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 ...

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 ...

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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 ...

nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...

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 ...

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

Eastern Desert The Eastern Desert (known archaically as Arabia or the Arabian Desert) is the part of the Sahara Desert that is located east of the Nile River. It spans of northeastern Africa and is bordered by the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea to the east, a ...

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

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 ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

sceptre A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and M ...

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

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 ...

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

Theban Triad The Theban Triad is a triad of Egyptian gods most popular in the area of Thebes, Egypt. The triad The group consisted of Amun, his consort Mut and their son Khonsu. They were favored by both the 18th and 25th Dynasty. At the vast Karnak Te ...

Mut Mut (; also transliterated as Maut and Mout) was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian language. Mut had many different aspects and attributes that changed and evolved greatly over th ...

Khonsu Khonsu (; also transliterated Chonsu, Khensu, Khons, Chons, Khonshu, or Konshu; ) is an ancient Egyptian god of lunar deity, the Moon. His name means 'traveller', and this may relate to the perceived nightly travel of the Moon across the sky. Al ...

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

Book of Nahum The Book of Nahum is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The book has three chapters. It is attributed to the prophet Nahum. The most general historical setting of Nahum as a prophet was 663 BC to 612 BC, while the hist ...

and also as "No" () mentioned in the

Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Nevi'im#Latter Prophets, Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and one of the Major Prophets, major prophetic books in the Christian Bible, where it follows Book of Isaiah, Isaiah and ...

and

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

. "Thebes" is sometimes claimed to be the Latinised form of , the

hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

form of

Demotic Egyptian Demotic (from ''dēmotikós'', 'popular') is the ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of hieratic used in the Nile Delta. The term was first used by the Greek historian Herodotus to distinguish it from hieratic and Egyptian hiero ...

''tꜣ jpt'' ("the temple"), referring to ''jpt-swt''. Today, the temple is known as

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

, and is located on the northeast bank of the city. Since Homer refers to the metropolis by this name, and since Demotic script did not appear until a later date, the etymology is doubtful. As early as

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'', the Greeks distinguished the Egyptian Thebes as (, ''Thēbai hekatómpyloi'') or "Hundred-Gated Thebes", as opposed to the " Thebes of the Seven Gates" (, ''Thēbai heptápyloi'') in

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...

, Greece. In the , Amun was rendered as

Zeus Ammon Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, remai ...

. The name was therefore translated into Greek as Diospolis, "City of Zeus". To distinguish it from the numerous other cities by this name, it was known as the (, ''Diospolis Megálē''; ). The Greek names came into wider use after the conquest of Egypt by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, when the country came to be ruled by the

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty (; , ''Ptolemaioi''), also known as the Lagid dynasty (, ''Lagidai''; after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal house which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. ...

.

Characteristics

Geography

Thebes was located along the banks of the

Nile River 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 longest river i ...

in the middle part of

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 ...

about 800 km south of the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

. It was built largely on the

alluvial plains An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A '' floodplain'' is part of the process, b ...

of the Nile Valley, which follows a great bend of the Nile. As a natural consequence, the city was laid in a northeast–southwest axis parallel to the contemporary river channel. Thebes had an area of , which included parts of the Theban Hills in the west that culminates at the sacred al-Qurn. In the east lies the mountainous

Eastern Desert The Eastern Desert (known archaically as Arabia or the Arabian Desert) is the part of the Sahara Desert that is located east of the Nile River. It spans of northeastern Africa and is bordered by the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea to the east, a ...

with its

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

s draining into the valley. Significant among these wadis is

Wadi Hammamat Wadi Hammamat (, ) is a dry river bed in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Al-Qusayr and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancient times, and three thousand years of rock carvings and ...

near Thebes. It was used as an overland trade route going to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

coast. Wadi Hammamat was the primary trade route linking Egypt to the Red Sea since Pre-Dynastic times. Uruk civilization was transmitted to Egypt along this corridor. It is the likely that

Thinis Thinis ( Greek: Θίνις ''Thinis'', Θίς ''This'' ; Egyptian: Tjenu; ; ) was the capital city of pre- unification Upper Egypt. Thinis remains undiscovered but is well attested by ancient writers, including the classical historian Manetho ...

, the capital of the First Dynasty, was located in the same region as Thebes for this reason. Both cities were at a crossroad region in Upper Egypt between the Nile in the north to south direction and Saharan caravan routes connecting to Red Sea maritime routes via Wadi Hammamat in the East West direction. The

Wadi el-Hol Wadi el-Hol is a valley on the Farshut Road crossing the Qena Bend between Thebes, Egypt, Thebes and Hu, Egypt, Hiw, on the west bank of the river Nile in Egypt. Wadi el-Hol Inscriptions The Wadi el-Hol inscriptions are two rock inscriptions which ...

is also located near Thebes; this valley connected Thebes to an oasis on the Western Desert. It is notable for the first Proto-Sinatic alphabet inscription, which appeared shortly after Thebes became the capital of Egypt. Nearby towns in the fourth Upper Egyptian

nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...

were Per-Hathor, Madu, Djerty, Iuny, Sumenu and Imiotru.Wilkinson, T. (2013). "The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt".

