Hebenu (, , )
Geography
Alabastron was located on the east bank of the
Nile north of Antinoöpolis and
Hermopolis. It is placed in present-day el-Kom el-Ahmar about 10 kilometers south of present-day Minya.
Ptolemy placed the city in Middle Egypt, but Pliny the Elder in
Upper Egypt proper in the
Thebaid.
History
Hebenu was the early capital of the Oryx nome. The Greek name
Hipponon (,
HippÅnÅn) derived from the Egyptian name is also mentioned for the city in this era, but it should not be confused with the Hipponon further north in the 18th or 20th nomes near
el Hiba.
In other times, the city was counted as part of the Hare nome. Near it were quarries of alabaster, from which it got its later Greek name. The name is known from the Hellenistic period, i.e. the time of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Roman Egypt, the second half of the century. until the beginning. After this, the city is more often referred to as Alabastrine until late antiquity until the fifthth century.
Buildings and findings
The city had temples dedicated to
Horus and
Pakhet. In addition to Kom el-Ahmar, archaeological sites related to the city include Zawyet el-Amwet, Zawyet el-Maiyitin (Zawiet El-Maietin/Zawyet el-Meitin) and Zawyet el-Sultan (Zawiyat al-Sultan), where, among other things, graves have been found.
See also
-
List of ancient Egyptian towns and cities
Literature
-
Hans Bonnet: Hebenu in: Lexikon der Àgyptischen Religionsgeschichte. Hamburg 2000, , p. 284.
-
Farouk Gomaa: Die Besiedlung Ãgyptens wÀhrend des Mittleren Reiches, 1. OberÀgypten und das Fayyum. Wiesbaden 1986, , p. 319â321.
-
Rainer Hannig: GroÃes Handwörterbuch Ãgyptisch-Deutsch: (2800-950 v. Chr.). By Zabern, Mainz 2006, , p. 1172.
