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Elkab
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 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Luxor (ancient Thebes). Elkab was called Nekheb in the Egyptian language (Coptic: ⲛ̀ⲭⲁⲃ enkhab, Late Coptic: [ənˈkɑb]), a name that refers to Nekhbet, the goddess depicted as a white vulture. In Greek it was called Eileithyias polis, "city of the goddess Eileithyia".
Elkab consists of prehistoric and ancient Egyptian settlements, rock-cut tombs of the early Eighteenth Dynasty (1550–1295 BC), remains of temples dating from the Early Dynastic period (3100–2686 BC) to the Ptolemaic Kingdom (332–30 BC), as well as part of the walls of a Coptic monastery. This site was first scientifically excavated by James Quibell at the end of the nineteenth century, but other archaeologists have spent time at this site include Frederick William Green, Archibald Henry Sayce, Joseph John Tylor, and Somers Clarke. However, Belgian archaeologists took over the project in 1937, and it has remained in their hands since then. Much of the research done at this site took place within the town enclosure of Elkab. However, since the 1980s the work has shifted more to the north and north east of the town.
Elkab is in Upper Egypt, located on the east side of the Nile River, almost to the opposite of Hierakonpolis (on the other side of the river) and about fifty miles above Thebes. With the way the river meandered and eroded the rocks and sand, the Nile River is almost level with the town, but according to Somers Clarke in his journal article “El-Kab and the Great Wall,” “in its early youth the town must have stood well above the flood waters.” The site could be described as a bay between sandstone cliffs to the north and south, and this same sandstone was used to build the temples found in this site.
During Quibell's first excavation, most of the work was done in the cemetery east of the town. There Quibell found many buried skeletons, all with their heads pointing towards the north, and none of them mummified. This being the earliest cemetery at the site, pots, bead, paint slabs and mirrors were found in these burials, but no papyrus or text were found anywhere.
The walled 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 the city of Nekhen or Hierakonpolis on the opposite bank, becoming the capital of the third nome of Upper Egypt. Its massive mudbrick walls, dating to the Late Period (747–332 BC) and thought to have been built by Nectanebo II as a defensive measure, are still largely preserved. They enclose an area of about 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft).
Near the centre of the Nekheb are the remains of sandstone temples dedicated to the ancient Egyptian deities Nekhbet and Thoth that date primarily to the Eighteenth to Thirtieth Dynasties (1550–343 BCE), but the original foundation of the temple of Nekhbet almost certainly dates back to the late fourth millennium BC.
The necropolis has some important tombs, showing the early history of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the reunification of Egypt. The rock tombs of the provincial governors of Nekheb in the New Kingdom include those of Sobeknakht II an important official whose saved the Theban Sixteenth or Seventeenth Dynasty from near destruction by invading forces from the Kingdom of Kush, Ahmose, son of Ebana, an admiral in the wars of liberation against the Hyksos rulers (c. 1550 BCE), and Setau, a priest during the reign of Ramesses III (1184–1153 BCE). The style of the early Eighteenth Dynasty wall paintings anticipates that of the first New Kingdom nobles' tombs at Thebes.
During the Greco-Roman period, the town flourished and became known as Eileithyias polis (Greek: Ειλείθυιας πόλις, Latin: Lucinae Civitas). This village may have thrived for a little while, but it seems that in 380, the city was demolished, either from military or political events. All that remains of the actual buildings are the lower parts of the walls of the houses, but luckily many of the artifacts that would have been inside the houses remained. Coins from the first to fourth century were recovered along with Demotic Greek and ostraca.
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Elkab
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 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Luxor (ancient Thebes). Elkab was called Nekheb in the Egyptian language (Coptic: ⲛ̀ⲭⲁⲃ enkhab, Late Coptic: [ənˈkɑb]), a name that refers to Nekhbet, the goddess depicted as a white vulture. In Greek it was called Eileithyias polis, "city of the goddess Eileithyia".
Elkab consists of prehistoric and ancient Egyptian settlements, rock-cut tombs of the early Eighteenth Dynasty (1550–1295 BC), remains of temples dating from the Early Dynastic period (3100–2686 BC) to the Ptolemaic Kingdom (332–30 BC), as well as part of the walls of a Coptic monastery. This site was first scientifically excavated by James Quibell at the end of the nineteenth century, but other archaeologists have spent time at this site include Frederick William Green, Archibald Henry Sayce, Joseph John Tylor, and Somers Clarke. However, Belgian archaeologists took over the project in 1937, and it has remained in their hands since then. Much of the research done at this site took place within the town enclosure of Elkab. However, since the 1980s the work has shifted more to the north and north east of the town.
Elkab is in Upper Egypt, located on the east side of the Nile River, almost to the opposite of Hierakonpolis (on the other side of the river) and about fifty miles above Thebes. With the way the river meandered and eroded the rocks and sand, the Nile River is almost level with the town, but according to Somers Clarke in his journal article “El-Kab and the Great Wall,” “in its early youth the town must have stood well above the flood waters.” The site could be described as a bay between sandstone cliffs to the north and south, and this same sandstone was used to build the temples found in this site.
During Quibell's first excavation, most of the work was done in the cemetery east of the town. There Quibell found many buried skeletons, all with their heads pointing towards the north, and none of them mummified. This being the earliest cemetery at the site, pots, bead, paint slabs and mirrors were found in these burials, but no papyrus or text were found anywhere.
The walled 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 the city of Nekhen or Hierakonpolis on the opposite bank, becoming the capital of the third nome of Upper Egypt. Its massive mudbrick walls, dating to the Late Period (747–332 BC) and thought to have been built by Nectanebo II as a defensive measure, are still largely preserved. They enclose an area of about 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft).
Near the centre of the Nekheb are the remains of sandstone temples dedicated to the ancient Egyptian deities Nekhbet and Thoth that date primarily to the Eighteenth to Thirtieth Dynasties (1550–343 BCE), but the original foundation of the temple of Nekhbet almost certainly dates back to the late fourth millennium BC.
The necropolis has some important tombs, showing the early history of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the reunification of Egypt. The rock tombs of the provincial governors of Nekheb in the New Kingdom include those of Sobeknakht II an important official whose saved the Theban Sixteenth or Seventeenth Dynasty from near destruction by invading forces from the Kingdom of Kush, Ahmose, son of Ebana, an admiral in the wars of liberation against the Hyksos rulers (c. 1550 BCE), and Setau, a priest during the reign of Ramesses III (1184–1153 BCE). The style of the early Eighteenth Dynasty wall paintings anticipates that of the first New Kingdom nobles' tombs at Thebes.
During the Greco-Roman period, the town flourished and became known as Eileithyias polis (Greek: Ειλείθυιας πόλις, Latin: Lucinae Civitas). This village may have thrived for a little while, but it seems that in 380, the city was demolished, either from military or political events. All that remains of the actual buildings are the lower parts of the walls of the houses, but luckily many of the artifacts that would have been inside the houses remained. Coins from the first to fourth century were recovered along with Demotic Greek and ostraca.