Demographics

According to

George Modelski George Modelski was Professor of political science in the University of Washington. Modelski was a professor there from 1967 to 1995. Before working at the University of Washington, Modelski was a senior research fellow at the Institute of Adva ...

, Thebes had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2000 BC (compared to 60,000 in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

, the largest city in the world at the time). By 1800 BC, the population of Memphis was down to about 30,000, making Thebes the largest city in Egypt at the time. Historian Ian Morris has estimated that by 1500 BC, Thebes may have grown to be the largest city in the world, with a population of about 75,000, a position it held until about 900 BC, when it was surpassed by

Nimrud Nimrud (; ) is an ancient Assyrian people, Assyrian city (original Assyrian name Kalḫu, biblical name Calah) located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah (), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. ...

(among others). Shomarka Keita reported that a 2005 study on mummified remains found that "some Theban nobles had a

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

which indicated notably

dark skin Dark skin is a type of human skin color that is rich in melanin pigments. People with dark skin are often referred to as black people, although this usage can be ambiguous in some countries where it is also used to specifically refer to differe ...

".

Economy

The archaeological remains of Thebes offer a striking testimony to Egyptian civilization at its height. The Greek poet

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

extolled the wealth of Thebes in the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'', Book 9 (): "... in Egyptian Thebes the heaps of precious ingots gleam, the hundred-gated Thebes."

Culture

More than sixty annual festivals were celebrated in Thebes. The major festivals among these, according to the Edfu Geographical Text, were: the Beautiful Feast of Opet, the Khoiak (Festival), Festival of I Shemu, and Festival of II Shemu. Another popular festivity was the halloween-like Beautiful Festival of the Valley.

History

Old Kingdom

SFEC AEH -ThebesNecropolis-2010-FULL-Overview-039

Thebes was inhabited from around 3200 BC. It was the eponymous capital of Waset, the fourth

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

nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...

. At this time it was still a small trading post, while

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

served as the royal residence of the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...

pharaohs. Although no buildings survive in Thebes older than portions of the Karnak temple complex that may date from the Middle Kingdom, the lower part of a statue of Pharaoh Nyuserre of the 5th Dynasty has been found in Karnak. Another statue dedicated by the

12th Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from 1991–1802 BC (190 years), at what is often considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI–XIV). The dynasty periodically expanded its terr ...

king Senusret may have been usurped and re-used, since the statue bears a cartouche of Nyuserre on its belt. Since seven rulers of the

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

to 6th Dynasties appear on the Karnak king list, perhaps at the least there was a temple in the Theban area that dated to the Old Kingdom.

First Intermediate Period

By 2160 BC, a new line of pharaohs (the

Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

and Tenth Dynasties) consolidated control over

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, the Nile River split into sev ...

and northern parts of

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 ...

from their capital in

Herakleopolis Magna Heracleopolis Magna (, ''Megálē Herakléous pólis''), Heracleopolis (, ''Herakleópolis'') or Herakleoupolis () is the Roman name of the capital of the 20th nome of ancient Upper Egypt, known in Ancient Egyptian as '. The site is located ap ...

. A rival line (the

Eleventh Dynasty The Eleventh Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XI; ) is a well-attested group of rulers. Its earlier members before Pharaoh Mentuhotep II are grouped with the four preceding dynasties to form the First Intermediate Period, whereas the lat ...

), based at Thebes, ruled the remaining part of Upper Egypt. The Theban rulers were apparently descendants of the

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

of Thebes, Intef the Elder. His probable grandson

Intef I Sehertawy Intef I was a local nomarch at Thebes during the early First Intermediate Period and later an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. He was the first member of the 11th Dynasty to lay claim to a Horus name. Intef reigned from 4 to 16 years c. 2120 ...

was the first of the family to claim in life a partial pharaonic titulary, though his power did not extend much further than the general Theban region.

Middle Kingdom

Finally by ,

Intef III Intef III was the third pharaoh of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt during the late First Intermediate Period in the 21st century BC, at a time when Egypt was divided in two kingdoms. The son of his predecessor Intef II and father of his success ...

's son

Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep II (, meaning "Mentu is satisfied"), also known under his Prenomen (Ancient Egypt), prenomen Nebhepetre (, meaning "The Lord of the rudder is Ra"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt, Elev ...

(meaning "Montu is satisfied"), took the Herakleopolitans by force and reunited Egypt once again under one ruler, thereby starting the period now known as the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II ruled for 51 years and built the first mortuary temple at

Deir el-Bahri Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri (, , ) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of the Theban Necropolis. History Deir el-Bahari, located on the west ...

, which most likely served as the inspiration for the later and larger temple built next to it by Hatshepsut in the 18th Dynasty. After these events, the 11th Dynasty was short-lived, as less than twenty years had elapsed between the death of Mentuhotep II and that of

Mentuhotep IV Nebtawyre Mentuhotep IV was the last king of the 11th Dynasty in the Middle Kingdom. He seems to fit into a 7-year period in the Turin Canon for which there is no recorded king. Family King's Mother Imi In Wadi Hammamat, a rock inscription (Ha ...

