Listed 15 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "LUXOR Town EGYPT" .
ERMONTHIS (Ancient city) EGYPT
Hermonthis (Hermonthis, Steph. B. s. v.; Strab. xvii.; Aristid. Aegyptiae; Hermunthis, It.
Anton.; Plin. v. 9. § 11; Macrob. Saturn. i. 21), the modern Erment, was the chief
town of the Hermonthite nome in the Thebaid -Thebais Superior of the Itineraries.
It stood about eight miles SW. of Thebes, and 24 NE. of Latopolis. A little above
Hermonthis the sandstone rocks which had confined the Nile like a wall disappear,
and limestone hills succeed, leaving, especially on the western bank of the river,
wider margins of cultivable land. In a plain of this expanding character, and
on the left side of the Nile, stood Hermonthis. In the Pharaonic times it was
celebrated for the worship of Isis, Osiris, and their son Horus. Its ruins still
attest the magnificence of its buildings; but the Iseion, of which the remains
are extant, was built in the reign of the last Cleopatra (B.C. 51-29), and the
sculptures appear to allude to the birth of Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar,
symbolised as that of the god Harphre, the son of Mandou and Ritho. Its astronomical
ceiling is probably genethliacal, referring to the aspect of the heavens at the
time of Caesarion's na. tivity. Adjacent to the temple are the vestiges of a tank,
which probably served as a Nilometer, since its sides exhibit the grooves usual
in such basins. Under the later Caesars, Hermonthis was the headquarters of the
Legio IIda Valentiniana.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
LATON (Ancient city) EGYPT
Latopolis or Lato (Latopolis, Strab. xvii. pp. 812, 817; polis Laton,
Ptol. iv. 5. § 71; Latton, Hierocl. p. 732; Itin. Antonin. p. 160), the modern
Esneh, was a city of Upper Egypt, seated upon the western bank of the Nile, in
lat. 25° 30' N. It derived its name from the fish Lato, the largest of the fifty-two
species which inhabit the Nile (Russegger, Reisen, vol. i. p. 300), and which
appears in sculptures, among the symbols of the goddess Neith, Pallas-Athene,
surrounded by the oval shield or ring indicative of royalty or divinity (Wilkinson,
M. and C. vol. v. p. 253). The tutelary deities of Latopolis seem to have been
the triad, - Kneph or Chnuphis, Neith or Sate, and Hak, their offspring. The temple
was remarkable for the beauty of its site and the magnificence of its architecture.
It was built of red sandstone; and its portico consisted of six rows of four columns
each, with lotus-leaf capitals, all of which however differ from each other. (Denon,
Voyage, vol. i. p. 148.) But with the exception of the jamb of a gateway - now
converted into a door - sill- of the reign of Thothmes IId. (xviiith dynasty),
the remains of Latopolis belong to the Macedonian or Roman eras. Ptolemy Evergetes,
the restorer of so many temples in Upper Egypt, was a benefactor to Latopolis,
and he is painted upon the walls of its temple followed by a tame lion, and in
the act of striking down the chiefs of his enemies. The name of Ptolemy Epiphanes
is found also inscribed upon a doorway. Yet, although from their scale these ruins
are imposing, their sculptures and hieroglyphics attest the decline of Aegyptian
art. The pronaos, which alone exists, resembles in style that of Apollinopolis
Magna (Edfoo), and was begun not earlier than the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41-54),
and completed in that of Vespasian, whose name and titles are carved on the dedicatory
inscription over the ent ance. On the ceiling of the pronaos is the larger Latopolitan
Zodiac. The name of the emperor Geta, the last that is read in hieroglyphics,
although partially erased by his brother and murderer Caracalla (A.D. 212), is
still legible on the walls of Latopolis. Before raising their own edifice, the
Romans seem to have destroyed even the basements of the earlier Aegyptian temple.
There was a smaller temple, dedicated to the same deities, about two miles and
a half N. of Latopolis, at a village now called E/Dayr. Here, too, is a small
Zodiac of the age of Ptolemy Evergetes (B.C. 246 - 221). This latter building
has been destroyed within a few years, as it stood in the way of a new canal.
The temple of Elsneh has been cleared of the soil and rubbish which filled its
area when Denon visited it, and now serves for a cotton warehouse. (Lepsius, Einleitung,
p. 63.)
The modern town of Esneh is the emporium of the Abyssinian trade.
