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Thebes (, Thebai) was a city in Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a long-lived ancient civilization in north-eastern Africa....
 located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river NileNile

The Nile ; Ancient Egyptian iteru), a river in Africa, is accepted by most authorities as being the longest river on Ear...
 . It was the capital of Waset, the fourth Upper EgyptUpper Egypt

Upper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan to the area between El-...
ian nomeNome (Egypt)

A nome is a subnational administrative division of Ancient Egypt....
. (Waset was also a name for the city.) It was the capital of Egypt during part of the 11th DynastyEleventh dynasty of Egypt

Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Eleventh Dynasty....
 and most of the 18th DynastyEighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt - often combined with the nineteenth and twentieth dynasties under the group title, ...
, though the administration probably remained at MemphisMemphis, Egypt Overview

Memphis, coordinates , was the ancient capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its fo...
 for much of this. With the 19th DynastyNineteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom....
 the seat of government moved to the DeltaNile Delta

The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea....
. The archaeological remains of Thebes offer a striking testimony to Egyptian civilization at its height. The Greek poet HomerHomer

Homer was a legendary early Greek poet and rhapsode traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the ...
 extolled the wealth of Thebes in the IliadIliad

The Iliad is, together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, a supposedly blin...
, Book 9 (c. 7th Century BC): "... in Egyptian Thebes the heaps of precious ingots gleam, the hundred-gated Thebes."

The name Thebai is the GreekGreek language

Greek has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language within the Indo-European family....
 designation of the ancient EgyptianEgyptian language

Written records of the ancient Egyptian language have been dated from about 3200 BC....
 niwt "(The) City" and niwt-rst "(The) Southern City".






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Timeline

668 BC   Estimation: Nineveh, capital of Assyria becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Thebes in Egypt.

664 BC   Assurbanipal captures and sacks Thebes, Egypt.






Encyclopedia


Thebes (, Thebai) was a city in Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a long-lived ancient civilization in north-eastern Africa....
 located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river NileNile

The Nile ; Ancient Egyptian iteru), a river in Africa, is accepted by most authorities as being the longest river on Ear...
 . It was the capital of Waset, the fourth Upper EgyptUpper Egypt

Upper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan to the area between El-...
ian nomeNome (Egypt)

A nome is a subnational administrative division of Ancient Egypt....
. (Waset was also a name for the city.) It was the capital of Egypt during part of the 11th DynastyEleventh dynasty of Egypt

Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Eleventh Dynasty....
 and most of the 18th DynastyEighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt - often combined with the nineteenth and twentieth dynasties under the group title, ...
, though the administration probably remained at MemphisMemphis, Egypt Overview

Memphis, coordinates , was the ancient capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its fo...
 for much of this. With the 19th DynastyNineteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom....
 the seat of government moved to the DeltaNile Delta

The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea....
. The archaeological remains of Thebes offer a striking testimony to Egyptian civilization at its height. The Greek poet HomerHomer

Homer was a legendary early Greek poet and rhapsode traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the ...
 extolled the wealth of Thebes in the IliadIliad

The Iliad is, together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, a supposedly blin...
, Book 9 (c. 7th Century BC): "... in Egyptian Thebes the heaps of precious ingots gleam, the hundred-gated Thebes."

The name Thebai is the GreekGreek language

Greek has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language within the Indo-European family....
 designation of the ancient EgyptianEgyptian language

Written records of the ancient Egyptian language have been dated from about 3200 BC....
 niwt "(The) City" and niwt-rst "(The) Southern City". At the seat of the Theban triadEgyptian mythology

Egyptian mythology or Egyptian religion is the succession of tentative beliefs held by the people of Egypt for over th...
 of AmunAmun

Amun was the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose to become one of the most important deities, before...
, MutMut

In Egyptian mythology, Mut ' was originally a title of the primordial waters of the cosmos, Naunet, in the Ogdoad cosmoge...
, and Khonsu, Thebes was known in the Egyptian languageEgyptian language

Written records of the ancient Egyptian language have been dated from about 3200 BC....
 from the end of the New Kingdom as niwt-imn, "The City of AmunAmun

Amun was the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose to become one of the most important deities, before...
." This found its way into the Hebrew BibleBible

The Bible , is the name used by Jews and Christians for their differing canons of sacred texts....
 as ?? ???? no? ?amôn,"no" in Hebrew meaning city with "no amon" or "City of Amon" referring to the Egyptian deity Amon-Re, most likely it is also the same as ?? ("No"). In Greek this name was rendered Diospolis, "City of Zeus", as ZeusZeus

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the highest ranking god among the Olympian gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky...
 was the god whom the Greeks identified with AmunAmun

Amun was the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose to become one of the most important deities, before...
, see interpretatio graecaInterpretatio graeca Overview

Interpretatio graeca is a Latin term for the common tendency of ancient Greek writers to equate foreign divinities to me...
. The Greeks surnamed the city megale, "the Great", to differentiate it from numerous other cities called Diospolis. The RomansRoman Empire

The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government....
 rendered the name Diospolis Magna.