, in mysterious circumstances. During the

12th Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from 1991–1802 BC (190 years), at what is often considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI–XIV). The dynasty periodically expanded its terr ...

,

Amenemhat I :''See Amenemhat (disambiguation), Amenemhat, for other individuals with this name.'' Amenemhat I (Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ''Ỉmn-m-ḥꜣt'' meaning 'Amun is at the forefront'), also known as Amenemhet I, was a pharaoh of ancient ...

moved the seat of power North to

Itjtawy Itjtawy or It-Towy ("Seizer of the Two Lands"), also known by its full name Amenemhat-itjtawy ("Amenemhat seizes the Two Lands"), was an ancient Egyptian royal city established by pharaoh Amenemhat I. As yet, Itjtawy’s exact location remains l ...

. Thebes continued to thrive as a religious center as the local god

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

was becoming increasingly prominent throughout Egypt. The oldest remains of a temple dedicated to Amun date to the reign of

Senusret I Senusret I (Egyptian language, Middle Egyptian: wikt:z-n-wsrt, z-n-wsrt; /suʀ nij ˈwas.ɾiʔ/) also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt, Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 ...

. Thebes was already, in the Middle Kingdom, a town of considerable size. Excavations around the Karnak temple show that the Middle Kingdom town had a layout with a

grid pattern In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at Angle#Types of angles, right angles to each other, forming a wikt:grid, grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, fr ...

. The city was roughly 250 hectares in area. Remains of two palatial buildings were also detected. Starting in the later part of the 12th Dynasty, a group of

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

ite people began settling in the eastern Nile Delta. They eventually founded the 14th Dynasty at

Avaris Avaris (Egyptian: ḥw.t wꜥr.t, sometimes ''hut-waret''; ; ; ) was the Hyksos capital of Egypt located at the modern site of Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta. As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward, its po ...

in or . By doing so, the Asiatics established hegemony over the majority of the Delta region, subtracting these territories from the influence of the

13th Dynasty The Thirteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XIII) was a series of rulers from approximately 1803 BC until approximately 1649 BC, i.e. for 154 years. It is often classified as the final dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (which includes ...

that had meanwhile succeeded the 12th.

Second Intermediate Period

A second wave of Asiatics called

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 ( ...

(from ''Heqa-khasut'', "rulers of foreign lands" as Egyptians called their leaders) immigrated into Egypt and overran the Canaanite center of power at Avaris, starting the

15th Dynasty The Fifteenth Dynasty was a foreign dynasty of ancient Egypt. It was founded by Salitis, a Hyksos from West Asia whose people had invaded the country and conquered Lower Egypt. The 15th, Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 16th, and Seventeenth Dynasty o ...

there. The Hyksos kings gained the upper hand over Lower Egypt early into the

Second Intermediate Period The Second Intermediate Period dates from 1700 to 1550 BC. It marks a period when ancient Egypt was divided into smaller dynasties for a second time, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom. The concept of a Secon ...

(1657–1549 BC). When the Hyksos took Memphis during or shortly after

Merneferre Ay Merneferre Ay (also spelled Aya or Eje, sometimes known as Ay I) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the mid 13th Dynasty. The longest reigning pharaoh of the 13th Dynasty, he ruled a likely fragmented Egypt for over 23 years in the early to mid ...

's reign (), the rulers of the 13th Dynasty fled south to Thebes, which was restored as capital.Daphna Ben Tor: ''Sequences and chronology of Second Intermediate Period royal-name scarabs, based on excavated series from Egypt and the Levant'', in: ''The Second Intermediate Period (Thirteenth-Seventeenth Dynasties), Current Research, Future Prospects'' edited by Marcel Maree, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 192, 2010, p. 91 Theban princes (now known as the 16th Dynasty) stood firmly over their immediate region as the Hyksos advanced from the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

southwards to

Middle Egypt Middle Egypt () is the section of land between Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis, Egypt, Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, ...

. The Thebans resisted the Hyksos' further advance by making an agreement for a peaceful concurrent rule between them. The Hyksos were able to sail upstream past Thebes to trade with the

Nubians Nubians () ( Nobiin: ''Nobī,'' ) are a Nilo-Saharan speaking ethnic group indigenous to the region which is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt. They originate from the early inhabitants of the central Nile valley, believed to be one of th ...

and the Thebans brought their herds to the Delta without adversaries. The status quo continued until Hyksos ruler

Apophis Apophis (; ), also known as Apep () or Aphoph (, ) Erman, Adolf, and Hermann Grapow, eds. 1926–1953. ''Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien''. 6 vols. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buchhandlungen. (Re ...

(

15th Dynasty The Fifteenth Dynasty was a foreign dynasty of ancient Egypt. It was founded by Salitis, a Hyksos from West Asia whose people had invaded the country and conquered Lower Egypt. The 15th, Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 16th, and Seventeenth Dynasty o ...

