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(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 Pjp…

[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.…

[German version] (Τάρκος/ …

(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 settleme…

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 Persian side (Diod. Sic. 15,29; 38; 41-44). Later, following the Satrap revolt, relations were again established with Asia Mino…

[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…

(Ψαμμήτιχος). Griech. Namensform mehrerer äg. Herrscher libyscher Herkunft, äg. Psmṯk. [English version] [1] Ps. I. ägypt. König 1. König der 26. Dyn. (664-610 v. Chr.), Sohn des Necho [1] I., zunächst Vasall der Assyrer, zu denen er vor einem nubischen Angriff floh (Hdt. 2,152). Nach der Vertreibung der Nubier durch die Assyrer konnte er sich bis ca. 657 zum Herrscher von ganz Unteräg. machen, wohl mit Hilfe griech. und karischer (Kares) Söldner (Hdt. 2,151 f.). Ps. schloß ein Bündnis mit Gyges [1] von Lydien …

[English version] Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Ägypten | Indienhandel (Φιλαί, äg. P-Jrk, wohl ein nubischer Name). Kleine Insel am Südende des 1. Nilkataraktes, auf der ein berühmter Isis-Tempel und eine Anzahl kleinerer Heiligtümer standen. Verbaute Blöcke mit Königsnamen zeigen, daß es spätestens unter Taharka (690-664) hier ein Heiligtum gab, spätestens seit Amasis [2] einen Isistempel. Die frühesten noch sichtbaren Anlagen stammen aber erst von Nektanebos [1] I., und die meisten Bauwer…

[English version] Stadt im West-Delta, nördl. von Sais, im 6. unterägypt. Gau, eigentlich eine Doppelstadt, die in den älteren Quellen nur mit den Namen ihrer Teile Pe und Dep erscheint. Der Name B. geht auf ägypt. Prw dyt zurück, “Haus der Wśdy” (“Uto”), der schlangengestaltigen Landes- und Krongöttin Unterägyptens, zusammen mit Horus wichtigste Lokalgottheit. B. war schon in vorgesch. Zeit besiedelt und offenbar ein bedeutendes Zentrum. Arch. Funde und epigraphische Nachrichten über B. finden sich in größerer Zahl aber nur aus dem A…

(Ὄμβοι). Zwei Orte in Ägypten, von äg. nbw, “Gold” abgeleitet, urspr. vielleicht Ausgangspunkt für die Goldsuche in den angrenzenden Wüstengebieten. [English version] [1] Ort im 5. oberäg. Gau Äg. Nbwt, Ort im 5. oberäg. Gau, nahe dem h. Ṭūḫ. Kultort des Gottes Seth, von dessen Tempel geringe Reste vorhanden sind. Infolge der Verfemung des Seth verlor die Stadt nach dem NR an Bedeutung. Iuv. 15,33f. erwähnt einen Streit der Bewohner von O. mit ihren Nachbarn aus Dendara anläßlich eines Festes. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [English version] [2] Stadt im 1. oberäg. Gau Dieser Ort ist a…

(Πτολεμαίς). [English version] [1] Tochter Ptolemaios' [1] I. und der Eurydike [4] Tochter Ptolemaios' [1] I. und der Eurydike [4]; verm. mit einem Nachkommen des Pharao Nektanebos [2] verheiratet; seit 298 v. Chr. verlobt, ab 287 Gattin des Demetrios [2] Poliorketes. 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, Histor. Beitr. zu den dynastischen Verbindungen in hell. Zeit, 1967, 30 ff. 74 f. [English version] [2] P. aus Kyrene Musikgelehrte, 1. Jh. Die einzige bekannte weiblic…