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Akhmim

Coordinates:26°34′N31°45′E/ 26.567°N 31.750°E/26.567; 31.750
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"Khemmis" redirects here. For the band, seeKhemmis (band).
Akhmim
ϣⲙⲓⲛ
أخميم
[1]
City
Residential area in the city
Residential area in the city
Akhmim is located in Egypt
Akhmim
Akhmim
Location within Egypt
Coordinates:26°34′N31°45′E/ 26.567°N 31.750°E/26.567; 31.750
CountryEgypt
GovernorateSohag
Area
[2]
• Total43.9 sq mi (113.8 km2)
Population
(2021)[2]
• Total482,666
• Density11,000/sq mi (4,200/km2)
Time zoneUTC+2(EET)

Akhmim(Arabic:أخميم,pronounced[ʔæxˈmiːm];AkhmimicCoptic:ⳉⲙⲓⲙ,Coptic pronunciation:[xmiːm];Sahidic/BohairicCoptic:ϣⲙⲓⲛCoptic pronunciation:[ʃmiːn]) is a city in theSohag GovernorateofUpper Egypt.Referred to by the ancient Greeks asKhemmisorChemmis(Ancient Greek:Χέμμις)[3]andPanopolis(Ancient Greek:Πανὸς πόλις[4]and Πανόπολις[5]), it is located on the east bank of theNile,four miles (6.4 km) to the northeast ofSohag.

History

[edit]
Statue ofMeritamen,a daughter ofRamesses II,in the temple of Min
ip
niwt
or
ipwniwt
jp or jpw[1][6]
inhieroglyphs
Era:New Kingdom
(1550–1069 BC)
W18n
t		x
xm		Aa15
niwt
ḫn(t) mnw[3]
inhieroglyphs
Era:New Kingdom
(1550–1069 BC)

Akhmim was known inAncient EgyptasIpu,Apu(according toBrugschthe name is related to the nearby village of Kafr Abou)[7]orKhent-min.It was the capital of the ninth (Chemmite)nomeofUpper Egypt.

The city is a suggested hometown forYuya,the official ofTuthmosis IVandAmenhotep III.

The ithyphallicMin(whom the Greeks identified withPan) was worshipped here as "the strongHorus."Herodotusmentions the temple dedicated toPerseusand asserts that Chemmis was remarkable for being the hero’s birthplace, wherein celebrations and games were held in his honour after the manner of the Greeks; at which prizes were given. As a matter of fact, some representations are known ofNubiansand people ofPunt(southern coastalSudanand theEritreancoast) climbing up poles before the god Min.

Min was especially a god of the desert routes on the east ofEgypt,and the trading tribes are likely to have gathered to his festivals for business and pleasure atCoptos(which was really nearNeapolis) even more than at Akhmim. Herodotus perhaps confusedCoptoswith Chemmis.Strabomentions linen-weaving and stone-cutting as ancient industries of Panopolis, and it is not altogether a coincidence that the cemetery of Akhmim is one of the chief sources of the beautiful textiles ofRomanandChristianage, that are brought fromEgypt.[8]

Church of Abu Seifein

In theChristianCopticera, Akhmim was written in SahidicCoptic:ϣⲙⲓⲛ/ⲭⲙⲓⲛ/ⲭⲙⲓⲙShmin/Kmin/Kmimbut was probably pronounced locally something likeKhminorKhmim.Monasteriesabounded in this region from a very early date.

Pachomius the Greatfounded amonasteryknown asTkahshminin the area.[9]Shenouda the Archimandrite(348–466) was amonkatAthribisnear Akhmim. Some years earlierNestorius,the exiled ex-patriarch ofConstantinople,had died at an old age in the neighborhood of Akhmim.Nonnus,the Greekpoet,was born at Panopolis at the end of the 4th century.[8]The bishopric of Panopolis, asuffraganofAntinoëinThebais Prima,is included in theCatholic Church's list oftitular sees.[10]Among the bishops of Panopolis,Le Quienmentions[11]Arius, friend ofSaint Pachomiuswho had built three convents in the city, Sabinus, and Menas. Excavations at Akhmim have disclosed numerousChristianmanuscripts, among them fragments of theBook of Henoch,of the Gospel, and of theApocalypse of Peter,theActs of the Council of Ephesus,as well as numerous otherChristianinscriptions.