) insulted

Seqenenre Tao Seqenenre Tao (also Seqenera Djehuty-aa or Sekenenra Taa, called 'the Brave') was a pharaoh who ruled over the last of the local kingdoms of the Theban region of Egypt in the Seventeenth Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period. Famil ...

(

17th Dynasty The Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVII, alternatively 17th Dynasty or Dynasty 17) was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt during the late Second Intermediate Period, approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC. Its mainly Theb ...

) of Thebes. Soon the armies of Thebes marched on the Hyksos-ruled lands. Tao died in battle and his son

Kamose Kamose was the last king of the Thebes, Egypt, Theban Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt, Seventeenth Dynasty at the end of the Second Intermediate Period. Kamose is usually ascribed a reign of three years (his highest attested regnal year), although s ...

took charge of the campaign. After Kamose's death, his brother

Ahmose I Ahmose I (''Amosis'', ''Aahmes''; meaning "Iah (the Moon) is born") was a pharaoh and founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt in the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. His reign is usually d ...

continued until he captured

Avaris Avaris (Egyptian: ḥw.t wꜥr.t, sometimes ''hut-waret''; ; ; ) was the Hyksos capital of Egypt located at the modern site of Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta. As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward, its po ...

, the Hyksos capital. Ahmose I drove the Hyksos out of Egypt and the Levant and reclaimed the lands formerly ruled by them.

New Kingdom and the height of Thebes

Statues of Memnon at Thebes during the flood-David Roberts

Ahmose I Ahmose I (''Amosis'', ''Aahmes''; meaning "Iah (the Moon) is born") was a pharaoh and founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt in the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. His reign is usually d ...

founded a new age for a unified Egypt with Thebes as its capital. The city remained as capital during most of the

18th 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 ...

(

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 ...

). It also became the center for a newly established professional

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, where there was a greater demand for scribes and the literate as the royal archives began to fill with accounts and reports. At the city the favored few of

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

were reeducated with Egyptian culture, to serve as administrators of the colony. Karnak Temple Complex-en

With Egypt stabilized again, religion and religious centers flourished and none more so than Thebes. For instance,

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( , ; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenization, Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. According to d ...

poured much of his vast wealth from foreign tribute into the temples of

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

.Dorman, P. (2015). "Thebes, Ancient city, Egypt". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-02-07, from http://www.britannica.com/place/Thebes-ancient-Egypt The Theban god Amun became a principal state deity and every building project sought to outdo the last in proclaiming the glory of Amun and the pharaohs themselves.

Thutmose I Thutmose I (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis I, Thothmes in older history works in Latinized Greek; meaning "Thoth is born") was the third pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of History of Ancient Egypt, Egypt. He re ...

(reigned 1506–1493 BC) began the first great expansion of the

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

temple. After this, colossal enlargements of the temple became the norm throughout the New Kingdom. Queen

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut ( ; BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from until (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second c ...

(reigned 1479–1458 BC) helped the Theban economy flourish by renewing trade networks, primarily the Red Sea trade between Thebes' Red Sea port of Al-Qusayr,

Elat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The city is conside ...

and the

land of Punt The Land of Punt (Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pwnt#Egyptian, pwnt''; alternate Egyptian language#Egyptological pronunciation, Egyptological readings ''Pwene''(''t'') ) was an ancient kingdom known from Ancient Egyptian trade records. ...

. Her successor

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, (1479–1425 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and milita ...

brought to Thebes a great deal of his war booty that originated from as far away as

Mittani Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) with In ...

. The 18th Dynasty reached its peak during his great-grandson

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( , ; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenization, Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. According to d ...

's reign (1388–1350 BC). Aside from embellishing the temples of Amun, Amenhotep increased construction in Thebes to unprecedented levels. On the west bank, he built the enormous

mortuary temple Mortuary temples (or funerary temples) were temples that were erected adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in Ancient Egypt. The temples were designed to commemorate the reign of the Pharaoh under whom they were constructed, as well as f ...

and the equally massive

Malkata Malkata (or Malqata; ), is the site of an Ancient Egyptian palace complex built during the New Kingdom, by the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III. It is located on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes, Upper Egypt, in the desert to the south of ...

palace-city, which fronted a 364-hectare artificial lake. In the city proper he built the

Luxor temple The Luxor Temple () is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes (Egypt), Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian language it was ...

and the Avenue of the Sphinxes leading to Karnak. For a brief period in the reign of Amenhotep III's son

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

(1351–1334 BC), Thebes fell on hard times; the city was abandoned by the court, and the worship of Amun was proscribed. The capital was moved to the new city of Akhetaten (Amarna in modern Egypt), midway between Thebes and Memphis. After his death, his son

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

returned the capital to Memphis, but renewed building projects at Thebes produced even more glorious temples and shrines. John Frederick Lewis - The Ramesseum at Thebes - Google Art Project

John Frederick Lewis - The Ramesseum at Thebes - Google Art Project

With the

19th Dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty fu ...

the seat of government moved to the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

. Thebes maintained its revenues and prestige through the reigns of

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek language, Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, ruling or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and th ...

