Elkab, also spelled El-Kab or El Kab, is an
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...
ian site on the east bank of the
Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
at the mouth of the Wadi Hillal about south of
Luxor
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...
(ancient
Thebes). Elkab was called Nekheb in the
Egyptian language
The Egyptian language, or Ancient Egyptian (; ), is an extinct branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts, which were made accessible to the modern world ...
( , ), a name that refers to
Nekhbet
Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebet) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning ''of Nekheb''). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron ...
, the goddess depicted as a white
vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...
.
[Limme, Luc. "Elkab, 1937–2007: Seventy Years of Belgian Archaeological Research." British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (2008): 15-50. The British Museum. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. .] In Greek it was called Eileithyias polis, "city of the goddess
Eileithyia".
Elkab consists of
prehistoric
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
and
ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ian settlements,
rock-cut tomb
A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a ...
s of the early
Eighteenth Dynasty
The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...
(1550–1295 BC), remains of temples dating from the
Early Dynastic period (3100–2686 BC) to the
Ptolemaic Kingdom
The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Ancient Egypt, Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a Diadochi, ...
(332–30 BC), as well as part of the walls of a
Coptic monastery. This site was first scientifically excavated by
James Quibell
James Edward Quibell (11 November 1867 – 5 June 1935) was a British Egyptologist.
Life
Quibell was born in Newport, Shropshire. He married the Scottish artist and archaeologist Annie Abernethie Pirie in 1900.Bierbrier, M. L. 2012. ''Who Was W ...
at the end of the nineteenth century, but other archaeologists have spent time at this site include Frederick William Green, Archibald Henry Sayce, Joseph John Tylor, and Somers Clarke. However, Belgian archaeologists took over the project in 1937, and it has remained in their hands since then. Much of the research done at this site took place within the town enclosure of Elkab. However, since the 1980s the work has shifted more to the north and north east of the town.
Description of site
Elkab is in Upper Egypt, located on the east side of the Nile River, almost to the opposite of
Hierakonpolis
Nekhen (, ), also known as Hierakonpolis (; , meaning City of Hawks or City of Falcons, a reference to Horus; ) was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of prehistoric Egypt ( 3200–3100 BC) and probably also during th ...
(on the other side of the river) and about fifty miles above
Thebes. With the way the river meandered and eroded the rocks and sand, the Nile River is almost level with the town, but according to Somers Clarke in his journal article “El-Kab and the Great Wall,” “in its early youth the town must have stood well above the flood waters.” The site could be described as a bay between sandstone cliffs to the north and south, and this same sandstone was used to build the temples found in this site.
[Clarke, Somers. "El-Kâb and the Great Wall." The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 7 (1921): 54-79..]
First excavation
During Quibell's first excavation, most of the work was done in the cemetery east of the town. There Quibell found many buried skeletons, all with their heads pointing towards the north, and none of them mummified. This being the earliest cemetery at the site, pots, bead, paint slabs and mirrors were found in these burials, but no papyrus or text were found anywhere.
Ancient Nekheb
The walled settlement of Nekheb was one of the first urban centres of the Early Dynastic period, and for a short time in the New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC) it eclipsed the city of
Nekhen
Nekhen (, ), also known as Hierakonpolis (; , meaning City of Hawks or City of Falcons, a reference to Horus; ) was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of prehistoric Egypt ( 3200–3100 BC) and probably also during th ...
or Hierakonpolis on the opposite bank, becoming the capital of the
third nome of Upper Egypt. Its massive mudbrick walls, dating to the
Late Period (747–332 BC) and thought to have been built by
Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II (Egyptian language, Egyptian: ; ) was the last native ruler of ancient Egypt, as well as the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt, Thirtieth Dynasty, reigning from 358 to c.340 BC.
During the reign of Nectanebo ...
as a defensive measure, are still largely preserved. They enclose an area of about .
Near the centre of the Nekheb are the remains of sandstone temples dedicated to the
ancient Egyptian deities
Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural f ...
Nekhbet
Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebet) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning ''of Nekheb''). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron ...
and
Thoth
Thoth (from , borrowed from , , the reflex of " eis like the ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an African sacred ibis, ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine count ...
that date primarily to the
Eighteenth to
Thirtieth Dynasties (1550–343 BCE), but the original foundation of the temple of Nekhbet almost certainly dates back to the late fourth millennium BC.
Necropolis
The necropolis has some important tombs, showing the early history of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the reunification of Egypt. The rock tombs of the provincial governors of Nekheb in the
New Kingdom
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
include those of
Sobeknakht II an important official whose saved the Theban
Sixteenth or
Seventeenth Dynasty from near destruction by invading forces from the
Kingdom of Kush
The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian language, Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Akkadian language, Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX Χους or Αἰθιοπία; ''Ecōš''; ''Kūš''), also known as the Kushite Empire, or simply Kush, was an an ...
,
Ahmose, son of Ebana, an admiral in the wars of liberation against the
Hyksos
The Hyksos (; Egyptian language, Egyptian ''wikt:ḥqꜣ, ḥqꜣ(w)-wikt:ḫꜣst, ḫꜣswt'', Egyptological pronunciation: ''heqau khasut'', "ruler(s) of foreign lands"), in modern Egyptology, are the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt ( ...
rulers (''c.'' 1550 BCE), and Setau, a priest during the reign of
Ramesses III
Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. Some scholars date his reign from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC, and he is considered the last pharaoh of the New K ...
