30°56′19″N31°30′59″E / 30.93861°N 31.51639°E /30.93861; 31.51639
Thmuis Tell el-Timai | |
|---|---|
  Thmuis Location in Egypt | |
| Coordinates:30°56′19″N31°30′59″E / 30.93861°N 31.51639°E /30.93861; 31.51639 | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
Thmuis (/ˈθmjuːɪs/;Greek:Θμοῦις), modernTell et-Timai (Arabic:تل التيماي) was a city inLower Egypt, located on the canal east of theNile, between itsTanitic andMendesian branches. Its ruins are near the modern city ofTimayy al-Imdid.
Its ruins are at Tell El-Timai, about five miles north-west ofSinbellawein, a station on the railway fromZagazig toMansourah in the centralDelta.[citation needed]
During thePtolemaic period, Thmuis succeededDjedet as the capital ofLower Egypt's 16thnome ofKha (Herodotus (II, 166)). The two cities are only several hundred meters apart.Ptolemy also states that the city was the capital of theMendesian nome. From the Ptolemaic-Roman period are preserved the foundations of a temple.[2]
Excavations uncovered deposits from a Hellenistic-era mud-brick building that was destroyed after 204 BC, as indicated by a coin cache of 13 bronze coins from the reigns ofPtolemy II,Ptolemy III, andPtolemy IV. Evidence of burning on floors and vessels indicates that the building was destroyed in a fire.[3] A second phase of the building continued in use after the destruction, before being destroyed by fire in the 1st century BC.[3]
Excavations at the site also uncovered a midden containing remains of more than 70 ceramic bread molds. They were found adjacent to a large circular bread oven built into a mud-brick platform. They belong to an Egyptian type used since theSecond Intermediate Period.[3]
Thmuis was anepiscopal see in theRoman province ofAugustamnica Prima, suffragan ofPelusium. Today it is part of theCoptic Holy Metropolitanate ofBeheira (Thmuis &Hermopolis Parva),Mariout (Mariotis),Marsa Matruh (Antiphrae &Paractorium),Libya (Livis) andPentapolis (Cyrenaica).[citation needed]
In thefourth century it was still an importantRoman city, having its own administration and being exempt from the jurisdiction of thePrefect of Alexandria.[citation needed]
The site was in existence at the time of theMuslim invasion of Egypt in 642 AD, and was later calledAl-Mourad or "Al-Mouradeh"; it must have disappeared after theOttoman conquest of Egypt.[why?][citation needed]
Le Quien (Oriens christianus, II, 537) names nine bishops of Thmuis, the last three beingMonophysites of the Middle Ages. The others are:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thmuis".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
