Imentet (Gau)

Imentet (Gau) in hieroglyphics
; Imentet ; Jmntt ; Westgau ;
	3. Lower Egyptian district

Lower Egyptian districts

1st to 3rd Lower Egyptian district

Relief with Hathor and Pharaoh Necho II. The inscription is called Hut-ihut

Imentet was the name of the third sub-Egyptian district (Greek: Gynaikopolites). Important places in the Gau were Hut-ihut and Iamu ( Kom el-Hisn ).

The Gau lasted just north of Terenuthis to south of Damanhur on the west side of the Nile and is in the Gauliste of Sesostris - kiosks with a length of 14 ITERU ( Jtrw km indicated) 1 Cha (xa) and 147.5.

The first mention as a Gau can be found in King Sahure (5th Dynasty, Old Kingdom ) and in the world chamber of the Niuserre sanctuary . In the World Chamber the Gauzeichen is still without a standard. Otherwise the place Hut-ihut appears in the inscriptions from the grave of Metjen and in various goods lifts. Hut-ihut later belonged to Imentet.

It is likely that the 3rd Gau still belonged to the 2nd Lower Egyptian Gau at the time of Metjen, since Hut-ihut ( Ḥwt-jhjt ) in Metjen's inscriptions belonged to this Gau.

Name of the 3rd district

In the Old Kingdom, the Gau was mentioned in various freight elevators. A “mayor” of Hut-ihut is attested in the Middle Kingdom.
Kom el-Hisn is very likely the Momemphis of the Greek writers ( Herodotus : Historien , II 164; Strabo : Geographie 1, 803; Diodor : Bibliotheca historica I 66; 97). It is unclear where the name Momemphis comes from.
At Strabo the district is called Momemphites. He also names the Gau Gynaikopolites with the metropolis Gynaikonpolis.
For Ptolemy, Andronpolis is the metropolis and Andropolites is the district. Further relocations of the metropolis can be concluded from this.
After the separation of the area around Therenuthis (now: Abu Billu), this area is called Pr-Hwt-Hr-nbt-MfkAt , which was called "Pihattihurunpikki" under Assurbanipal .
In the Nitokris stele this area is shown as a subdistrict and could be called Hwt-sn-Dm.

Capital of the Gaus of the West

Iamu had been the capital of the district since the Middle Kingdom . It was one of the places discovered during the construction of the Chephren pyramid around 2550 BC. Delivered food to the construction site. The inhabitants of Kom el-Hisn raised cattle for this, but ate little beef themselves.

Main deity / repository measuring rope

On the Gauliste of Sesostris I. Hapi ( Ḥpj ), one of the four ( Horus sons ) is mentioned. Hut-ihut, "House of the Cow" or "Rindergut" appears as the city. This is where the rope was kept to measure the length of the district.

literature

Wolfgang Helck : Gaue . In: Wolfgang Helck (Ed.): Lexicon of Egyptology . tape II . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977, ISBN 3-447-01876-3 , p. 394 .

Individual evidence

↑ H.Kees: Journal of Egyptian language and Altertumskunde , 81 (1956), page 36 Fig. 3
^ Wolfgang Helck: Die oldägyptischen Gaue , Wiesbaden 1974, ISBN 3920153278 , p. 154

↑ Helck: Die oldägyptischen Gaue , p. 154

↑ Helck: Die oldägyptischen Gaue , p. 153

↑ Farouk Gomaà: The settlement of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom, Lower Egypt II and the adjacent areas. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-88226-280-X , pp. 78-801.

↑ Gomaà: The settlement of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom, II. Lower Egypt and the adjacent areas. , P. 81.

[1] H.Kees: Journal of Egyptian language and Altertumskunde , 81 (1956), page 36 Fig. 3

[2] Wolfgang Helck: Die oldägyptischen Gaue , Wiesbaden 1974, ISBN 3920153278 , p. 154

[3] Helck: Die oldägyptischen Gaue , p. 154

[4] Helck: Die oldägyptischen Gaue , p. 153

[5] Farouk Gomaà: The settlement of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom, Lower Egypt II and the adjacent areas. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-88226-280-X , pp. 78-801.

[6] Gomaà: The settlement of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom, II. Lower Egypt and the adjacent areas. , P. 81.