Its camel-market is much resorted to, and it contains manufactories of cottons,
shawls, and pottery. Its population is about 4000.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
LATON (Ancient city) EGYPT
(Latopolis). A city of Egypt in the Thebaid, between Thebes
and Apollinopolis Magna. It derived its Greek name from the fish latos worshipped
there, which was regarded as the largest of all the fishes of the Nile. The later
writers drop the term polis, and call the place merely Laton (Laton, Hierocles);
and therefore, in the Itin. Anton. and Notitia Imperii, the ablative form Lato
occurs.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
LUXOR (Ancient city) EGYPT
Thebai, in the poets sometimes Thebe (Thebe; Dor. Theba), later
Diospolis Magna (Diospolis Megale, i. e. "Great City of Zeus"), in Egyptian
Tuabu, in Scripture No or No Ammon. The capital of Thebais, or Upper Egypt, and,
for a long time, of the whole country. It was reputed the oldest city of the world.
It stood in about the centre of the Thebaid, on both banks of the Nile, above
Coptos, and in the Nomos Coptites. It is said to have been founded under the first
dynasty by Menes; but this is unsupported by any evidence. Others ascribed its
foundation to Osiris, who named it after his mother, and others to Busiris. It
appears to have been at the height of its splendour, as the capital of Egypt,
and as a chief seat of worship of Ammon, about B.C. 1330 under the Nineteenth
Dynasty. The fame of its grandeur had reached the Greeks as early as the time
of Homer, who describes it, with poetical exaggeration, as having a hundred gates,
from each of which it could send out 200 war chariots fully armed. Homer's epithet
of "HundredGated" (hekatompuloi) is repeatedly applied to the city by
later writers. Its real extent was calculated by the Greek writers at 140 stadia
(fourteen geographical miles) in circuit; and in Strabo's time, when the long
transference of the seat of power to Lower Egypt had caused it to decline greatly,
it still had a circuit of eighty stadia. That these computations are not exaggerated
is proved by the existing ruins, which extend from side to side of the valley
of the Nile, here about six miles wide; while the rocks which bound the valley
are perforated with tombs. These ruins, which are perhaps the most magnificent
in the world, enclose within their site the four modern villages of Karnak, Luxor
(El Uksur), Medinet Habou, and Kurna--the two former on the eastern and the two
latter on the western side of the river. They consist of temples, colossi, sphinxes,
and obelisks, and, on the western side, of tombs, many of which are cut in the
rock and adorned with paintings, which are still as fresh as if just finished.
These ruins are remarkable alike for their great antiquity and for the purity
of their style. It is most probable that the great buildings were all erected
before the Persian invasion, when Thebes was taken by Cambyses, who secured treasure
to the amount of some $10,000,000, and burned the wooden habitations, after which
time it never regained the rank of a capital city; and thus its architectural
monuments escaped that Greek influence which is so marked in the edifices of Lower
Egypt. Among its chief buildings, the ancient writers mention the Memnonium, with
the two colossi in front of it, the temple of Ammon, in which one of the three
chief colleges of priests was established, and the tombs of the kings.
To describe the ruins in detail, and to discuss their identification,
would far exceed the possible limits of this article. Suffice it to mention among
the monuments on the western (Libyan) side the three temples of Seti I., Rameses
II., and Rameses III. Near the second is the fallen colossus of Rameses II., the
largest statue in Egypt. Beyond is the terraced temple of Queen Hatasu of the
Eighteenth Dynasty, near which a remarkable series of mummies and papyri were
found by Brugsch in 1881. At Medinet Habou is a great temple of Rameses III.,
with interesting sculptures describing his victories over the Philistines, and
also a calendar. Northwest of this are the cemeteries of the sacred apes and the
Valley of the Tombs of the Queens (seventeen sepulchres). On the eastern bank
at Luxor is the beautiful temple of Amenoph III., with an obelisk whose fellow
now stands in the Place de la Concorde at Paris. At Karnak is a splendid group
of temples built under the Twelfth Dynasty. The finest portion of this maze of
architectural magnificence is the Great Hall, 170 by 329 feet, with twelve imposing
columns 62 feet in height and 12 feet in diameter, and 122 minor columns, and
two obelisks, of which one is the tallest in Egypt, being 108 feet in height.
