Khaset (nome)
Encyclopedia
Nome (Egypt)
A nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country...
(administrative division) in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
.
Geography
Khaset was one of the 20 nomoi in Lower EgyptLower Egypt
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 Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
and had district number 6.
The area of the district is not readable, usually the nomoi were about 30-40 km (18-24 miles) in length and their area depending on the depth of the Nile valley and the beginning of the desert. The area was calculated in cha-ta (1 cha-ta equals roughly 2,75 hectare / 2.4 acres) and the distance was calculated in iteru (1 iteru equals roughly 10,5 km / 6.2 miles) in length.
The Niwt (main city) was Khasu/Xois
Xois
Xois was a town of great antiquity and considerable size. Situated nearly in the center of the Nile Delta in Egypt, it is identified as the ancient Egyptian city of Khasut or Khaset or Sakha.-History:Xois sat upon an island formed by the Sebennytic and Phatnitic branches of the Nile...
(part of modern Sakha) and among other cities were Per-Wadjet/Buto
Buto
Buto , Butus , or Butosus, , now Tell al-Fara'in near the city of Desouk , was an ancient city located 95 km east of Alexandria in the Nile Delta of Egypt. The city stood on the Sebennytic arm of the Nile, near its mouth, and on the southern shore of the Butic Lake...
(modern Tell el-Farain). Per-Wadjet was sometimes also part of the Sap-Meh nome.
History
Every nome was ruled by a nomarchNomarch
Nomarchs were the semi-feudal rulers of Ancient Egyptian provinces. Serving as provincial governors, they each held authority over one of the 42 nomes into which the country was divided. Both nome and nomarch are terms derived from the Greek nomos, meaning a province or district...
(provincial governor) who answered directly to the pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
.
Every niwt had a Het net (temple) dedicated to the chief deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
and a Heqa het (nomarch's residence).
The districts main deity were Wadjet
Wadjet
In Egyptian mythology, Wadjet, or the Green One , was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep , which became part of the city that the Egyptians named Per-Wadjet, House of...
and Ra
Ra
Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
and among other major deities were Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
and Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
.
Today the area is part of the Gharbia Governorate.
