El Kab is an Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...

ian site on the east bank of the Nile

Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...

 at the mouth of Wadi Hillal, about 80 km south of Luxor

Luxor

Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...

, consisting of prehistoric and Pharaonic

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 settlements, rock-cut tombs of the early 18th Dynasty

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...

 (1550-1295 BC), remains of temples dating from the Early Dynastic period (3100-2686 BC) to the Ptolemaic period (332-30 BC), as well as part of the walls of a Coptic monastery. First scientifically excavated by James Quibell at the end of the nineteenth century, the site has been investigated primarily by Belgian archaeologists since 1937.

Ancient Nekheb

The walled Pharaonic 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 in the city of Nekhen

Nekhen

Nekhen was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic period...

 (Hierakonpolis) on the opposite bank, becoming the capital of the third nome of Upper Egypt. Its massive mud-brick walls, dating to the Late Period (747-332 BC) and still largely preserved, enclosed an area of about 25,000 sq. m. Near the centre of the town are the remains of sand-stone temples dedicated to the deities Nekhbet

Nekhbet

In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet was an early predynastic local goddess who was the patron of the city of Nekheb, her name meaning of Nekheb...

 and Thoth

Thoth

Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...

, which date primarily to the 18th to 30th Dynasties (1550-343 BC), but the original foundation of the temple of Nekhbet almost certainly dates back to the late fourth millennium BC.

It is the site of the ancient city Nekheb, the companion city to Nekhen

Nekhen

Nekhen was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic period...

. The city is surrounded by a massive mud-brick wall, thought to have been built by Nectanebo II

Nectanebo II

Nectanebo II was the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth dynasty, as well as the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt. Under Nectanebo II Egypt prospered...

 as a defensive measure.

Necropolis

The necropolis has some important tombs, showing the early history of the 18th Dynasty

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...

 and the reunification of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. The rock-tombs of the provincial governors of El-Kab in the New Kingdom include those of Sobeknakht II

Sobeknakht II

Sobeknakht II was an important local Governor at El-Kab and a supporter of the Theban 16th or 17th dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period...

 an important official whose saved the Theban 16th or 17th dynasty from near destruction by invading forces from Kush

Kingdom of Kush

The native name of the Kingdom was likely kaš, recorded in Egyptian as .The name Kash is probably connected to Cush in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham ....

, Ahmose, son of Ebana

Ahmose, son of Ebana

Ahmose, son of Ebana served in the Egyptian military under the pharaohs Tao II Seqenenre, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, and Thutmose I. His autobiography has survived and is intact on the wall of his tomb and has proven a valuable source of information on the late 17th Dynasty and the early 18th Dynasty...

, an admiral in the wars of liberation against the Hyksos

Hyksos

The Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....

 rulers (c.1550 BC), and Setau

Setau

Setau was the Viceroy of Kush in the second half of Ramesses II's reign. Contemporary records show that Setau served in this position from Year 38 until at least Year 63 of Ramesses II's reign. Setau was "a graduate of the royal school" and already enjoyed an impressive record of royal service...

, a priest during the reign of Ramesses II

Ramesses II

Ramesses II , referred to as Ramesses the Great, was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire...

 (1184-1153 BC). The style of the early 18th Dynasty wall-paintings anticipates that of the first New Kingdom nobles' tombs at Thebes

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...

.

Ptolemaic and Roman eras

During the Greco-Roman period, the town flourished and became known as Eileithyiaspolis .

Ancient campsites

In 1967 Pierre Vermeersch discovered a series of well-stratified epipalaeolithic 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

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, between the Upper Palaeolithic period (c.10,000 BC) and the earliest Neolithic phase (c.5500 BC)

External links

by James E. Quibell

James E. Quibell

James Edward Quibell was a British Egyptologist, born in Newport, Shropshire.He was educated at Adams' Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford...

(1898 account of archeological expedition)