On the walls are fine sculptures depicting the battles of Seti I. and Rameses
II. against the Hittites, Arabs, Syrians, and Armenians. In one of the porticos
is recorded the expedition of Shishak I. against Jerusalem in B.C. 971. In classical
times Thebes was a great showplace, and was visited by both Greek and Roman tourists,
among the latter being the emperor Hadrian.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ERMONTHIS (Ancient city) EGYPT
Hermonthis (Armant) Egypt. A city, noted by Strabo (17.1.47), ca. 25 km S of Thebes on the W bank of the Nile. Both the Greek and Arabic names refer to a vanished temple dedicated to the Egyptian god Mont, the falcon god of war. Its chief object of worship was, however, the bull Buchis. During the Graeco-Roman period, when the city was the capital of the Hermonithite nome, a great new temple was constructed from material taken from older temples. Here was the abode of the bull Buchis. Towards the end of the Ptolemaic period, Cleopatra built the Mammisi shrine in order to celebrate the birth of Caesarion. Building activity continued during the Roman period and the discovery of the Bucheum, the necropolis of the bulls, proves the continuity of the cult of Buchis down to the time of Diocletian. The necropolis of the mother cows, Baqaria, has also been discovered. During the Coptic period, the town was the center of a large administrative area and a seat of a bishopric.
S. Shenouda, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2005 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
LATON (Ancient city) EGYPT
On the W bank of the Nile, 53 km S of Thebes. The Greek name Latopolis
(Strab. 17.1.47) refers to the fish Latus that was venerated here, mummified,
and buried in its special necropolis in the mountains. The city gained its importance
through being the terminus of the caravan road that ran through the oasis of Kurkur
to Derr in the Sudan. Under the Ptolemies and Romans it became the capital of
the third nome of Upper Egypt. In the heart of the modern city, in a hollow 10
m deep, stands the great Roman hypostyle hall of 24 columns constructed by Claudius
and Vespasian. Its symmetry, its almost complete state of preservation, and the
variety and originality of its capitals make it one of the most beautiful hypostyles
in Egypt. The numerous texts that are carved on the walls and columns and which
consist of important religious works were mostly carved in the time of Trajan
and Hadrian.
S. Shenouda, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
LUXOR (Ancient city) EGYPT
Known to Homer (Il. 9.38 1-83), it lies 714 km S of Cairo. It was
known to the Egyptians as Waset, the city of the south, and more popularly as
Diospolis Megale (Diod. 1.15.97), the great city of Zeus, identified with the
Egyptian god Amun. It became the capital of Egypt in the 11th Dynasty (ca. 2052
B.C.), supplanting Memphis, the earlier capital. Its great period was during the
18th-20th Dynasties (ca. 1550-1100 B.C.) when it was the capital of the Egyptian
Empire. Although Thebes had long ceased to be the political center of Egypt in
the Ptolemaic period, it was still important. However the city revolted against
Ptolemy V Epiphanes and was severely punished. The city is extensively described
during that time by both Diodorus (1.15.97) and Strabo (17.1.46). Under Roman
rule, building activities continued and the city attracted attention because of
the colossi of Memnon as they were then known. During the Early Christian period,
the W part of the city became a monastic settlement, and most of the temples were
converted into churches. Modern Luxor contains but a small part of the remains
of the ancient city, which extended to cover Karnak and a number of villages on
the W bank of the Nile. The contribution both of the Ptolemies and of the Roman
emperors to the religious continuity of the city is to be seen scattered all over
the vast area. Alexander the Great has a naos within the enclosure of the Luxor
Temple. The granite sanctuary at Karnak commemorates the coronation of Philip
Arhidaeus by the Egyptian gods in the presence of Amun Ra. The Temple of Ptah--identified
with the Greek Hephaistos, and Hathor, identified with Aphrodite--has gateways
which were added during the Ptolemaic period. The fine granite gateway which lies
in front of the temple of the war god Mont was built by Ptolemy Philadelphos.
The small chapel to the W of the temple is also a work of the Ptolemies. The gateway
of the Temple of Mut was erected by Ptolemy I Soter. Here the king is represented
shaking the sistrum, the queen plays the harp, and a princess beats a tamborine
before Mut and Sekhmet. In Thebes West, across the river, there still stand the
two colossi representing Amenhotep III seated upon a throne of which the figure
to the N was thought by the Greeks to be that of Memnon, one of the great heroes
of the Trojan War, who was said to have led an army of the Ethiopians to the siege
of that city. The rather small but beautiful temple at Deir el-Medina is entirely
a work of the Ptolemies. Augustus appears in the Temple of Amun where a statue
of him was found. The additional court and pylon which are to be seen in the Temple
of Nectanebos at Medinet Habu, were dedicated by Domitian. Hadrian, who visited
Thebes with his wife Sabina (A.D. 130), began the construction of the temple that
stands to the S of Medinet Habu and dedicated it to Isis. Antoninus Pius completed
it.
S. Shenouda, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 6 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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