(1290–1279 BC) and

Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...

(1279–1213 BC), who still resided for part of every year in Thebes. Ramesses II carried out extensive building projects in the city, such as statues and obelisks, the third enclosure wall of

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

temple, additions to the

Luxor temple The Luxor Temple () is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes (Egypt), Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian language it was ...

, and the

Ramesseum The Ramesseum is the Temples of a Million years, memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the Ni ...

, his grand

mortuary temple Mortuary temples (or funerary temples) were temples that were erected adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in Ancient Egypt. The temples were designed to commemorate the reign of the Pharaoh under whom they were constructed, as well as f ...

. The constructions were bankrolled by the large

granaries A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

(built around the Ramesseum) that concentrated the taxes collected from Upper Egypt; and by the gold from expeditions to Nubia and the Eastern Desert. During Ramesses' long 66-year reign, Egypt and Thebes reached an overwhelming state of prosperity that equaled or even surpassed the earlier peak under Amenhotep III. SFEC-2010-MEDINET HABU-061

The city continued to be well kept in the early

20th Dynasty The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties together constitute ...

. The

Great Harris Papyrus Papyrus Harris I is also known as The Great Harris Papyrus and (less accurately) simply The Harris Papyrus (though there are a number of other papyri in the Harris collection). Its technical designation is ''Papyrus British Museum EA 9999''. At 4 ...

states that

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 ...

(reigned 1187–56) donated 86,486 slaves and vast estates to the temples of Amun. Ramesses III received tributes from all subject peoples including the

Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples were a group of tribes hypothesized to have attacked Ancient Egypt, Egypt and other Eastern Mediterranean regions around 1200 BC during the Late Bronze Age. The hypothesis was proposed by the 19th-century Egyptology, Egyptologis ...

and

Meshwesh The Meshwesh (often abbreviated in ancient Egyptian as Ma) was an ancient Libyan tribe, of Berber origin along with other groups like Libu and Tehenu/Tjemehu, and also some of the Sea Peoples. Early records of the Meshwesh date back to the Eight ...

Libyans. The whole of Egypt was experiencing financial problems, however, exemplified in the events at Thebes' village of

Deir el-Medina Deir el-Medina (), or Dayr al-Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BC). ...

. In the 25th year of his reign, workers in Deir el-Medina began striking for pay and there arose a general unrest of all social classes. Subsequently, an unsuccessful

Harem conspiracy The Harem conspiracy was a coup d'état attempt against the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses III in 1155 BC. The principal figure behind the plot was one of the pharaoh's secondary wives, Tiye, who hoped to place her son Pentawer on the throne instead ...

led to the executions of many conspirators, including Theban officials and women. Under the later Ramessids, Thebes began to decline as the government fell into grave economic difficulties. During the reign of

Ramesses IX Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after ...

(1129–1111 BC), about 1114 BC, a series of investigations into the plundering of royal tombs in the necropolis of western Thebes uncovered proof of corruption in high places, following an accusation made by the mayor of the east bank against his colleague on the west. The plundered royal mummies were moved from place to place and at last deposited by the priests of Amun in a tomb-shaft in

Deir el-Bahri Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri (, , ) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of the Theban Necropolis. History Deir el-Bahari, located on the west ...

and in the tomb of

Amenhotep II Amenhotep II (sometimes called Amenophis II and meaning "Amun is Satisfied") was the seventh pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns i ...

. (The finding of these two hiding places in 1881 and 1898, respectively, was one of the great events of modern archaeological discovery.) Such maladministration in Thebes led to unrest.

Third Intermediate Period

Control of local affairs tended to come more and more into the hands of the

High Priests of Amun The High Priest of Amun or First Prophet of Amun ('' ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn'') was the highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the ancient Egyptian god Amun. The first high priests of Amun appear in the New Kingdom of Egypt, at the beginnin ...

, so that during the

Third Intermediate Period The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latt ...

, the High Priest of Amun exerted absolute power over the South, a counterbalance to the 21st and

22nd Dynasty The Twenty-second Dynasty was an Ancient Egyptian dynasty of ancient Libyan origin founded by Shoshenq I. It is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty, since the pharaohs originally ruled from the city of Bubastis. The Twenty-first, Twenty-se ...

kings who ruled from the Delta. Intermarriage and adoption strengthened the ties between them, daughters of the Tanite kings being installed as God's Wife of Amun at Thebes, where they wielded greater power. Theban political influence receded only in the Late Period.Egypt: Thebes, A Feature Tour Egypt Story
http://www.touregypt.net/. Retrieved on 2016-02-06. By around 750 BC, the

Kushites The Kushites were a powerful force for over a thousand years in what is now Sudan, building a distinctive civilization south of Egypt. Ancient sources used terms like Cushite, Kushite, and Ethiopian to describe the dark-skinned African peoples of ...

