TheEgyptian name for Thebes waswꜣs.t, "City of thewꜣs", thesceptre of thepharaohs, a long staff with an animal's head and a forked base. From the end of theNew Kingdom, Thebes was known in Egyptian asnjw.t-jmn, the "City ofAmun", the chief of theTheban Triad of deities whose other members wereMut andKhonsu. This name of Thebes appears in theTanakh as the"Nōʼ ʼĀmôn" (נא אמון) in theBook of Nahum[4] and also as "No" (נא) mentioned in theBook of Ezekiel[5] andJeremiah.[6][7]
"Thebes" is sometimes claimed to be theLatinised form ofAncient Greek:Θῆβαι, thehellenized form ofDemotic Egyptiantꜣ jpt ("the temple"), referring tojpt-swt. Today, the temple is known asKarnak, and is located on the northeast bank of the city. Since Homer refers to the metropolis by this name, and since Demotic script did not appear until a later date, the etymology is doubtful. As early asHomer'sIliad,[8] the Greeks distinguished the Egyptian Thebes as"Thebes of the Hundred Gates" (Θῆβαι ἑκατόμπυλοι,Thēbai hekatómpyloi) or "Hundred-Gated Thebes", as opposed to the "Thebes of the Seven Gates" (Θῆβαι ἑπτάπυλοι,Thēbai heptápyloi) inBoeotia, Greece.[n 1]
In theinterpretatio graeca, Amun was rendered asZeus Ammon. The name was therefore translated into Greek as Diospolis, "City of Zeus". To distinguish it from the numerous other cities by this name, it was known as the"Great Diospolis" (Διόσπολις Μεγάλη,Diospolis Megálē;Latin:Diospolis Magna). The Greek names came into wider use after the conquest of Egypt byAlexander the Great, when the country came to be ruled by theMacedonianPtolemaic dynasty.
Thebes was located along the banks of theNile River in the middle part ofUpper Egypt about 800 km south of theDelta. It was built largely on thealluvial plains of the Nile Valley, which follows a great bend of the Nile. As a natural consequence, the city was laid in a northeast–southwest axis parallel to the contemporary river channel. Thebes had an area of 93 km2 (36 sq mi), which included parts of the Theban Hills in the west that culminates at the sacred 420-meter (1,380-foot)al-Qurn. In the east lies the mountainousEastern Desert with itswadis draining into the valley. Significant among these wadis isWadi Hammamat near Thebes. It was used as an overland trade route going to theRed Sea coast. Wadi Hammamat was the primary trade route linking Egypt to the Red Sea since Pre-Dynastic times.[10] During the 4th millennium BCE, elements of the Uruk civilization weretransmitted to Egypt along this corridor. It is the likely thatThinis, the capital of the First Dynasty, was located in the same region as Thebes for this reason. Both cities were at a crossroad region in Upper Egypt between the Nile in the north to south direction and Saharan caravan routes connecting to Red Sea maritime routes via Wadi Hammamat in the East West direction. TheWadi el-Hol is also located near Thebes; this valley connected Thebes to an oasis on the Western Desert. It is notable for the firstProto-Sinatic alphabet inscription, which appeared shortly after Thebes became the capital of Egypt.
According toGeorge Modelski, Thebes had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2000 BC (compared to 60,000 inMemphis, the largest city in the world at the time). By 1800 BC, the population of Memphis was down to about 30,000, making Thebes the largest city in Egypt at the time.[12] HistorianIan Morris has estimated that by 1500 BC, Thebes may have grown to be the largest city in the world, with a population of about 75,000, a position it held until about 900 BC, when it was surpassed byNimrud (among others).[13]
Shomarka Keita reported that a 2005 study on mummified remains found that "some Theban nobles had ahistology which indicated notablydark skin".[14]
More than sixty annual festivals were celebrated in Thebes. The major festivals among these, according to the Edfu Geographical Text, were: theBeautiful Feast of Opet, the Khoiak (Festival), Festival of IShemu, and Festival of II Shemu. Another popular festivity was the halloween-likeBeautiful Festival of the Valley.[17]
Thebes was inhabited from around 3200 BC.[18] It was the eponymous capital of Waset, the fourthUpper Egyptiannome. At this time it was still a small trading post, whileMemphis served as the royal residence of theOld Kingdom pharaohs. Although no buildings survive in Thebes older than portions of the Karnak temple complex that may date from theMiddle Kingdom, the lower part of a statue of PharaohNyuserre of the5th Dynasty has been found in Karnak. Another statue dedicated by the12th Dynasty king Senusret may have been usurped and re-used, since the statue bears a cartouche of Nyuserre on its belt. Since seven rulers of the4th to6th Dynasties appear on the Karnak king list, perhaps at the least there was a temple in the Theban area that dated to the Old Kingdom.
