Qaw el-Kebir ⲧⲕⲱⲟⲩ ⲧⲕⲟⲟⲩ قاو الكبير | |
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 The Ptolemaic temple of Antaepolis in the early 1800s, from theDescription de l'Égypte | |
| Nickname: العتمانية | |
  Qaw el-Kebir Location in Egypt | |
| Coordinates:26°54′N31°31′E / 26.900°N 31.517°E /26.900; 31.517 | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Governorate | Asyut |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EST) |
Qaw el-Kebir (Arabic:قاو الكبير) orEl Etmannyieh (Arabic:العتمانية) is a village in theAsyut Governorate ofEgypt. An old settlement, it was known inAncient Egypt asTjebu[1] orTkow (Coptic:ⲧⲕⲱⲟⲩ,Ancient Egyptian:Ḏw-qȝw,lit. 'high mountain'). InGreek andRoman Egypt, its name wasAntaeopolis (Ancient Greek:Ἀνταίου πόλις) after itstutelary deity, the war god known by the Hellenized nameAntaeus.[2]
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| ḏw ḳꜣ(t)[3] inhieroglyphs | ||||
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Several large terraced funerary complexes in Tjebu by officials of the 10thnome during theTwelfth andThirteenth dynasties represent the peak of non-royal funeraryarchitecture of theMiddle Kingdom. Cemeteries of different dates were also found in the area. The tomb of the local governorMay dates to theNew Kingdom.
A Ptolemaic temple ofPtolemy IV Philopator, enlarged and restored underPtolemy VI Philometor andMarcus Aurelius, was destroyed in the early nineteenth century.[4]
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| ṯbw[5][1] inhieroglyphs | |||||
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| Era:2nd Intermediate Period (1650–1550 BC) | |||||
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The temple in this town was large, comparatively speaking—an 18-column pronaos, with a twelve-columnhypostyle hall preceding the vestibule hall, the inner sanctum, and two flanking chambers of equal size.[6]
The edifice was dedicated primarily to "Antaeus", who represented a warrior fusion ofSeth andHorus. This deity's name is written with an obscure hieroglyph (G7a or G7b in the standard Gardiner list), which gives no clue as to the pronunciation. Modern Egyptologists read the name asNemtiwey.
Nephthys was the primary goddess who received worship in this temple, or perhaps in an adjunct shrine of her own, as the corresponding female power of Nemtiwey. A Prophet of Nephthys is attested for Tjebu.[7] In cliffside quarries not far from the ancient site, visitors can see notable reliefs of both Antaeus and Nephthys.[8] At the same time, the site has again drawn most of its interest since 19th- and early 20th-century archaeologists have studied the maze of relatively well-preserved tombs in the district.[9]
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