(Nubians) were growing their influence over Thebes and Upper Egypt. In 721 BC, King

Shabaka Neferkare Shabaka, or Shabako ( Meroitic: 𐦰𐦲𐦡𐦐𐦲 (sha-ba-ka), Egyptian: 𓆷𓃞𓂓 ''šꜣ bꜣ kꜣ'', Assyrian: ''Ša-ba-ku-u'', Šabakû ) was the third Kushite pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, who reigned fr ...

of the Kushites defeated the combined forces of

Osorkon IV Usermaatre Osorkon, designated Osorkon IV, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the late Third Intermediate Period. Long considered the last king of the 22nd Dynasty, he was '' de facto'' little more than ruler in Tanis and Bubastis, in Lower ...

(

22nd Dynasty The Twenty-second Dynasty was an Ancient Egyptian dynasty of ancient Libyan origin founded by Shoshenq I. It is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty, since the pharaohs originally ruled from the city of Bubastis. The Twenty-first, Twenty-se ...

),

Peftjauawybast PeftjauawybastKneeling statuette of King Peftjauawybast'. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. or Peftjaubast was an ancient Egyptian ruler ("king") of Herakleopolis Magna during the 25th Dynasty. Biography He was likely installed as governor of the town ...

( 23rd Dynasty)

Bakenranef Bakenranef, known by the ancient Greeks as Bocchoris (Ancient Greek: , ; Latin: ) or Bochchoris (, ; Latin: ) was briefly a king of the 24th Dynasty of Egypt. Based at Sais in the western Delta, he ruled Lower Egypt from c. 725 to 720 BC. Thou ...

(

24th Dynasty The Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXIV, alternatively 24th Dynasty or Dynasty 24) is usually classified as the fourth Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian Third Intermediate Period. History The Twenty-Fourth Dynasty was a short- ...

) and reunified Egypt yet again. His reign saw a significant amount of building work undertaken throughout Egypt, especially at the city of Thebes, which he made the capital of his kingdom. In

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

he erected a pink granite statue of himself wearing the

Pschent The pschent (/pskʰént/; Ancient Greek, Greek ''wikt:ψχέντ, ψχέντ'') was the double Crown (headgear), crown worn by rulers in ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians generally referred to it as Pa-sekhemty (''pꜣ-sḫm.ty''), the Two Powe ...

(the double crown of Egypt).

Taharqa Taharqa, also spelled Taharka or Taharqo, Akkadian: ''Tar-qu-ú'', , Manetho's ''Tarakos'', Strabo's ''Tearco''), was a pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and qore (king) of the Kingdom of Kush (present day Sudan) from 690 to 664 BC. ...

accomplished many notable projects at Thebes (i.e. the Kiosk in Karnak) and Nubia before the Assyrians started to wage war against Egypt.

Late Period

In 667 BC, attacked by the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n king

Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal (, meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir")—or Osnappar ()—was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the th ...

's army, Taharqa abandoned Lower Egypt and fled to Thebes. After his death three years later his nephew (or cousin)

Tantamani Tantamani ( Meroitic: 𐦛𐦴𐦛𐦲𐦡𐦲, , Neo-Assyrian: , ), also known as Tanutamun or Tanwetamani (d. 653 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Kush located in Northern Sudan, and the last pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. ...

seized Thebes, invaded Lower Egypt and laid siege to Memphis, but abandoned his attempts to conquer the country in 663 BC and retreated southwards. The Assyrians pursued him and took Thebes, whose name was added to a long list of cities plundered and destroyed by the Assyrians, as Ashurbanipal wrote:

This city, the whole of it, I conquered it with the help of Ashur and Ishtar. Silver, gold, precious stones, all the wealth of the palace, rich cloth, precious linen, great horses, supervising men and women, two obelisks of splendid electrum, weighing 2,500 talents, the doors of temples I tore from their bases and carried them off to Assyria. With this weighty booty I left Thebes. Against Egypt and Kush I have lifted my spear and shown my power. With full hands I have returned to Nineveh, in good health.

Thebes never regained its former political significance, but it remained an important religious centre. Assyrians installed

Psamtik I Wahibre Psamtik I (Ancient Egyptian: ) was the first pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the Saite period, ruling from the city of Sais in the Nile delta between 664 and 610 BC. He was installed by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian E ...

(664–610 BC), who ascended to Thebes in 656 BC and brought about the adoption of his own daughter,

Nitocris I Nitocris I (alt. Nitiqret, Nitokris I) (died 585 BC) served as the heir to, and then, as the Divine Adoratrice of Amun or God's Wife of Amun for a period of more than seventy years, between 655 BC and 585 BC.Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complet ...

, as heiress to God's Wife of Amun there. In 525 BC, Persian

Cambyses II Cambyses II () was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning 530 to 522 BCE. He was the son of and successor to Cyrus the Great (); his mother was Cassandane. His relatively brief reign was marked by his conquests in North Afric ...

invaded Egypt and became pharaoh, subordinating the kingdom as a

satrapy A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. A satrapy is the territory governed by a satrap. ...

to the greater

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

.

