Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt (Arabic: صعيد مصر Saʿīd Miṣr, shortened to الصعيد es-Ṣeʿīd/es-Ṣaʿīd pronounced [es.sˤe.ˈʕiːd, es.sˤɑ.ˈʕiːd], Coptic: ⲙⲁⲣⲏⲥ) is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends between Nubia, and downriver (northwards) to Lower Egypt.
Contents
Geography
Upper Egypt is between the Cataracts of the Nile above modern-day Aswan, downriver (northwards) to the area between Dahshur and El-Ayait,[citation needed] which is south of modern-day Cairo. The northern (downriver) part of Upper Egypt, between Sohag and El-Ayait, is also known as Middle Egypt.
In Arabic, inhabitants of Upper Egypt are known as Sa'idis and they generally speak Sa'idi Arabic.
In Pharaonic times, Upper Egypt was known as Ta Shemau[1] which means "the land of reeds."[2] It was divided into twenty-two districts called nomes.[3] The first nome was roughly where modern-day Aswan is and the twenty-second was at modern Atfih (Aphroditopolis), just to the south of Cairo.
History
Predynastic Egypt
The main city of predynastic Upper Egypt was Nekhen (Hierakonpolis in Greek),[4] whose patron deity was the vulture goddess Nekhbet.[5]
By about 3600 BC, neolithic Egyptian societies along the Nile River had based their culture on the raising of crops and the domestication of animals.[6] Shortly after 3600 BC Egyptian society began to grow and advance rapidly toward refined civilization.[7] A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the pottery in the Southern Levant, appeared during this time. Extensive use of copper became common during this time.[7] The Mesopotamian process of sun-dried bricks, and architectural building principles—including the use of the arch and recessed walls for decorative effect—became popular during this time.[7]
Concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, occurred. At the same time the societies of the Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt also underwent a unification process.[7] Warfare between Upper and Lower Egypt occurred often.[7] During his reign in Upper Egypt, King Narmer defeated his enemies on the Delta and merged both the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Egypt under his single rule.[8]
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Dynastic Egypt
For most of pharaonic Egypt's history, Thebes was the administrative center of Upper Egypt. After its devastation by the Assyrians, its importance declined. Under the Ptolemies, Ptolemais Hermiou took over the role of Upper Egypt's capital city.[9] Upper Egypt was represented by the tall White Crown Hedjet, and its symbols were the flowering lotus and the sedge.
Medieval Egypt
In the 11th century, large numbers of pastoralists, known as Hilalians, fled Upper Egypt and moved westward into Libya and as far as Tunis.[10] It is believed that degraded grazing conditions in Upper Egypt, associated with the beginning of the Medieval Warm Period, were the root cause of the migration.[11]
20th-century Egypt
In the 20th-century Egypt, the title Prince of the Sa'id (meaning Prince of Upper Egypt) was used by the heir apparent to the Egyptian throne.[12]
Although the Egyptian monarchy was abolished in 1953, the title continues to be used by Muhammad Ali and Hereditary Chief, Sheikh Beja Khawr al`allaqi, Prince of Sa'id.
List of Pharaohs of the Predynastic Period of Upper Egypt
The following list may not be complete (there are many more of uncertain existence):
| Name | Image | Comments | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elephant | End of 4th millennium BC | ||
| Bull | 4th millennium BC | ||
| Scorpion I | Oldest tomb at Umm el-Qa'ab had scorpion insignia | c. 3200 BC? | |
| Iry-Hor |
 |
Possibly the immediate predecessor of Ka. | c. 3150 BC? |
| Ka[13][14] |
 |
Maybe read Sekhen rather than Ka. Possibly the immediate predecessor of Narmer. | c. 3100 BC |
| King Scorpion |
 |
Potentially read Serqet; possibly the same person as Narmer. | c. 3150 BC |
| Narmer |
 |
The king who combined Upper and Lower Egypt.[15] | c. 3150 BC |
List of nomes