By 2160 BC, a new line of pharaohs (theNinth andTenth Dynasties) consolidated control overLower Egypt and northern parts ofUpper Egypt from their capital inHerakleopolis Magna. A rival line (theEleventh Dynasty), based at Thebes, ruled the remaining part of Upper Egypt. The Theban rulers were apparently descendants of theprince of Thebes,Intef the Elder. His probable grandsonIntef I was the first of the family to claim in life a partialpharaonic titulary, though his power did not extend much further than the general Theban region.
Serekh of Intef I inscribed posthumously for him by Mentuhotep II
Finally byc. 2050 BC,Intef III's sonMentuhotep II (meaning "Montu is satisfied"), took the Herakleopolitans by force and reunited Egypt once again under one ruler, thereby starting the period now known as theMiddle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II ruled for 51 years and built the first mortuary temple atDeir el-Bahri, which most likely served as the inspiration for the later and larger temple built next to it by Hatshepsut in the 18th Dynasty. After these events, the 11th Dynasty was short-lived, as less than twenty years had elapsed between the death of Mentuhotep II and that ofMentuhotep IV, in mysterious circumstances.
During the12th Dynasty,Amenemhat I moved the seat of power North toItjtawy. Thebes continued to thrive as a religious center as the local godAmun was becoming increasingly prominent throughout Egypt. The oldest remains of a temple dedicated to Amun date to the reign ofSenusret I.[citation needed] Thebes was already, in the Middle Kingdom, a town of considerable size. Excavations around the Karnak temple show that the Middle Kingdom town had a layout with agrid pattern. The city was roughly 250 hectares in area. Remains of two palatial buildings were also detected.[19]
Theban princes (now known as the16th Dynasty) stood firmly over their immediate region as the Hyksos advanced from theDelta southwards toMiddle Egypt. The Thebans resisted the Hyksos' further advance by making an agreement for a peaceful concurrent rule between them. The Hyksos were able to sail upstream past Thebes to trade with theNubians and the Thebans brought their herds to the Delta without adversaries. The status quo continued until Hyksos rulerApophis (15th Dynasty) insultedSeqenenre Tao (17th Dynasty) of Thebes. Soon the armies of Thebes marched on the Hyksos-ruled lands. Tao died in battle and his sonKamose took charge of the campaign. After Kamose's death, his brotherAhmose I continued until he capturedAvaris, the Hyksos capital. Ahmose I drove the Hyksos out of Egypt and the Levant and reclaimed the lands formerly ruled by them.[23]
Ahmose I founded a new age for a unified Egypt with Thebes as its capital. The city remained as capital during most of the18th Dynasty (New Kingdom). It also became the center for a newly established professionalcivil service, where there was a greater demand for scribes and the literate as the royal archives began to fill with accounts and reports.[24] At the city the favored few ofNubia were reeducated with Egyptian culture, to serve as administrators of the colony.[25]
With Egypt stabilized again, religion and religious centers flourished and none more so than Thebes. For instance,Amenhotep III poured much of his vast wealth from foreign tribute into the temples ofAmun.[26] The Theban god Amun became a principal state deity and every building project sought to outdo the last in proclaiming the glory of Amun and the pharaohs themselves.[27]Thutmose I (reigned 1506–1493 BC) began the first great expansion of theKarnak temple. After this, colossal enlargements of the temple became the norm throughout the New Kingdom.
QueenHatshepsut (reigned 1479–1458 BC) helped the Theban economy flourish by renewing trade networks, primarily the Red Sea trade between Thebes's Red Sea port ofAl-Qusayr,Elat and theland of Punt. Her successorThutmose III brought to Thebes a great deal of his war booty that originated from as far away asMittani. The 18th Dynasty reached its peak during his great-grandsonAmenhotep III's reign (1388–1350 BC). Aside from embellishing the temples of Amun, Amenhotep increased construction in Thebes to unprecedented levels. On the west bank, he built the enormousmortuary temple and the equally massiveMalkata palace-city, which fronted a 364-hectare artificial lake. In the city proper he built theLuxor temple and the Avenue of the Sphinxes leading to Karnak.