In modern usage, the mortuary templeMortuary temple

Mortuary temples were temples constructed adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in the Middle Kingdom and New King...
s and tombTomb

A tomb is a place of burial for the remains of the dead....
s on the west bank of the river Nile are generally thought of as part of Thebes.

Two towns at or near two important temples on the outskirts of the city are now called LuxorLuxor

Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of the Al Uqsur governorate, population approximately 200,000....
 (Arabic: ??????, Al-Uq?ur, "The palaces") and al-KarnakKarnak

Al-Karnak is a small village in Egypt, located on the banks of the River Nile some 2.5 km north of Luxor....
 (??????).

Etymology

The name Thebes is often mistakenly thought to derive from the name of the Greek town called ThebesThebes, Greece

Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the sou...
. Although the etymology is unclear, Thebes is likely a hellenization of ancient Egyptian t3 ipt-swt (lit. "The Most-Select of Places"), one of the names of the temple of KarnakKarnak

Al-Karnak is a small village in Egypt, located on the banks of the River Nile some 2.5 km north of Luxor....
, which is located in the city. Thebes is now known as the modern day city of LuxorLuxor

Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of the Al Uqsur governorate, population approximately 200,000....
.

Major Archaeological Sites

East Bank

  • Karnak TempleKarnak

    Al-Karnak is a small village in Egypt, located on the banks of the River Nile some 2.5 km north of Luxor....
  • Luxor TempleLuxor Temple

    Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known a...
  • Avenue of the Sphinxes

West Bank

  • Valley of the KingsValley of the Kings

    The Valley of the Kings, or Wadi el-Muluk in Arabic, is a valley in Egypt where tombs were built for the Pharaohs and ...
  • Valley of the QueensValley of the Queens

    The Valley of the Queens, also known as Biban el-Harim, Biban el-Sultanat, and Wadi el-Melikat, is a place in Eg...
  • Medinet HabuMedinet Habu

    Medinet Habu is an important Egyptian archaeological and tourist locality on the West Bank of the modern city of Luxor....
     (mortuary temple of Ramesses IIIRamesses III

    Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty and is considered to be the last great New Kingdom king to wiel...
    )
  • The RamesseumRamesseum

    The Ramesseum is the memorial temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II....
     (mortuary temple of Ramesses IIRamesses II

    Ramesses II was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty....
    )
  • Deir el-Medina (workers' village)
  • Tombs of the NoblesTombs of the Nobles (Luxor)

    Located in the Theban Necropolis, near Luxor, the Tombs of the Nobles are the burial places of some of the powerful courtiers and ...
  • Deir el-BahriDeir el-Bahri

    Deir el-Bahri is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, E...
     (temples of Mentuhotep IIMentuhotep II Overview

    Nebhotepre Mentuhotep II was a Pharaoh of the 11th dynasty, the son of Intef III of Egypt and a minor queen called Iah....
    , HatshepsutHatshepsut

    Alt=Hatchepsut | Name=Hatshepsut |...
    , etc.)
  • MalkataMalkata

    Malkata is a place located on the west bank of Thebes, Egypt, in Egypt, in the desert south of Medinet Habu....
     (palace of Amenhotep IIIAmenhotep III

    Nebmaatre Amenhotep IIIareya in the Amarna letters) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty....
    )
  • Colossi of MemnonColossi of Memnon

    The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III....
     (part of the mortuary templeMortuary Temple of Amenhotep III Overview

    The Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III is located in the Theban necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Luxor in Eg...
     of Amenhotep IIIAmenhotep III

    Nebmaatre Amenhotep IIIareya in the Amarna letters) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty....
    )

Sources

  • Gauthier, Henri. 1925–1931. Dictionnaire des noms géographiques contenus dans les textes hiéroglyphiques. Vol. 3 of 7 vols. Cairo: Imprimerie de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire. (Reprinted Osnabrück: Otto Zeller Verlag, 1975). 75, 76.
  • Polz, Daniel C. 2001. "Thebes". In The Oxford Encyclopedia of ancient Egypt, edited by Donald Bruce Redford. Vol. 3 of 3 vols. Oxford, New York, and Cairo: Oxford University Press and The American University in Cairo Press. 384–388.
  • Redford, Donald Bruce. 1992. "Thebes". In The Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman. Vol. 6 of 6 vols. New York: Doubleday. 442–443. ISBN 0-385-42583-X (6-volume set)
  • Strudwick, Nigel C., & Strudwick, Helen, Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor. London: British Museum Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8014-3693-1 (hardcover)/ISBN 0-8014-8616-5 (paperback)

External links

  • , data from an Egyptian Supreme Council of AntiquitiesFacts About Supreme Council of Antiquities

    The Supreme Council of Antiquities is part of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and is responsible for the conservation, prot...
    /CyArkCyArk

    CyArk is a nonprofit, noncommercial project of the Kacyra Family Foundation located in Orinda, California, United States....
     research partnership