| Number | Egyptian Name | Capital | Modern Capital | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ta-Seti | Abu / Yebu (Elephantine) | Aswan | Land of the bow |
| 2 | Wetjes-Hor | Djeba (Apollonopolis Magna) | Edfu | Throne of Horus |
| 3 | Nekhen | Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) | al-Kab | Shrine |
| 4 | Waset | Niwt-rst / Waset (Thebes) | Karnak | Sceptre |
| 5 | Herui | Gebtu (Coptos) | Qift | The two falcons |
| 6 | Aa-ta | Iunet / Tantere (Tentyra) | Dendera | The crocodile |
| 7 | Seshesh | Seshesh (Diospolis Parva) | Hu | Sistrum |
| 8 | Abdju | Abdju (Abydos) | al-Birba | Great land |
| 9 | Min | Apu / Khen-min (Panopolis) | Akhmim | Min |
| 10 | Wadjet | Djew-qa / Tjebu (Aphroditopolis) | Edfu | Cobra |
| 11 | Set | Shashotep (Hypselis) | Shutb | The creature associated with Set |
| 12 | Tu-ph | Hut-Sekhem-Senusret (Antaeopolis) | Qaw al-Kebir | Viper mountain |
| 13 | Atef-Khent | Zawty (z3wj-tj, Lycopolis) | Asyut | Upper Sycamore and Viper |
| 14 | Atef-Pehu | Qesy (Cusae) | al-Qusiya | Lower Sycamore and Viper |
| 15 | Wenet | Khemenu (Hermopolis Magna) | al-Ashmunayn | Hare[16] |
| 16 | Ma-hedj | Herwer? | Hur? | Oryx[16] |
| 17 | Anpu | Saka (Cynopolis) | al-Kais | Anubis |
| 18 | Sep | Teudjoi / Hutnesut (Alabastronopolis) | el-Hiba | Set |
| 19 | Uab | Per-Medjed (Oxyrhynchus) | el-Bahnasa | Two Sceptres |
| 20 | Atef-Khent | Henen-nesut (Herakleopolis Magna) | Ihnasiyyah al-Madinah | Southern Sycamore |
| 21 | Atef-Pehu | Shenakhen / Semenuhor (Crocodilopolis, Arsinoe) | Madinat al-Fayyum | Northern Sycamore |
| 22 | Maten | Tepihu (Aphroditopolis) | Atfih | Knife |
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See also
References
- ↑ Ermann & Grapow, op.cit. Wb 5, 227.4-14
- ↑ Ermann & Grapow, op.cit. Wb 4, 477.9-11
- ↑ The Encyclopedia Americana Grolier Incorporated, 1988, p.34
- ↑ Bard, op. cit., p.371
- ↑ David, op.cit., p.149
- ↑ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times (Charles Scribner's Sons Publishing: New York, 1966) p. 51.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times (Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1966) p. 52-53.
- ↑ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times (Charles Scribner's Sons Publishers: New York, 1966), p. 53.
- ↑ Chauveau, op.cit., p.68
- ↑ Ballais, Jean-Louis (2000) "Chapter 7: Conquests and land degradation in the eastern Maghreb" p. 133 In Barker, Graeme and Gilbertson, David (2000) The Archaeology of Drylands: Living at the Margin Routledge, London, Volume 1, Part III - Sahara and Sahel, pp. 125–136, ISBN 978-0-415-23001-8
- ↑ Ballais, Jean-Louis (2000) "Chapter 7: Conquests and land degradation in the eastern Maghreb" p. 134 In Barker, Graeme and Gilbertson, David (2000) The Archaeology of Drylands: Living at the Margin Routledge, London, Volume 1, Part III - Sahara and Sahel, pp. 125–136, ISBN 978-0-415-23001-8
- ↑ The title was first used by Prince Farouk, the son and heir of King Fouad I. Prince Farouk was officially named Prince of the Sa'id on 12 December 1933.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Rice (1999) p.86
- ↑ Wilkinson (1999) pp.57f.
- ↑ Shaw (2000) p.196
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt: history, archaeology and society. London, Duckworth Egyptology, 2006, pp. 109-111
Bibliography
- Bard, Katheryn A. and Shubert, Steven Blake (1999) Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt Routledge, London, ISBN 0-415-18589-0.
- Chauveau, Michel (2000) Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra: History and Society Under the Ptolemies Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, ISBN 0-8014-3597-8.
- David, Ann Rosalie (1975) The Egyptian Kingdoms Elsevier Phaidon, London, OCLC 2122106.
- Edel, Elmar (1961) Zu den Inschriften auf den Jahreszeitenreliefs der "Weltkammer" aus dem Sonnenheiligtum des Niuserre Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, OCLC 309958651, in German.
- Ermann, Johann Peter Adolf and Grapow, Hermann (1982) Wörterbuch der Ägyptischen Sprache Akademie, Berlin, ISBN 3-05-002263-9, in German.
