Cities of Ancient Egypt
Encyclopedia
Lower Egypt
- HeraclionHeracleionHeracleion was an ancient Egyptian city near modern day Alexandria. It was known as early as the 12th century BC but its importance grew during the waning days of the pharaohs, the late period. Herakleion was Egypt's main port in the time of the pharaohs...
- PikuatCanopus, EgyptCanopus was an Ancient Egyptian coastal town, located in the Nile Delta. Its site is in the eastern outskirts of modern-day Alexandria, around 25 kilometres from the centre of that city....
(Canopus, K) - NaucratisNaucratisNaucratis or Naukratis, , loosely translated as " power over ships" , was a city of Ancient Egypt, on the Canopic branch of the Nile river, 45 mi SE of the open sea and the later capital of Ptolemaic Egypt, Alexandria...
- Tjafanet (Tahpanhes, Daphnae Pelusiae, Baal Zephon)
- Pi-RamesseAvarisAvaris , capital of Egypt under the Hyksos , was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta, at the juncture of the 8th, 14th, 19th and 20th Nomes...
(Per-Ramessu, Raamses) - HatwaretAvarisAvaris , capital of Egypt under the Hyksos , was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta, at the juncture of the 8th, 14th, 19th and 20th Nomes...
(Avaris, Tell ed-Dab'a) - TaremuLeontopolisLeontopolis or Leonto or Latin: Leontos Oppidum or Egyptian: Taremu, was an Ancient Egyptian city that is known as Tell al Muqdam today.-History:The city is located in the central part of the Nile Delta region...
(Leontopolis, Tell al Muqdam) - Tjeku (Succoth, Tell el Maskhuta'
- Pi-AtumPithomPithom also called Per-Atum or Heroöpolis or Heroonopolis Pithom also called Per-Atum or Heroöpolis or Heroonopolis Pithom also called Per-Atum or Heroöpolis or Heroonopolis (Greek: or , Strabo xvi. 759, 768, xvii. 803, 804; Arrian, Exp. Alex. iii. 5, vii. 20; Joseph. Ant. Jud. ii. 7. § 5;...
(Pithom) - Athry (Lisht)
- TpyhwtAtfihAtfih is a city in Middle Egypt. It was part of the now defunct Helwan Governorate from April 2008 to April 2011, after which it was reincorporated into the Cairo Governorate. As of 2001, it has a population of 106,300 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
(Aphroditopolis, Atfih) - HatwaretHawaraHawara is an archaeological site of Ancient Egypt, south of the site of Crocodilopolis at the entrance to the depression of the Fayyum oasis. The first excavations at the site were made by Karl Lepsius, in 1843...
(Hawara) - Hat-nen-nesuHerakleopolis MagnaHeracleopolis or Herakleopolis Magna is the Greek name of the capital of the Twentieth nome of ancient Egypt. It was called Henen-nesut, Nen-nesu, or Hwt-nen-nesu in ancient Egyptian, meaning 'house of the royal child.' Later, it was called Hnas in Coptic, and Ahnas in medieval Arabic writings...
(Heracleopolis) - Tayu-djayetEl Hibael-Hiba is the modern name of the ancient Egyptian city of Tayu-djayet , an ancient nickname meaning "their walls" in reference to the massive enclosure walls built on the site. In Coptic, it was known as Teudjo, and during the Graeco-Roman Period, it was called Ankyronpolis...
(Ankyronpolis, Al-Hiba) - Per-MedjedOxyrhynchusOxyrhynchus is a city in Upper Egypt, located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo, in the governorate of Al Minya. It is also an archaeological site, considered one of the most important ever discovered...
(Oxyrhynchus) - DehenetAkoris, EgyptAkoris Akoris Akoris (Egyptian: Mer-nefer(et) (Old and Middle Kingdoms), Per-Imen-m3t-khent(j) (New Kingdom), or Dehenet (since 26th dynasty) is the Greek name for the modern Egyptian village of (Arabic ), located about 12 km north of Al Minya...
(Akoris) - HebenuHebenuHebenu is an Ancient Egyptian city. It was the early capital of the 16th Upper Egyptian Nome. The modern village of Kom el Ahmar is built on the site where the ancient city stood....
(Kom el-Ahmar) - Beni HasanBeni HasanBeni Hasan is an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site. It is located approximately 20 kilometers to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis.While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle...
- Speos ArtemidosSpeos ArtemidosThe Speos Artemidos is an archaeological site in Egypt. It is located about 2 km south of the Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan, and about 28 km south of Al Minya. Today, the site is a small village known as Istabl Antar....
- KhnumHermopolisHermopolis Magna or simply Hermopolis or Hermopolis Megale or Hermupolis is the site of ancient Khmun, and is located near the modern Egyptian town of El Ashmunein in Al Minya governorate.-Etymology:Khmun, the Ancient Egyptian name of the city, means "eight-town", after the Ogdoad, a group of...
(Khemennu, Hermopolis) - AkhetatenAmarnaAmarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty , and abandoned shortly afterwards...
