CHAPTER XIII THE HISTORY OF EL KÂB (EILEITHYIAPOLIS) AND THE HISTORY OF EILEITHYIAPOLIS AND HIERACON POLIS TH 'HE ruins of the ancient cities of Eileithyiapolis and Hieraconpolis stand opposite to one another on the east and west banks of the Nile, the former close to the water, and the latter on the edge of the desert some distance back from the river. At the present time these two sites are known respectively as El Kâb and Kôm el Ahmar, "the Red Mound." In ancient times they were The names called Nekheb and Nekhen, and "El Kâb" may perhaps be a corruption of the former name. The city of Nekheb came to be named Eileithyiapolis by the Greeks owing to the fact that the goddess of the neighbourhood was identified with Eileithyia; while Nekhen was re-named Hieraconpolis, "the City of the Hawks," owing to the totem of that place being a hawk. of the two cities. The large cemeteries of the pre-dynastic age which lie in the The desert behind Kôm el Ahmar indicate that an extensive settlement archaic period. of that period existed here; and amidst the ruins of Hieraconpolis there have been found the remains of the first known kings of Egypt. The earliest of these kings, named Selk "the Scorpion" (who is probably to be identified with the King Ka buried at Abydos), seems to have been the ruler of Upper Egypt only; and Hieraconpolis appears to have been his capital. There is good reason to suppose that both he and his successors were originally chieftains of a hawk-worshipping tribe which came from Thinis, a city not far from Baliana; that this tribe pushed southwards as far as Edfu, defeating the aborigines1; and that its main capital was 1 See the tradition of Horus and Set as interpreted in the chapter on the temple of Edfu. The early dynasties. The Old fixed at Kôm el Ahmar, which continued to be the royal city of Upper Egypt even after Mena—the first king of a united Egypt, and probably the grandson of the Scorpion-had carried the government to Memphis. These early kings were buried at Abydos, near their ancestral home of Thinis, but they seem to have been crowned at Hieraconpolis; and the well-known hawkname, or Horus-name, which every Egyptian Pharaoh possessed, was the name given to him as chief of the Hawk-tribe at Hieraconpolis at his coronation as king of Egypt. A ceremonial mace-head belonging to King Selk was found by Mr. J. E. Quibell at Kôm el Ahmar, and on it are scenes representing that king performing the ceremony of breaking ground with a hoe at the time of sowing, and receiving a sheaf of corn at the harvest festival. Another mace-head belonging to Narmer, the next king, shows the monarch seated on his throne apparently at a festival in honour of his conquest of Lower Egypt; and a ceremonial palette also found here shows him at a city which is probably to be read Edfu, sacrificing his enemies before the sacred barque of Horus. Many other antiquities found here by Mr. Quibell prove that a high state of civilisation existed at this early period at Hieraconpolis. The portraying of the figures of men and animals was as well executed as in many of the later periods of Egyptian history; while the workmanship displayed in the making of stone vases and of pottery has never been surpassed. When Mena, perhaps the son of Narmer, was made Pharaoh of a united Upper and Lower Egypt, and built himself a capital at Memphis, Hieraconpolis lost for a time something of its importance. In the IInd dynasty, however, Kings Khasekhem and Khasekhemui both associated themselves with the city. Of the former king there is a fine statue, found by Mr. Quibell at Hieraconpolis, the inscription on which states that in a war with a northern people he had slain or taken prisoners 42,209 persons; and on a ceremonial bowl also discovered here is the inscription: "The year of the smiting of the northerners; the khent, or ceremony of purification, at the city of Nekheb;" below which the Horus-name of Khasekhem and probably his cartouche-name, Besh, are written on either side of the symbol of the uniting of the two lands. Of King Khasekhemui there is an inscribed granite door-jamb from the Hieraconpolis temple. The history of this neighbourhood now passes from archaic Kingdom. times to the better known period of the Old Kingdom. A sealing of King Neter-Khet of the IIIrd dynasty, and a cylinder inscribed with the name of King Sneferu of the IVth dynasty, have been found at Hieraconpolis. By this time Eileithyiapolis was also rising into prominence, and, judging by the elaborate burials, must have already contained many rich inhabitants. From this point a disused caravan road runs to various gold-mines in the eastern desert, and it is probable that the rise of this town was due to its importance as the terminus of this route. From the earliest period the Egyptians used gold for ornamental purposes; and even in prehistoric times gold-handled knives and gold-topped jars were employed, while in the Ist dynasty gold beads and other jewellery were also not uncommonly used. A prominent rock in the desert behind El Kâb has upon it many inscriptions, some of which might well have been written by persons coming from or going to the mines. While the god of Hieraconpolis was the hawk Horus, the deity of El Kâb was the vulture goddess Nekheb, who is sometimes called "the Lady of the Mouth of the Desert." Cylinders of Menkaura of the IVth dynasty and Userkaf of the Vth dynasty have been found at El Kâb, which show that the town was flourishing at that date; and we may imagine the place at this time as busily absorbed in the coming and going of the gold-caravans, possessing a market, a fort or camp, and no doubt a temple to the vulture goddess. Graffiti of Sahura and Asesa of the Vth dynasty are found on the rocks behind the town. Meanwhile on the west of the river a road led up to the city of Hieraconpolis, which now possessed a fine temple, while in the desert stood the great fortress for the troops, which dates from very early times. Visitors came from far and near to worship at the shrine of Horus, where their kings had been crowned; and by the VIth dynasty the temple had be- The VIth come so important that