In the 13th century AD, a very imposing temple still stood in Akhmim.[8]Today, little of its past glory remains. Nothing is left of the town, the temples were almost completely dismantled, and their material reused in the laterMiddle Ages.The extensive cemeteries of ancient Akhmim are yet to be fully explored. The destroyed corner of a Greco-Roman period temple with colossal statues ofRamesses IIandMeritamenwas discovered in 1981.

Of Akhmim, in 1818Jacques Collin de Plancywrote in his book, theDictionnaire Infernal,that the city "formerly had the reputation of being the abode of the greatest magicians. Paul Lucas speaks, in his second voyage, of the marvelous serpent of Akhmin, which Muslims honor as an angel, and which Christians believe to be the demon Asmodeus."[12]

Climate

[edit]

Köppen-Geiger climate classification systemclassifies its climate ashot desert(BWh).

Climate data for Akhmim
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 22.1
(71.8) 		24
(75) 		27.9
(82.2) 		33
(91) 		36.1
(97.0) 		37.9
(100.2) 		37.2
(99.0) 		37.4
(99.3) 		34.2
(93.6) 		31.9
(89.4) 		28.4
(83.1) 		23.4
(74.1) 		31.1
(88.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 13.6
(56.5) 		15.1
(59.2) 		18.5
(65.3) 		23.4
(74.1) 		27
(81) 		29.2
(84.6) 		28.9
(84.0) 		29.3
(84.7) 		27.2
(81.0) 		24.9
(76.8) 		20.3
(68.5) 		15.2
(59.4) 		22.7
(72.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 5.2
(41.4) 		6.2
(43.2) 		9.2
(48.6) 		13.8
(56.8) 		18
(64) 		20.5
(68.9) 		20.7
(69.3) 		21.3
(70.3) 		20.2
(68.4) 		17.9
(64.2) 		12.3
(54.1) 		7.1
(44.8) 		14.4
(57.8)
Averageprecipitationmm (inches) 0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0)
Source:Climate-Data.org[13]

Modern city

[edit]

Akhmim is the largest town on the east side of theNileinSohag Governorate.In 1907, the population of the city was 23,795, of whom about one third wereCopts.Akhmim has severalmosquesand twoCopticchurches. TheMonastery of the Martyrsis located about 6 km northeast of the city. Akhmim maintains a weekly market, and manufacturescottongoods, notably the blue shirts and check shawls withsilkfringes worn by the poorer classes ofEgypt.Outside the walls are the scanty ruins of two ancient temples. On the west bank of theNileopposite of Akhmim, there is railway communication withCairoandAswan.

Notable people

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See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abWallis Budge, E. A. (1920).An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic Alpha bets, etc. Vol II.John Murray.p.956.
  2. ^ab"Akhmīm (Markaz, Egypt) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".citypopulation.de.Retrieved16 March2023.
  3. ^abGauthier, Henri (1927).Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 4.p. 177.
  4. ^"Panopolis (Akhmim)".Trismegistos.Retrieved27 March2020.
  5. ^Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Chemmis
  6. ^Gauthier, Henri (1925).Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 1.p. 67.
  7. ^Brugsch, Heinrich (1879).Dictionnaire géographique de l'ancienne Egypte: contenant par ordre Alpha bétique la nomenclature comparée des noms propres géographiques qui se rencontrent sur les monuments et dans les papyrus.J. C. Heinrichs. p. 575.
  8. ^abcOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Griffith, Francis Llewellyn(1911). "Akhmim".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 456.
  9. ^Brooks Hedstrom, Darlene L. (2017-11-23).The Monastic Landscape of Late Antique Egypt: An Archaeological Reconstruction.Cambridge University Press.doi:10.1017/9781316676653.007.ISBN978-1-316-67665-3.
  10. ^Ánnuario Pontificio 2013(Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013,ISBN978-88-209-9070-1), p. 949
  11. ^Oriens christianus,II, 601–4
  12. ^de Plancy, Jacques Collin (1818).Dictionnaire Infernal[The Infernal Dictionary] (in French). p. 13.
  13. ^"Climate: Akhmim - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table".Climate-Data.org.Retrieved14 August2013.

Further reading

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26°34′N31°45′E/ 26.567°N 31.750°E/26.567; 31.750

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