Hermopolis
From ArchaeoWiki
Hermopolis (Magna / Megale) (Greek: Ἑρμοῦ πόλις μεγάλη; Egyptian: Khmenu; modern, Arabic: el-Ashmunein) represents an important and extensive archaeological site in northern Middle Egypt, located on the west bank of the Nile some 8 km north of the modern city of Mallawi and about 7 km east of the ancient settlement's necropolis at Tuna el-Gebel. A city of considerable standing in the ancient world, Hermopolis was the capital of the 15th Upper Egyptian nome ('the hare nome') and the chief cult centre of the ancient Egyptian god of writing and wisdom Thoth.
The common name or designation of the city translates as "City of Hermes": the city formed an important settlement in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, the city god Thoth being commonly identified with the Greek deity Hermes. The Egyptian name of the city, Khmenu, translating as the "City of the Eight" or simply "Eight-Town", reflected the Heliopolitan Ogdoad, or group of eight primeval gods, who formed the basis of the cosmology that originated in this city but which proved widely influential.
Excavation
From 1980-1990, the site of Hermopolis was excavated by a British Museum expedition under the direction of A.J. Spencer.
Description
A number of temples were erected in the centre of the ancient city, the largest example within the ancient sanctuary enclosure being the main Temple of Thoth. Of doubtless very ancient origins, the Thoth temple was largely rebuilt by the Thirtieth Dynasty ruler Nectanebo I. The temple received other significant additions under Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus. Unfortunately, the magnificent portico of the Thoth temple was utilised for local building stone during the 1820s, leaving only the general outline of the structure after demolition (the remains of the temple are, additionally, now flooded by the rising water table).
Immediately to the south-west of the Thoth temple, within the sanctuary, stood a small limestone temple of Amun. Started by the Nineteenth Dynasty ruler Merneptah, the Amun temple was apparently completed by Seti II. The Amun temple today is largely ruinous: although the pylon and hypostyle hall stand relatively well-preserved, the rear and main portion of the structure are completely destroyed.
To the south once stood an earlier pylon of Ramesses II. It was within this structure, in the period 1929-1939, that the German excavator Günther Röder discovered more than 1,500 stone blocks from the temples of the 'heretic ruler' Akhenaten at the neighbouring site of Amarna. After these temples' dismantling, the mostly talatat building stones—many with decoration—had been transported to the site of Hermopolis and utilised as a building core.
Hermopolis was enclosed in the Thirtieth Dynasty by massive mud-brick walls.
