia on the east bank of the Nile, nowadays called Tehne (el-Gebel). There is evidence of A. dating from the Ptolemaic period and official documentation dating back to Roman times. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] Egyptian king Third king of the 29th Dynasty (393/2-380 BC, Egyptian Hkr), kinship with predecessors and successors is uncertain. He formed an alliance with Athens and  Evagoras of Salamis to fight against the Persians and, in 385-83 BC, was abl…

Name of eleven pharaohs, Egyptian R-msj-sw (“Re (the sun god) is the one who gave him birth”), vocalized Rīamašeša in Babylonian, rendered in Greek by Ῥαμέσσης and the like. [German version] [1] R. I Dynasty founder (Throne name Mn-pḥtj-R). The founder of the 19th dynasty ( c. 1292-1290 BC) came from a non-royal family (from the eastern Delta?) and was a high-ranking officer before he was named as vizier and heir to the throne by his predecessor Haremhab. His son Sethos I was probably immediately designated as his successor. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] R. II Egy…

[German version] (Σιρβωνὶς λίμνη/ Sirbōnís límnē). Coastal lake east of Pelusium on the northeastern border of Egypt, separated from the Mediterranean by only a narrow strip of land, west of Mount Casium. According to Strabo, it was 200 stadia long, 50 stadia wide and rather deep (16,2,32; 16,2,42). The lake was claimed to be dangerous due to marshiness (cf. Diod. Sic. 1,30; 16,46) and to seaquakes (Str. 16,2,26). Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin)

[German version] (Νηίθ; äg. Njt.t (?)). Egyptian goddess with her main cult site at Sais in the western Nile delta. With regard to monuments as well as to personal names, N. was the most prominent goddess of the Early Period (1st half of 3rd millennium BC). Later, especially during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom, she receded in comparison to other divinities; from the 26th Dynasty on, however, when Sais became the royal residence, she regained pre-eminent importance. Originally, N. may have been…

[German version] (Egyptian Ḥwt-[t]-ṛj-jb, Arabic Tall Atrı̄b). Capital city of the 10th Lower Egyptian district, in the southern central delta. Main god Chentechtai in older times honoured as a crocodile, in the New Kingdom mostly as a falcon. A. gains additional significance in the New Kingdom. In the 9th-7th cents. BC it forms with  Heliopolis an independent principality. Ammianus Marcellinus (22,16) counts it as one of the most important cities of Egypt. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography P. Vernus, Athribis, Bibliothèque d'études coptes 74, 1978 LÄ 1, 519-24.

[German version] City in the west delta to the north of Sais in the 6th region of Lower Egypt; actually a twin city which, in older sources, only appears in the names of its parts Pe and Dep. The name B. has its origins in the Egyptian Prw dyt, house of Wśdy (Uto), who, in the form of a snake, is the national and crown goddess of Lower Egypt and who, together with  Horus, is the most important local deity. B. was already settled in prehistoric times and was apparently an important centre. Archaeological finds and epigraphic reports about B., ho…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt | Syria | Zenobia | | Diadochi and Epigoni | Alexander | Commerce | Pilgrimage | Rome | Rome | Egypt (Πηλούσιον/ Pēloúsion; Latin Pelusium). City at the far northeastern corner of the Nile delta (southeast of Port Said), Egyptian Sjn, earlier Snw, 'fortification', from Ptolemiac times also known as P-Pr-jr-Jmn, Coptic ΠΕΡΕΜΟΥΝ, modern Tall al-Faramā. The Greek name P. probably originated from a popular etymological derivation of the Egyptian sjn, 'clay' = Greek pēlós (cf. Str. 17,1,21). Based on the city's name…

[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 …