Graeco-Roman Period

The good relationship of the Thebans with the central power in the North ended when the native Egyptian pharaohs were finally replaced by Greeks, led by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. He visited Thebes during a celebration of the

Opet Festival The Opet Festival (, "beautiful festival of Opet") was an annual ancient Egyptian festival celebrated in Thebes (Luxor), especially in the New Kingdom and later periods, during the second month of the season of Akhet, the flooding of the Nile. ...

. In spite of his welcoming visit, Thebes became a center for dissent. Towards the end of the third century BC,

Hugronaphor Horwennefer ( "Horus- Onnophris"; ) was an Egyptian who led Upper Egypt in secession from the rule of Ptolemy IV Philopator in 205 BC. No monuments are attested to this king but along with his successor Ankhwennefer (also known as ''Chaonnophris ...

(Horwennefer), possibly of Nubian origin, led a revolt against the Ptolemies in Upper Egypt. His successor,

Ankhmakis Ankhwennefer ( "May Onnophris live"; ), also known as Ankhmakis,Günther Hölbl, ''History of the Ptolemaic Empire'', Routledge, 2000, pp. 155ff. was the successor of Horwennefer, a rebel ruler who controlled much of Upper Egypt during the ...

, held large parts of Upper Egypt until 185 BC. This revolt was supported by the Theban priesthood. After the suppression of the revolt in 185 BC,

Ptolemy V Ptolemy V Epiphanes Eucharistus (, ''Ptolemaĩos Epiphanḗs Eukháristos'' "Ptolemy the Manifest, the Beneficent"; 9 October 210–September 180 BC) was the King of Ptolemaic Egypt from July or August 204 BC until his death in 180 BC. Ptolemy ...

, in need of the support of the priesthood, pardoned them. Half a century later the Thebans rose again, elevating a certain

Harsiesi Harsiesi (died September 130 BC) was an ancient Egyptian rebel against the rule of Ptolemy VIII Physcon of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Biography Probably the same person of "Harsiesi, son of Paious" (''Paious'' meaning "Enemy of the gods"), he was arg ...

to the throne in 132 BC. Harsiesi, having helped himself to the funds of the royal bank at Thebes, fled the following year. In 91 BC, another revolt broke out. In the following years, Thebes was subdued, and the city turned into rubble. During the Roman occupation (30 BC–641 AD), the remaining communities clustered around the pylon of the Luxor temple. Thebes became part of the Roman province of ''

Thebais The Thebaid or Thebais (, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to the ancient Egyptian c ...

'', which later split into ''Thebais Superior'', centered at the city, and ''Thebais Inferior'', centered at

Ptolemais Hermiou Ptolemais Hermiou, or Ptolemais in the Thebaid, was a city and metropolitan archbishopric in Greco-Roman Egypt and remains a Catholic titular see. Today, the city of El Mansha ()-Bsoi () in the Sohag Governorate is located where the ancient cit ...

. A

Roman legion The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military List of military legions, unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens serving as legionary, legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 i ...

was headquartered in Luxor temple at the time of Roman campaigns in Nubia. Building did not come to an abrupt stop, but the city continued to decline. In the first century AD,

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

described Thebes as having been relegated to a mere village.

Major sites

Eastern Thebes: S F-E-CAMERON 2006-10-EGYPT-KARNAK-0002

* Ancient built-up area * Great Temple of Amun at Karnak (Ancient Egyptian ''Ta-opet''). Still the second largest religious building ever built, it is the main house of worship for

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

, Thebes' patron deity, and the residence of the powerful Amun priesthood. What differentiated it from the many temples of Egypt is the length of time it was built over (more than 2,000 years, starting in the Middle Kingdom). The main features of this temple are its ten large pylons, the

Great Hypostyle Hall The Great Hypostyle Hall is located within the Karnak Temple Complex, in the Precinct of Amon-Re. It is one of the most visited monuments of Ancient Egypt. The structure was built around the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, 19th Egyptian Dynasty (– ...

, a

sacred lake Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cleric. Th ...

, sub-temples, numerous shrines and multiple

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

s. It was the most important temple for a majority of Ancient Egyptian

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. *

Luxor Temple The Luxor Temple () is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes (Egypt), Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian language it was ...

(''Ipet resyt''). Unlike the other temples in Thebes, it is not dedicated to a cult god or a deified version of the king in death. Instead, it is dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship; it may have been where many of the

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

s of Egypt were crowned. It is a centerpiece of the "Opet Festival", where the sacred

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

of the

Theban Triad The Theban Triad is a triad of Egyptian gods most popular in the area of Thebes, Egypt. The triad The group consisted of Amun, his consort Mut and their son Khonsu. They were favored by both the 18th and 25th Dynasty. At the vast Karnak Te ...

travels from Karnak to Luxor temple highlighting the godly significance of the pharaoh's re-coronation . *

Temple of Khonsu The Temple of Khonsu is an ancient Egyptian temple. It is located within the large Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak, in Luxor, Egypt. The edifice is an example of an almost complete New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom Egyptian temple, temple, and was o ...