(1184–1153 BCE). The style of the early Eighteenth Dynasty wall paintings anticipates that of the first New Kingdom nobles' tombs at
Thebes.
Ptolemaic and Roman eras
During the Greco-Roman period, the town flourished and became known as Eileithyias polis (, ). This village may have thrived for a little while, but it seems that in 380, the city was demolished, either from military or political events. All that remains of the actual buildings are the lower parts of the walls of the houses, but luckily many of the artifacts that would have been inside the houses remained. Coins from the first to fourth century were recovered along with
Demotic Greek
Demotic Greek (, , , ) is the standard spoken language of Greece in modern times and, since the resolution of the Greek language question in 1976, the official language of Greece. "Demotic Greek" (with a capital D) contrasts with the conservat ...
and
ostraca
An ostracon (Greek language, Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeology, archaeological or epigraphy, epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer ...
.
Walls
One of the discoveries at the site that Quibell questioned the most during his dig was the walls that surrounded the
serdab
A serdab (), which became a loanword in Arabic for 'cellar', is an ancient Egyptian tomb structure that served as a chamber for the ka statue of a deceased individual. Used during the Old Kingdom, the serdab was a sealed chamber with a small sli ...
. However, much more research has been done since then, and according to a journal article published by the "British Museum of Ancient Egypt and Sudan", the walls date to about the 30th Dynasty, or about the 4th century BC. In 1921, an article titled "El-Kab and the Great Wall" was published in "The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology", and it explained further the three different sets of walls and what they were used for. The first set of walls (the word set being used to describe a double range of walls) "encloses part of the ancient town, second a double range
nclosesthe temple group, and lastly, most conspicuous of the three, the great and massive wall
utsacross the site of the ancient town."
This last wall mentioned surrounds a plot of land that had never actually been inhabited. After some time, because the movement of the Nile River towards the city had threatened to destroy the construction, the original wall around the city could no longer be useful.
The Egyptians had to construct a new wall, farther from the Nile, so that the people could continue to build their houses and live in an area safe from destruction. James Breasted also mentions these walls in an account he wrote of the site in 1897. In his article he states with admiration that, "it is the only city of remote antiquity the walls of which still stand almost intact. From the cliffs back of the town one may look down upon it, stretched out beneath one's feet, and almost see the majestic temple, surrounded by the beautiful villas of the feudal lords, whose soldiery once manned the now silent walls." He then goes on to describe these walls as sun baked brick that are laid thirty-eight feet thick, and surround an enclosure two thousand feet long and fifteen hundred feet wide.
Ancient campsites
In 1967 Pierre Vermeersch discovered a series of well-stratified
Epipaleolithic
In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...
campsites. Radiocarbon-dated to ''c.''6400-5980 BC, these are the type-sites of the
Elkabian microlithic industry, filling a gap in the prehistoric cultural sequence of Egypt between the
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...
(''c.'' 10,000 BC) and the earliest
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
(''c.'' 5500 BC).
Ancient texts
Since the 1980s, even more discoveries have been made. The surrounding hills are inscribed with
petroglyphs
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
that range in time period, from Predynastic to Islamic times, not to mention hieroglyphics that also vary in date (but for the most part were written during the 6th dynasty). At first, many thought these inscriptions to be similar to modern day graffiti – random phrases written by passerby and travelers. However, once further studied, it was realized that these phrases are actually short texts that mention the inhabitants of the town. This is very interesting, because it tells us that Egyptians took note of who lived in what villages, or at least who lived in Elkab. Of course, these inscriptions are only dated from the Sixth Dynasty, but it still tells us a little bit about what they valued.
[Limme, Luc. "Elkab, 1937–2007: Seventy Years of Belgian Archaeological Research." British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (2008): 15-50. The British Museum. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. . page 20]
See also
*
List of ancient Egyptian sites
This is a list of ancient Egyptian sites, throughout Egypt and Nubia. Sites are listed by their classical name whenever possible, if not by their modern name, and lastly with their ancient name if no other is available.
Nomes
A nome is a s ...
References
Bibliography
* Comité des Fouilles Belges en Égypte (ed.), ''Elkab'', 8 vols (Brussels and Louvain, 1971-2010).
*J.E Quibell, ''El-Kab'' (London, 1898).
* by
James E. Quibell
James Edward Quibell (11 November 1867 – 5 June 1935) was a British Egyptology, Egyptologist.
Life
Quibell was born in Newport, Shropshire. He married the Scottish artist and archaeologist Annie Abernethie Pirie Quibell, Annie Abernethie Pirie ...
(1898 account of archeological expedition)
*P. Vermeersch, 'L'Elkabien. Une nouvelle industrie epipaleolithique an Elkab en Haute Egypte, sa stratigraphic, sa typologie'. ''CdE'' 45 (1970)
45-68.* Ian Shaw and Paul Nicholson, ''The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt'', 92-3.
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Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Egypt
Archaeological sites in Egypt
Roman sites in Egypt
Former populated places in Egypt
19th-century archaeological discoveries