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Thinis (Greek language: Θίνις Thinis, Θίς This ; Egyptian: Tjenu; ; ) was the capital city of pre-unification Upper Egypt. Thinis remains Lost city but is well attested by ancient writers, including the classical historian Manetho, who cites it as the centre of the Thinite Confederacy, a tribal confederation whose leader, Menes (or Narmer), united Egypt and was its first pharaoh. Thinis began a steep decline in importance when the capital was relocated to Memphis, which was thought to be the first true and stable capital after the unification of Egypt by Menes. Thinis's location on the border of the competing Heracleopolitan and Theban dynasties of the First Intermediate Period and its proximity to certain Oasis of possible military importance ensured Thinis some continued significance in the Old and New Kingdoms. This was a brief respite and Thinis eventually lost its position as a regional administrative centre by the Roman period.
Due to its ancient heritage, Thinis remained a significant religious centre, housing the tomb and mummy of the regional deity. In ancient Egyptian religious cosmology, as seen (for example) in the Book of the Dead, Thinis played a role as a mythical place in heaven.Massey 1907: 637
Although the precise location of Thinis is unknown, mainstream Egyptology consensus places it in the vicinity of ancient Abydos and modern Girga.Gardiner 1964: 430 n.1Ryholt 1997: 163 n. 594Strudwick 2005: 509
In correcting a passage of Hellanicus (b. 490 BCE), Jörgen Zoega amended Τίνδων ὄνομα to Θὶν δὲ ᾧ ὄνομα. Gaston Maspero (1903) found that this revealed the name Thinis and also, from the same passage, a key geographic indicator: επιποταμίη (). Maspero used this additional detail to support the theory, which included among its followers Jean-François Champollion and Nestor L'Hôte, locating Thinis at modern-day Girga or a neighbouring town, possibly El-Birba. Other proposals for Thinis' location have lost favour at the expense of the Girga-Birba theory: Auguste Mariette, founder director of the Egyptian Museum, suggested Kom el-Sultan; A. Schmidt, El-Kherbeh; and Heinrich Karl Brugsch, Johannes Dümichen and othersMoldenke 2008: 89 supported El-Tineh, near Berdis.Maspero 1903: 331 n.1 Mainstream Egyptological consensus continues to locate Thinis at or near to either Girga, or El-BirbaBagnall 1996: 334 (where an inscribed statue fragment mentioning Thinis is said to have been found).Wilkinson 2000: 354
At an early point, the city of Abydos ceded its political rank to Thinis, and although Abydos would continue to enjoy supreme religious importance,Maspero 1903: 333 its history and functions cannot be understood without reference to Thinis. The role of Thinis as centre of the Thinite Confederacy is taken from Manetho,Wilkinson 2000: 67 although there are still Dynasty I and late Dynasty II royal tombs at Abydos, the principal regional necropolis.
During the wars of the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181 – c. 2055 BCE), Ankhtifi, nomarch of Hierakonpolis, demanded recognition of his suzerainty from the "overseer of Upper Egypt" at Thinis,Hamblin 2006: 373 and although the Defensive walls, cited in Ankhtifi's autobiography, seem to have left Ankhtifi capable of only a show of force, he appears to have purchased Thinis' neutrality with Cereal.Brovarski 1999: 44
Following Ankhtifi's death, Thinis was the northernmost nome to fall under the sway of Intef II, pharaoh of the Theban Dynasty XI (c. 2118 – c. 2069 BCE).Hamblin 2006: 375 Progress north by the Theban armies was halted by Kheti III, pharaoh of the Heracleopolitan Dynasty IX, in a battle at Thinis itself that is recorded in the Teaching for King Merykara,Parkinson 1999: 225 and, throughout Intef II's later years, his war against the Heracleopolitans and their allies, the nomarchs of Assyut, was waged in the land between Thinis and Assyut.
As Thebes began to gain the upper hand, Mentuhotep II (c. 2061 – c. 2010 BCE), during his campaign of reunification, brought Thinis (which had been in revolt, possibly at Heracleopolitan instigation and certainly with the support of an army under the command of the nomarch of Assyut,) firmly under his control.Hamblin 2006: 385
During the Second Intermediate Period (c. eighteenth century BCE), Thinis may have experienced resurgent autonomy: Kim Ryholt (1997) proposes that the Abydos dynasty of kings might better be called the "Thinite Dynasty"Ryholt 1997: 163 and that, in any event, their royal seat was likely at Thinis, already a nome capital.Ryholt 1997: 165
Nonetheless, Thinis had declined to a settlement of little significance by the historic period.Maspero 1903: 331 The misleading reference on a seventh-century BCE stele to "Nespamedu, king of Thinis" is nothing more than a reflection of Assyrian "ignorance of the subtlety of the Egyptian political hierarchy".Leahy 1979
Certainly, by the Roman period, Thinis had been supplanted as capital of its nome by Ptolemais, perhaps even as early as that city's foundation by Ptolemy I.
The high priest of the temple of Anhur at Thinis was called the first prophet,Maspero 1903: 177 or chief of seers,Kitchen 2003: 108Frood 2007: 108 a title that Maspero (1903) suggests is a reflection of Thinis' decline in status as a city.Maspero 1903: 177 n.1
One such chief of seers, Anhurmose, who died in the reign of Merneptah (c. 1213 – c. 1203 BCE), broke with the tradition of his New Kingdom predecessors, who were buried at Abydos, and was laid to rest at Thinis itself.Frood 2007: 107
The lion-goddess Mehit was also worshipped at Thinis,Pinch 2002: 164Frood 2007: 267 and the restoration of her temple there during Merneptah's reign was probably overseen by Anhurmose.
There is evidence that succession to the office of chief of seers of Anhur at Thinis was familial: in the Herakleopolitan period, one Hagi succeeded his elder brother, also called Hagi, and their father to the post;Fischer 1987 and, in the New Kingdom, WenenneferFrood 2007: 97 was succeeded in the priestly office by his son, Hori.Frood 2007: 189
In ancient Egyptian religious cosmology, Thinis played a role as a mythical place in heaven. In particular, as set out in the Book of the Dead, its Eschatology significance can be seen in certain rituals: when the god Osiris triumphs, "joy goeth its round in Thinis", a reference to the celestial Thinis, rather than the earthly city.
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