(Tell el Amarna) - MeirMeir, EgyptMeir is a village in Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile, in the Asyut Governorate, some 7 kilometers west of el-Qusiya. The modern village is situated at coordinates , while the necropolis is located at .-Overview:...
- ZawtyAsyutAsyut is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt; the ancient city of the same name is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city is at .- Etymology :...
(Lycopolis, Asyut) - TjebuTjebuTjebu or Djew-Qa is an ancient Egyptian city, located on the eastern bank of the Nile, in the modern Sohag governorate. In the Greco-Roman period, its name was Antaeopolis, and its modern name is Qaw el-Kebir....
(Djew-Qa, Antaeopolis, Qau, Qaw el-Kebir)
Upper Egypt
- ApuAkhmimAkhmim is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. Referred to by the ancient Greeks as Khemmis, Chemmis and Panopolis, it is located on the east bank of the Nile, 4 miles to the northeast of Sohag.- History :Akhmim was known in Ancient Egypt as Ipu, Apu or Khent-min...
(Akhmim, Khen-min, Panopolis) - TjenuGirgaGirga is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile River.Girga was the capital of the Girga Governorate until 1960, when the capital was moved to Sohag and the name of the governorate changed accordingly....
(Thinis, Girga) - AbdjuAbydos, EgyptAbydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...
(Abydos) - Ta-ynt-netertDenderaDendera is a small town in Egypt situated on the west bank of the Nile, about 5 km south of Qena, on the opposite side of the river.-History:...
(Dendera) - GebtuQiftQift is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about 43 km north of Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile.-History:In ancient Egypt, Qift, known then as Gebtu, was an important center for administration, religion, and commerce, being the chief city of the fifth Upper Egyptian Nome of Harawî...
(Coptos, Qift) - Tukh PyramidNaqadaNaqada is a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena. It was known in Ancient Egypt as Nubt and in classical antiquity as Ombos. Its name derives from ancient Egyptian nub, meaning gold, on account of the proximity of gold mines in the Eastern Desert.Naqada comprises...
- NubtNaqadaNaqada is a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena. It was known in Ancient Egypt as Nubt and in classical antiquity as Ombos. Its name derives from ancient Egyptian nub, meaning gold, on account of the proximity of gold mines in the Eastern Desert.Naqada comprises...
(Ombos) - NaqadaNaqadaNaqada is a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena. It was known in Ancient Egypt as Nubt and in classical antiquity as Ombos. Its name derives from ancient Egyptian nub, meaning gold, on account of the proximity of gold mines in the Eastern Desert.Naqada comprises...
(Nagade) - GesaApollonopolis Parva (Coptos)Apollonopolis Parva or Apollinopolis Parva or Apollonos Vicus , was an ancient town of the Thebaid, in the Coptite Nome, in latitude 26° north, situated between Thebes and Coptos. It stood on the eastern bank of the Nile, and carried on an active trade with Berenice and Myos Hormos, on the Red Sea...
(Apollonopolis Parva, Qus) - WasetThebes, EgyptThebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...
(Thebes, Luxor) - IunyHermonthisThe modern town of Armant , is located about 12 miles south of Thebes, in Egypt. It was an important Middle Kingdom town, which was enlarged during the Eighteenth Dynasty. It is located today in the Qena Governorate, on the west bank of the Nile...
(Hermonthis, Armant) - IunytEsnaEsna , known to the ancient Egyptians as Egyptian: Iunyt or Ta-senet; Greek: or or ; Latin: Lato, is a city in Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the River Nile, some 55 km south of Luxor...
(Ta-senet, Latopolis, Esna) - Nekheb (Eileithyiaspolis)
- NekhenNekhenNekhen was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic period...
(Hierakonpolis, Kom El-Ahmar) - BehdetEdfuEdfu is an Egyptian city, located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people. For the ancient history of the city, see below...
(Idfu) - NubtKom OmboKom Ombo or Ombos or Latin: Ambo and Ombi – is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for the Temple of Kom Ombo...
(Ombos, Kom Ombo) - AbuElephantineElephantine is an island in the River Nile, located just downstream of the First Cataract at the southern border of Ancient Egypt. This region is referred to as Upper Egypt because the land is higher than that near the Mediterranean coast. The island may have received its name because it was a...
(Elephantine) - PilakPhilaePhilae is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt...
(Philae)
Wawat (Nubia)
- TalmisNew KalabshaNew Kalabsha is a promontory located near Aswan in Egypt. It houses several important temples, structures, and other remains that have been relocated here from the site of Old Kalabsha to avoid the rising waters of Lake Nasser caused by the construction of the Aswan High Dam...
(Kalabsha) - NabtaNabta PlayaNabta Playa was once a large basin in the Nubian Desert, located approximately 800 kilometers south of modern day Cairo or about 100 kilometers west of Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, 22° 32' north, 30° 42' east...
- QustulNubiaNubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
- BuhenBuhenBuhen was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated on the West bank of the Nile below the Second Cataract. It is well known for its fortress, probably constructed during the rule of Senusret III, around the year 1860 BC . The site may have been first established as an outpost in Nubia during the...