Tahta ( / ,

ALA-LC ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script. Applications The system is used to represent bibliographic information by ...

: ''Ṭahṭā''; ; , ) is a city in the Sohag Governorate 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 ...

. It is located on the west 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 ...

in an area known for its agricultural richness. Tahta had a population of 85,528 in the 2017 census.

Egyptologists This is a partial list of Egyptologists. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. Demotists are Egyptologists who speciali ...

believe that the modern name may derive from the word ''Ta-ho-ty'' (). Two famous monasteries are located near Tahta, the White Monastery and the Red Monastery. The town has a small but significant

Coptic Catholic The Coptic Catholic Church (), also known as the Coptic Catholic Church of Alexandria, is an Eastern Catholic particular church in full communion with the Catholic Church. Along with the Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eritrean Catholic Church, ...

community. Its most famous resident was the reformist intellectual Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, who was born in Tahta in 1801, and who wrote and translated many books following his trip to Paris in 1826 as the

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

and chaplain for the first group of Egyptians whom Mehmet Ali Pasha (Muhammad Ali Pasha) sent to study in western Europe.

Villages

Villages within the jurisdiction of Tahta include: * Bani Harb () * Nazlit El Qady () * Banga () * El Sawalim () * Shattoura () * El Soffeha () * El Kom El Asfar () * Zein Eld Din () * Nazlit Ali () * Elsawamaa Gharb () * Banhao () * Bani Ammar () * Enibis ()

Notable people

* Rifa'a el-Tahtawi *

Naguib Sawiris Naguib Onsi Sawiris ( ; ; born 15 June 1954) is an Egyptian businessman. Sawiris is chairman of Weather Investments's parent company, and the former chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding and Orascom Investment Holding S.A.E. Early li ...

References

Populated places in Sohag Governorate Populated places on the Nile Cities in Egypt {{egypt-geo-stub

Villages

Notable people

See also

References