For a brief period in the reign of Amenhotep III's sonAkhenaten (1351–1334 BC), Thebes fell on hard times; the city was abandoned by the court, and the worship of Amun was proscribed. The capital was moved to the new city ofAkhetaten (Amarna in modern Egypt), midway between Thebes and Memphis. After his death, his sonTutankhamun returned the capital to Memphis,[28] but renewed building projects at Thebes produced even more glorious temples and shrines.[26]
With the19th Dynasty the seat of government moved to theDelta. Thebes maintained its revenues and prestige through the reigns ofSeti I (1290–1279 BC) andRamesses II (1279–1213 BC), who still resided for part of every year in Thebes.[26] Ramesses II carried out extensive building projects in the city, such as statues and obelisks, the third enclosure wall ofKarnak temple, additions to theLuxor temple, and theRamesseum, his grandmortuary temple. The constructions were bankrolled by the largegranaries (built around the Ramesseum) that concentrated the taxes collected from Upper Egypt;[29][page needed] and by the gold from expeditions[11][page needed] to Nubia and the Eastern Desert. During Ramesses's long 66-year reign, Egypt and Thebes reached an overwhelming state of prosperity that equaled or even surpassed the earlier peak under Amenhotep III.[30]
Polychromed column with bas-reliefs at the temple ofMedinet Habu, dedicated to Rameses III
The city continued to be well kept in the early20th Dynasty. TheGreat Harris Papyrus states thatRamesses III (reigned 1187–56) donated 86,486 slaves and vast estates to the temples of Amun. Ramesses III received tributes from all subject peoples including theSea Peoples andMeshwesh Libyans. The whole of Egypt was experiencing financial problems, however, exemplified in the events at Thebes's village ofDeir el-Medina. In the 25th year of his reign, workers in Deir el-Medina began striking for pay and there arose a general unrest of all social classes. Subsequently, an unsuccessfulHarem conspiracy led to the executions of many conspirators, including Theban officials and women.[31]
Under the later Ramessids, Thebes began to decline as the government fell into grave economic difficulties. During the reign ofRamesses IX (1129–1111 BC), about 1114 BC, a series of investigations into the plundering of royal tombs in the necropolis of western Thebes uncovered proof of corruption in high places, following an accusation made by the mayor of the east bank against his colleague on the west. The plundered royal mummies were moved from place to place and at last deposited by the priests of Amun in a tomb-shaft inDeir el-Bahri and in the tomb ofAmenhotep II. (The finding of these two hiding places in 1881 and 1898, respectively, was one of the great events of modern archaeological discovery.) Such maladministration in Thebes led to unrest.[26]
Control of local affairs tended to come more and more into the hands of theHigh Priests of Amun, so that during theThird Intermediate Period, the High Priest of Amun exerted absolute power over the South, a counterbalance to the21st and22nd Dynasty kings who ruled from the Delta. Intermarriage and adoption strengthened the ties between them, daughters of the Tanite kings being installed as God's Wife of Amun at Thebes, where they wielded greater power. Theban political influence receded only in theLate Period.[32]
By around 750 BC, theKushites (Nubians) were growing their influence over Thebes and Upper Egypt. In 721 BC, KingShabaka of the Kushites defeated the combined forces ofOsorkon IV (22nd Dynasty),Peftjauawybast (23rd Dynasty)Bakenranef (24th Dynasty) and reunified Egypt yet again. His reign saw a significant amount of building work undertaken throughout Egypt, especially at the city of Thebes, which he made the capital of his kingdom. InKarnak he erected a pink granite statue of himself wearing thePschent (the double crown of Egypt).Taharqa accomplished many notable projects at Thebes (i.e. the Kiosk in Karnak) and Nubia before the Assyrians started to wage war against Egypt.
A column ofTaharqa at the precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak Temple restored to full height
In 667 BC, attacked by theAssyrian kingAshurbanipal's army, Taharqa abandoned Lower Egypt and fled to Thebes. After his death three years later his nephew (or cousin)Tantamani seized Thebes, invaded Lower Egypt and laid siege to Memphis, but abandoned his attempts to conquer the country in 663 BC and retreated southwards.[33] The Assyrians pursued him andtook Thebes, whose name was added to a long list of cities plundered and destroyed by the Assyrians, as Ashurbanipal wrote:
This city, the whole of it, I conquered it with the help of Ashur and Ishtar. Silver, gold, precious stones, all the wealth of the palace, rich cloth, precious linen, great horses, supervising men and women, two obelisks of splendid electrum, weighing 2,500 talents, the doors of temples I tore from their bases and carried them off to Assyria. With this weighty booty I left Thebes. Against Egypt and Kush I have lifted my spear and shown my power. With full hands I have returned to Nineveh, in good health.[34]
Thebes never regained its former political significance, but it remained an important religious centre. Assyrians installedPsamtik I (664–610 BC), who ascended to Thebes in 656 BC and brought about the adoption of his own daughter,Nitocris I, as heiress to God's Wife of Amun there. In 525 BC, PersianCambyses II invaded Egypt and became pharaoh, subordinating the kingdom as asatrapy to the greaterAchaemenid Empire.[35]
The good relationship of the Thebans with the central power in the North ended when the native Egyptian pharaohs were finally replaced by Greeks, led byAlexander the Great. He visited Thebes during a celebration of theOpet Festival. In spite of his welcoming visit, Thebes became a center for dissent. Towards the end of the third century BC,Hugronaphor (Horwennefer), possibly of Nubian origin, led a revolt against the Ptolemies in Upper Egypt. His successor,Ankhmakis, held large parts of Upper Egypt until 185 BC. This revolt was supported by the Theban priesthood. After the suppression of the revolt in 185 BC,Ptolemy V, in need of the support of the priesthood, pardoned them.
