Herakleopolis Magna
| Herakleopolis Magna in hieroglyphics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old empire |
|
||||||
| New kingdom |
|
||||||
| Late period |
Nen-nesu / Neni-nisu / Ninsu Nnj-nsw King's Child City |
||||||
| Greek | Herakleopolis Magna | ||||||
| Coptic | Hnes | ||||||
Herakleopolis Magna ( ancient Egyptian Nen-nesu, Neni-nesu, Ninsu ) is the Greek name of the ancient Egyptian city of Neni-nesu , which was located in southern Fayum in Egypt near today's Ehnasya el-Medina , 15 kilometers west of Beni Suef . The name Herakleopolis is derived from the Greek god Heracles , who was equated with his ancient Egyptian counterpart, Herischef .
In ancient Egypt the city was the capital of the 20th Upper Egyptian Gau (vorderer Baumgau, also called Oleanderbaumgau or Naret Baumgau). The kings of the 9th and 10th dynasties resided in Herakleopolis until the city was conquered by Mentuhotep II .
exploration
Coordinates: 29 ° 5 ' N , 30 ° 56' E
Edouard Naville dug in Herakleopolis from 1891 to 1892 and Flinders Petrie in 1904. A Spanish expedition conducted research in Herakleopolis in the 1960s and 1970s and since 1984 . The archaeological site is now in a very poor condition and endangered by groundwater.
Mythological connections
The ancient Egyptian place name refers to Herischef (Greek Hesif ) as the main deity of the place; to his main name " who is on his lake " he led the epithet " King of the two countries and ruler of the banks, who began kingship at the beginning ". Herischef appeared in this context, among other things, as a child in the form of Re-Harachte . In the demotic chronicle , Neni-nesu is described as the place of the new king, chosen and appointed by Herischef.
For example, in the second columned hall of the Temple of Edfu , a ritual scene depicts the divine enthronement carried out by Herischef , in which Ptolemy IV receives the Atef crown from Herischef . In Ptolemaic texts from Dendera and Edfu it is also reported that a battle between Horus and Seth took place in the vicinity of Herakleopolis Magna .
The temple
Amenemhet I and Sesostris I ( 12th Dynasty ) had the sanctuary of the Herischef, which was located on a lake, built. The lake and temple were located next to Herakleopolis Magna. In the New Kingdom , the temple underwent major expansions , especially in the 18th dynasty, and Ramses II later had the temple completely renovated .
He had a colossal statue of himself erected in front of each column in the two side halls in the forecourt of the temple. A rear hall with a double row of palm pillars followed the forecourt. Another hall of pillars led into the interior of the temple. The New Kingdom Temple was replaced with a new one in the 23rd Dynasty , which was restored in the Greco-Roman period .
Five kilometers to the south are the excavated tombs of Sedment , formerly believed to be the Herakleopolis cemetery. Today, however, they are ascribed to Nile villages in the immediate vicinity, as cemetery facilities have now been found in Herakleopolis itself.
See also
literature
Mythology and history
- Heinz Felber : The demotic chronicle . In: Andreas Blasius: Apokalyptik und Egypt: A critical analysis of the relevant texts from Greco-Roman Egypt (series: Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta, No. 107) . Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1113-1 , pp. 65-112.
- Friedhelm Hoffmann , Joachim Friedrich Quack : Anthology of demotic literature (= introductions and source texts on Egyptology. Volume 4). LIT, Berlin 2007, ISBN 3-8258-0762-2 .
archeology
- Hans Bonnet: Herakleopolis. In: Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , p. 286 f.
- Mohamed Gamal el-Din Mokhtar: Ihnasya el-Medina (Herakleopolis Magna). Its importance and its role in Pharaonic History (Bibliothèque d'Étude 40), Cairo 1983.
- Farouk Gomaa: Herakleopolis Magna. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume II, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977, ISBN 3-447-01876-3 , Sp. 1124-1127.
- Farouk Gomaa: Heracleopolis. In: Kathryn A. Bard (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18589-0 , pp. 368-70.
- Edouard Naville : Ahnâs el Medineh (Herakleopolis Magna) (Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 11), London 1894.
- Josep Padró: Études Historico-archéologiques sur Héracléopolis Magna (Nova Studia Aegyptiaca 1), Barcelona 1999.
- William Matthew Flinders Petrie : Ehnâsya (Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund 26), London 1914.
Greek documents
- James MS Cowey, Klaus Maresch (ed.): Documents of the Politeuma of the Jews of Herakleopolis (144 / 3-133 / 2 BC) (P.Polit.Iud.) ANRAdW (Papyrologica Coloniensia XXIX). Wiesbaden 2001. ISBN 3-531-09948-5 .
- James MS Cowey, Klaus Maresch, Christopher Barnes: The archive of the Phrurarch Dioscurides (154-145 BC?) (P.Phrur.Diosk.) Papyri from the collections of Heidelberg, Cologne, Munich and Vienna. ANWAdW (Papyrologica Coloniensia XXX). Paderborn 2003. ISBN 3-506-71486-4 .
- Demokritos Kaltsas (ed.): Documentary papyri of the 2nd century BC from the Herakleopolites (P. Heid. VIII). 2001. ISBN 3-8253-1100-7 .
- Charikleia Armoni (ed.): Papyri from the archive of the royal scribe Dionysius (P. Heid. IX). 2006. ISBN 3-8253-5165-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Farouk Gomaa: Heracleopolis . P. 441.