it was now the repository for some of dynasty. the artistic masterpieces of the time. Those who have seen the Cairo Museum will not have failed to admire the great bronze statues of King Pepy and his son which are exhibited there. These were discovered by Mr. Quibell at Hieraconpolis, where they once stood in the temple. The base of a limestone statue of Pepy IInd was also found here. Hidden below the floor of the Sanctuary, Mr. Quibell was fortunate enough to find the actual figure of the hawk which was worshipped at Hieraconpolis. The body was of bronze, but the head and head-dress were of pure gold, the eyes being inlaid with obsidian. This beautiful object is also to be seen in the Cairo Museum. Of the same dynasty the names of Kings Teta and Pepy are to be found on the rocks behind The XIIth dynasty. The XIIIth dynasty. The XVIIIth dynasty. Career of El Kab. The name of Dudumes, an obscure king of the middle period, whom we have noticed at Gebelên, is also found here. In the XIIth dynasty Eileithyiapolis was the more important of the two cities. An altar of Senusert Ist, however, and a statue of Senusert IInd were found at Hieraconpolis, where they had been placed by these kings in the temple of Horus. At this time the negroes of Ethiopia had become unruly, and had penetrated more than once into the land of Lower Nubia. They were also wont to make incursions into Egyptian territory along the caravan routes of the eastern desert; and there was some possibility that they might attack Aswân and even El Kâb. A huge fortification was therefore erected along the east side of the cataract, which was already built in the third year of Senusert IInd; and soon afterwards the great brick wall, which to this day stands around the site of Eileithyiapolis, was erected. It was known as the "Wall of Seshemtaui," that being the hawk-name of Senusert IInd; and in the forty-fourth year of Amenemhat IIIrd a smaller wall inside the wall of Seshemtaui was built to enclose the temple area. cylinder of this king was found at El Kâb, a statue representing him was discovered at Hieraconpolis, and a stele recording the building of the Eileithyiapolis wall is now in England. A In the temple of Hieraconpolis the names of one of the Antef kings and of a Sebekhotep of the XIIIth dynasty were discovered. At Eileithyiapolis there are a few tombs of nobles of this date, one of whom, named Sebeknekht, lived in the reign of Sekhemra-seuaztaui Sebekhotep IInd, an obscure king of this dynasty. El Kâb is, indeed, one of the only cities in which there seems to have been a continuity of prosperity during the troubled XIIIth dynasty and the Hyksos rule which followed; and if proof were needed that the regime of the shepherd kings only obtained for a short period, one would have but to look at the rock sepulchres of El Kâb, where the tombs of the XIIIth dynasty and those of the XVIIth and early XVIIIth dynasties seem to run in unbroken sequence. The noble family of which the above-mentioned Sebeknekht was a member managed to make itself extremely powerful during the Hyksos rule; and when the princes of Thebes, who were the descendants of the old line of Egyptian kings, began to struggle to recapture their throne from the foreigners, they had no more powerful supporters than these nobles of Eileithyiapolis. A certain Abana, the son of Raanet of this family, was a faithful servant of King Sekenenra IIIrd of the XVIIth dynasty; and his son Aahmes fought under King Aahmes Ist in his wars against the Hyksos, and covered himself with glory. He tells us in the inscriptions in his tomb at El Kâb how he was made captain of the king's fleet of ships in Lower Egypt, and how he was present at the siege of Avaris, the fall of which marked the end of the Hyksos rule in Egypt. Later he fought against the negroes of the south, and was much praised by the Pharaoh for his valour. During the reign of Amenhotep Ist, Aahmes still continued in active service, but his deeds are now somewhat eclipsed by those of another noble of El Kâb, known as Aahmes Pennekheb. Pennek This personage was entitled Erpa-ha, Prince, Royal Registrar, Career of Sole Companion, &c., and he begins his biography by stating that Aahmes he fought against the Hyksos under Aahmes Ist, who heaped heb. rewards upon him. He then fought in Ethiopia under Amenhotep Ist; and under Thothmes Ist he saw active service in Syria. Here also Aahmes son of Abana, was engaged in his old age. In the reign of Thothmes IInd, Aahmes Pennekheb was still active enough to fight against the Beduin; and in his old age he had the honour of acting as tutor to Princess Neferura, the daughter of Thothmes IIIrd and Hatshepsut. Thus this noble, who, in his youth, had known Egypt in the hands of the Hyksos, lived to see it the greatest and most wealthy country in the world. In the temple at El Kâb King Amenhotep Ist seems to have undertaken some building operations. At Hieraconpolis there is a tomb of a certain Superintendent of the Sculptors, named Tehuti, who lived in the reign of Thothmes Ist. In the temple here there was found an architrave bearing the name of Thothmes IIIrd ; and at El Kâb the cartouches of Thothmes IInd and IIIrd, and of Hatshepsut, are to be seen in the temple. One sees thus that in the early XVIIIth dynasty the two cities, especially Eileithyiapolis, received a considerable amount of attention. This was partly due to the richness of the local nobles and the importance attaching to El Kâb as a market and caravan terminus, but it was also partly due to the fact that the Pharaohs at this time were very ready to associate themselves with any relics of the old kingdom which they had restored, and were proud to point to the two cities as the home of their royal ancestors. At about this period there lived at El Kâb a prince whose name Career of was Paheri, and who was a grandson of Aahmes son of Abana. Paheri. His father, who was named Atefrura, was tutor to Prince Uazmes the son of King Thothmes Ist, and in those days this office was one of the highest in the land. Paheri himself was tutor, it appears, to another young prince named Uazmes, and also held the titles of |