Half a century later the Thebans rose again, elevating a certainHarsiesi to the throne in 132 BC. Harsiesi, having helped himself to the funds of the royal bank at Thebes, fled the following year. In 91 BC, another revolt broke out. In the following years, Thebes was subdued, and the city turned into rubble.[36]
During theRoman occupation (30 BC–641 AD), the remaining communities clustered around the pylon of the Luxor temple. Thebes became part of the Roman province ofThebais, which later split intoThebais Superior, centered at the city, andThebais Inferior, centered atPtolemais Hermiou. ARoman legion was headquartered in Luxor temple at the time ofRoman campaigns in Nubia.[37] Building did not come to an abrupt stop, but the city continued to decline. In the first century AD,Strabo described Thebes as having been relegated to a mere village.[26]
The main entrance to Karnak flanked by ram-headed sphinxesObelisk, Ramesside colossi and great pylon of Luxor Temple with subtle orange glow
Ancient built-up area
Great Temple of Amun at Karnak (Ancient EgyptianTa-opet). Still the second largest religious building ever built, it is the main house of worship forAmun, Thebes's patron deity, and the residence of the powerfulAmun priesthood. What differentiated it from the many temples of Egypt is the length of time it was built over (more than 2,000 years, starting in the Middle Kingdom). The main features of this temple are its ten largepylons, theGreat Hypostyle Hall, asacred lake, sub-temples, numerous shrines and multipleobelisks. It was the most important temple for a majority of Ancient Egyptianhistory.
Luxor Temple (Ipet resyt). Unlike the other temples in Thebes, it is not dedicated to a cult god or a deified version of the king in death. Instead, it is dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship; it may have been where many of thepharaohs of Egypt were crowned. It is a centerpiece of the "Opet Festival", where the sacredbarque of theTheban Triad travels from Karnak to Luxor temple highlighting the godly significance of the pharaoh's re-coronation .
From 25 October 2018 to 27 January 2019, theMuseum of Grenoble organized with the support of theLouvre and theBritish Museum, a three-month exhibition on the city of Thebes and the role of women in the city at that time.[38]
In the novelThe Egyptian (1945) byMika Waltari, there are elaborate descriptions of how Thebes looked during the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
Thebes is a setting in the filmsThe Mummy (1999) andThe Mummy Returns (2001). It is said to be the "Land of the Living". (In real history, there was no such name given to it.) The films feature scenes taking place in ancient Egypt in its prime, which affect the story in the modern setting some 3000 years later.
^Pausanias records that owing to its "connection" with the Egyptian city, the Boeotian Thebes also had an idol and temple of Amun from the 5th century BC.[9]
^"Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis".UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved7 September 2021.
^Erman/Grapow:Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, p. 211.
^Erman/Grapow:Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, pp. 54,479.
^Huddlestun, John R. “Nahum, Nineveh, and the Nile: The Description of Thebes in Nahum 3:8–9.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 62, no. 2, 2003, pp. 97–98.
^Daphna Ben Tor:Sequences and chronology of Second Intermediate Period royal-name scarabs, based on excavated series from Egypt and the Levant, in:The Second Intermediate Period (Thirteenth-Seventeenth Dynasties), Current Research, Future Prospects edited by Marcel Maree, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 192, 2010, p. 91
^Barbara Watterson,Women in Ancient Egypt (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing Limited, 2011), 153.ISBN1445612666 and books.google.com/books?id=7VeoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP153
^Ashurbanipal (auto) biography cylinder, c. 668 BCE; in James B. Pritchard, ed.,Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement (Princeton UP, 1950/1969/2014), 294-95.ISBN9781400882762. Translated earlier in John Pentland Mahaffy et al., eds.,A History of Egypt, vol. 3 (London: Scribner, 1905), 307. Google Books partial-view: books.google.com/books?id=04VUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA307; and E. A. Wallis Budge,A History of Ethiopia: Volume I, Nubia and Abyssinia (London: Taylor & Francis, 1928/2014), 38.ISBN9781317649151
^Roger Forshaw,Egypt of the Saite Pharaohs, 664–525 BC (Manchester University Press, 2019), 198.ISBN9781526140166.
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