Per Nemty (pr nmty; House of Nemty), an Ancient Egyptian settlement also known in Greek as Hieracon and at the modern village of al-Atawla, on the right/eastern bank of the Nile River northeast of

Assiut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut''. ( ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city i ...

(5 km). It was the capital of the 12th Nome of Upper Egypt. The town was centered on the Temple of Nemty, the god

Nemty In Egyptian mythology, Nemty (Antaeus in Greek, but probably not connected to the Antaeus in Greek mythology) was a god whose worship centered at Antaeopolis in the northern part of Upper Egypt. Nemty's worship is quite ancient, dating from at l ...

being the ferryman god.

History

Old Kingdom

In the Old Kingdom, the governors of the 12th nome were buried at Deir_el-Gabrawi. The area hosted powerful nomarchs durning the 6th Dynasty.

Middle Kingdom

A Temple-block from el-Atawla with name of

Hotepibre Hotepibre Qemau Siharnedjheritef (also Sehetepibre I or Sehetepibre II depending on the scholar) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period. Family Qemau Siharnedjheritef complete nomen means "Qemau's s ...

of the early 13th Dynasty is in the

Cairo Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world. It houses over 120, ...

(Temp 25.4.22.3).

New Kingdom

In the New Kingdom, the temple may have seen some construction with a lintel naming

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 ...

Hellenistic Period

Hieracon or Hierakon (,

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

vi. 7. § 36), also called Theracon,

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 ...

pr nmty, was an ancient fortified city 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 ...

situated on the right 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 ...

, now the site of the modern-day village of Elatawlah,

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 ...

. It stood nearly midway between the western extremity of the or Alabstrine Mountains (the site of the Kom al-Ahmar Necropolis) and the city of

Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut''. ( ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city i ...

(Greek ''Lycopolis''), latitude 27° 15′North.

Roman Period

In Roman times, was quartered the ''

cohors A cohort (from the Latin ''cohors'', : ''cohortes''; see wikt:cohors for full inflection table) was a standard tactical military unit of a Roman legion. Although the standard size changed with time and situation, it was generally composed of 4 ...

prima'' of the

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

auxiliaries Auxiliaries are combat support, support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular army, regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties ...

Similarities

Hieracon is distinct from

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 ...

(, ''Hierakon polis''

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 ...

xvii. p. 817), which was south of Thebes, lat. 25° 52′North, nearly opposite Eileithyias polis (, Egyptian ''Nekheb'', modern

El Kab Elkab, also spelled El-Kab or El Kab, is an Upper Egyptian site on the east bank of the Nile at the mouth of the Wadi Hillal about south of Luxor (ancient Thebes). Elkab was called Nekheb in the Egyptian language ( , ), a name that refers to ...

), and capital of the third nome of Upper Egypt.

References

*{{SmithDGRG, title=Hieracon

External links

Archaeology
Cities in ancient Egypt Former populated places in Egypt