*

Precinct of Mut The Precinct of Mut is an Ancient Egyptian temple compound located in the present city of Luxor (ancient Thebes), on the east bank of the Nile in South Karnak. The compound is one of the four key ancient temples that creates the Karnak Temple Com ...

*

Precinct of Montu Precinct may refer to: * An electoral precinct * A police precinct * A religious precinct * A shopping arcade or shopping mall ** A Pedestrian zone Places * A neighborhood, in Australia * A unit of public housing in Singapore * A former ele ...

*

Avenue of Sphinxes Avenue of Sphinxes or The King's Festivities Road, also known as Rams Road () is a long avenue (Dromos (architecture), dromos) which connects Karnak, Karnak Temple with Luxor Temple having been uncovered in the ancient city of Thebes (modern Lu ...

Western Thebes: Luxor Temple of Hatshepsut A

* Village of

Deir el-Medina Deir el-Medina (), or Dayr al-Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BC). ...

*

Malkata Malkata (or Malqata; ), is the site of an Ancient Egyptian palace complex built during the New Kingdom, by the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III. It is located on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes, Upper Egypt, in the desert to the south of ...

palace complex *

Ramesseum The Ramesseum is the Temples of a Million years, memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the Ni ...

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Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III The Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, also known as Kom el-Hettân, was built by the main architect Amenhotep, son of Hapu, for Pharaoh Amenhotep III during the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom. The mortuary temple is located on the Western bank ...

* Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut *

Mortuary Temple of Seti I The Mortuary Temple of Seti I is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of the New Kingdom Pharaoh Seti I. It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor ( Thebes). The edifice is si ...

*

Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III Medinet Habu (; ; ; ) is an archaeological locality situated near the foot of the Theban Hills on the West Bank of the River Nile opposite the modern city of Luxor, Egypt. Although other structures are located within the area and important disco ...

*

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and power ...

*

Valley of the Queens The Valley of the Queens is a site in Egypt, in which queens, princes, princesses, and other high-ranking officials were buried from roughly 1560 BC to 1130 BC. Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Queens was known an ...

* Tombs of the Nobles * The Rise of Aten

Cultural heritage

The two great

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

—

Luxor Temple The Luxor Temple () is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes (Egypt), Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian language it was ...

and

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

—and the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and power ...

and the

Valley of the Queens The Valley of the Queens is a site in Egypt, in which queens, princes, princesses, and other high-ranking officials were buried from roughly 1560 BC to 1130 BC. Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Queens was known an ...

are among the greatest achievements of ancient Egypt. From 25 October 2018 to 27 January 2019, the

Museum of Grenoble The Museum of Grenoble () is a municipal museum of Fine Arts and antiquities in the city of Grenoble in the Isère region of France. Located on the left bank of the Isère River, place Lavalette, it is known both for its collections of ancient ...

organized with the support of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, a three-month exhibition on the city of Thebes and the role of women in the city at that time.

In popular culture

In the novel ''

The Egyptian ''The Egyptian'' (''Sinuhe egyptiläinen'', Sinuhe the Egyptian) is a historical novel by Mika Waltari. It was first published in Finnish in 1945, and in an abridged English translation by Naomi Walford in 1949, from Swedish rather than Finni ...

'' (1945) by

Mika Waltari Mika Toimi Waltari (; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel ''The Egyptian'' (). He was extremely productive. Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stories, crime novels, plays, ...

, there are elaborate descriptions on how Thebes looked during the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Thebes is a setting in the films ''

The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places * Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States * Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in P ...

'' (1999) and ''

The Mummy Returns ''The Mummy Returns'' is a 2001 American fantasy action-adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers. It is the sequel to the 1999 film ''The Mummy'', and the second in ''The Mummy'' film series. Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Jo ...

'' (2001). It is said to be the "Land of the Living". (In real history, there was no such name given to it.) The films feature scenes taking place in ancient Egypt in its prime, which affect the story in the modern setting some 3000 years later.

Notes

References

External links

More information on ancient Thebes, a World Cultural Heritage siteTheban Mapping ProjectRamesseum/Ancient Thebes Digital Media Archive (photos, laser scans, panoramas)
data from an Egyptian

Supreme Council of Antiquities The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA; ) was established in 1994, responsible for the conservation, protection, and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt. From 1994 to 2011, the SCA was a department of the Egyptia ...

/ CyArk research partnership
ICOMOS Heritage at Risk 2001/2002
{{Authority control Populated places established in the 4th millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 1st century BC Archaeological sites in Egypt Cities in ancient Egypt World Heritage Sites in Egypt

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Former populated places in Egypt Amun Upper Egypt Former capitals of Egypt

Toponymy

Characteristics

Geography

Demographics

Economy

Culture

History

Old Kingdom

First Intermediate Period

Middle Kingdom

Second Intermediate Period

New Kingdom and the height of Thebes

Third Intermediate Period

Late Period

Graeco-Roman Period

Major sites

Cultural heritage

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References

External links