Damanhur

About Damanhur

Damanhur is a city in Lower Egypt, and the capital of the Beheira Governorate. It is located 160 km (99 mi) northwest of Cairo, and 70 km (43 mi) ESE of Alexandria, in the middle of the western Nile Delta.

Damanhur is a historic city, whose history can be dated back to the Old Kingdom of Egypt. The modern city has also absorbed the ancient villages Shubra al-Jadida (Egyptian Arabic: شبرا الجديدة, Coptic: ϫⲉⲃⲣⲟ ⲙⲃⲉⲣⲓ), Tāmus (Egyptian Arabic: طاموس‌), Askanida (Egyptian Arabic: اسكنيدة) and Chortaso (Egyptian Arabic: قرطسا, Ancient Greek: Χορτασω).

The city's modern Arabic name comes from Coptic p-Timinhor, which in turn is derived from Ancient Egyptian: pꜣ-dmỉ-n-Ḥr.w, lit. 'the settlement of Horus', also attested in Aramaic (Imperial Aramaic: תמנחור, romanized: Temenkhūr).

The Greeks called the city Hermopolis Mikra (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμοῦ πόλις μικρά).

The name of the city suggests that Horus, whom Greeks equated with Apollo, was worshipped as the chief deity. However, the Greek name for the town, Hermopolis Mikra, suggests that Hermes/Thoth was the local god...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.