This article is about Hermopolis Magna; for other cities called Hermopolis, see Hermopolis (disambiguation)

Black siltstone obelisk of King Nectanebo II. Hermopolis may refer to Hermopolis (Hermopolis Magna the capital of the 15th nome of Upper Egypt Hermopolis (Lower Egypt, the capital Siltstone is a Sedimentary rock which has a composition intermediate in grain size between the coarser Sandstones and the finer Mudstones and An obelisk (from Greek ὀβελίσκος - obeliskos, diminutive of ὀβελός - obelos, "spit nail pointed pillar" Nectanebo II (ruled 360 - 343 BC also known by the name Nakhthoreb, was the third and last king of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt and also the last native According to the vertical inscriptions he set up this obelisk at the doorway of the sanctuary of Thoth, the Thrice-Great, Lord of Hermopolis. Sanctuary has multiple meanings A sanctuary is the consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar For other meanings of "Thoth" or of "Djehuti" and similar see Thoth (disambiguation. Nowadays it is placed in the British Museum, London. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

Hermopolis Magna or simply Hermopolis (Ammian, ii. 16) or Hermopolis Megale (Greek: Ἑρμοῦ πόλις μεγάλη, Steph. B. s. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Stephanus of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus ( Greek:; fl v. ; Ptol. iv. Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca 5. § 60) or Hermupolis (It. Anton. pp 154, seq. The Antonine Itinerary (in Latin: Antonini Itinerarium) is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing ) is the site of ancient Khmun, and is located near the modern Egyptian town of El Ashmunein (from Coptic: Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛⲉⲓⲛ Shmounein) in Al Minya governorate. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Coptic or Coptic Egyptian ( MetRemenkīmi) is the final stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt Minya Governorate ( محافظة المنيا) is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt.

Etymology

Khmun, the Ancient Egyptian name of the city^[1], means "8-town", after the Ogdoad, a group of eight deities who represented the world before creation. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now In Egyptian mythology, the Ogdoad (Greek "οκτάδα" the number eight were eight deities worshipped in Hermopolis during what is called the Old The name survived into Coptic as Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛⲉⲓⲛ (Shmounein), from which the modern name, El Ashmunein, is derived. Coptic or Coptic Egyptian ( MetRemenkīmi) is the final stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt In Greek, the city was called Hermopolis, after Hermes (Egyptian Thoth), because the city was the main cult center of Thoth, the god of healing and wisdom, and the patron of scribes. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Hermes ( Greek,, ˈhɝmiːz in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them of Shepherds and This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. For other meanings of "Thoth" or of "Djehuti" and similar see Thoth (disambiguation. For other meanings of "Thoth" or of "Djehuti" and similar see Thoth (disambiguation.

History

The city was the capital of the Hermopolite nome (the fifteenth Nome of Upper Egypt) in the Heptanomis. A nome (from Νομός “district” was a subnational administrative division of Ancient Egypt. Upper Egypt (صعيد مصر Sa'id Misr) is a narrow strip of land that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan to the area between Heptanomis ( Greek:, in Ptol iv 5 § 55 more properly or, in Dionys Hermopolis stood on the borders of Upper and Lower Egypt, and, for many ages, the Thebaïd or upper country extended much further to the north than in more recent periods. Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet The Thebaid or Thebais (Θηβαΐς or Θηβαΐδα is the region of Ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt As the border town, Hermopolis was a place of great resort and opulence, ranking second to Thebes alone. Thebes ( Thēbai) was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean on the east bank of the river Nile ( A little to south of the city was the castle of Hermopolis, at which point the river craft from the upper country paid toll (Ἑρμοπολιτάνη φυλακή, Strabo xvii. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. p. 813; Ptol. loc. cit. ; the Bahr Jusuf in Arabic). Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The grottos of Beni Hasan, near Antinopolis, upon the opposite bank of the Nile, were the common cemetery of the Hermopolitans, for, although the river divided the city from its necropolis, yet, from the wide curve of the western hills at this point, it was easier to ferry the dead over the water than to transport them by land to the hills. Beni Hasan (also written as Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) (بني حسن is a village in Middle Egypt about 25 km south of Al Minya Antinopolis ( Antinoöpolis) ( Greek:, Coptic Ansena, modern Sheikh 'Ibada) was a city founded at an older Egyptian village by the The principal deities worshipped at Hermopolis were Typhôn and Thoth. In Greek mythology, Typhon ( Ancient Greek:, Tuphōn) also Typheus / Typhoeus ( Tuphōeus) Typhaon ( For other meanings of "Thoth" or of "Djehuti" and similar see Thoth (disambiguation. The former was represented by an hippopotamus, on which sat a hawk fighting with a serpent. (Plut. Is. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c et Osir, p. 371, D. ) Thoth or Tauth, which the Ancient Greeks associated with Hermes, the inventor of the pen and of letters. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Hermes ( Greek,, ˈhɝmiːz in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them of Shepherds and

Hermopolis comparatively escaped the frequent wars which, in the decline both of the Pharaonic and Roman eras, devastated the Heptanomis; but, on the other hand, its structures have undergone severe changes under its Muslim rulers, who have burned its stones for lime or carried them away for building materials. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion

The city is still a titular diocese in the Roman Catholic Church. ^[2] and in the Coptic Orthodox Church. History of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Apostolic foundation Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the

Structures

The town is in a ruinous state. However, some important ruins remain. The Ibis-headed god, was, with his accompanying emblems, the Ibis and the Cynocephalus or ape, the most conspicuous among the sculptures upon the great portico of the temple of Hermopolis. The ibises (pronounced /ˈaɪbɪsɪz/ are a group of long-legged wading Birds in the family Threskiornithidae. His designation in inscriptions was "The Lord of Eshmoon". This portico was a work of the Pharaonic era, but the erections of the Ptolemies at Hermopolis were on a scale of great extent and magnificence, and, although raised by Greek monarchs, are essentially Egyptian in their conception and execution. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father Lagus) was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family The portico, the only remnant of the temple, consists of a double row of pillars, six in each row. The architraves are formed of five stones; each passes from tile centre of one pillar to that of the next, according to a well-known usage with Egyptian builders. The intercolumnation of the centre pillars is wider than that of the others; and the stone over the centre is twenty-five feet and six inches long. These columns were painted yellow, red, and blue in alternate bands. There is also a peculiarity in the pillars of the Hermopolitan portico peculiar to themselves, or, at least, discovered only again in the temple of Gournou. (Dénon, L'Egypte, plate 41. ) Instead of being formed of large masses placed horizontally above each other, they are composed of irregular pieces, so artfully adjusted that it is difficult to detect the lines of junction. The bases of these columns represent the lower leaves of the lotus; next come a number of concentric rings, like the hoops of a cask; and above these the pillars appear like bunches of reeds held together by horizontal bonds. Including the capital, each column is about 40 feet in height; the greatest circumference is about 28 1/2 feet, about five feet from the ground, for they diminish in thickness both towards the base and towards the capital. The widest part of the intercolumnation is 17 feet; the other pillars are 13 feet apart.

Museum

Currently there is a small open air museum in which stand two massive statues of Thoth as a baboon worshipping the sun, and a few carved blocks of masonry. For other meanings of "Thoth" or of "Djehuti" and similar see Thoth (disambiguation.

Famous people from Hermopolis Magna

• Severus Ibn al-Muqaffa

References