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Information about Hierakonpolis

Coordinates:
Hierakonpolis / Nekhen
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Location of Hierakonpolis / Nekhen


Hieraconpolis redirects here; for the ancient fortress in Egypt called Hieracon, see Hieracon


Nekhen, (Greek: Ἱεράκων πόλις, Strabo xvii. p. 817, transliterated as Hierakonpolis, Hieraconpolis, or Hieracompolis; Arabic: الكوم الأحمر Kom El-Ahmar) was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic period (c. 3200–3100 BC) and probably, also during the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100–2686 BC).

It was the center of the cult of a hawk deity Horus of Nekhen, which raised in this city one of the most ancient temples in Egypt, and it retained its importance as the cult center of this divine patron of the kings long after, otherwise, it had declined.

The original settlement on the Nekhen site dates from Naqada I or the late Badarian cultures. At its height from about 3400 BC Nekhen had at least 5,000 and possibly as many as 10,000 inhabitants.

The ruins of the city originally were excavated toward the end of the nineteenth century by the English archaeologists James E. Quibell and F. W. Green. In the "principal deposit" of the temple of Nekhen they found important ceremonial Protodynastic artifacts such as the Narmer Palette [1] and the famous macehead bearing the name of King Scorpion.

More recently, the concession was excavated further by a multinational team of archaeologists, egyptologists, geologists, and members of other sciences, which was coordinated by Michael Hoffman until his death in 1990, then by Barbara Adams of University College, London and Dr. Renee Friedman representing the University of California, Berkeley and the British Museum until Barbara Adams's death in 2001, and by Renee Friedman thereafter.

"Fort"

The structure at Nekhen with the misnomer, "fort", [2] is a massive mud-brick enclosure, built by King Khasekhemwy of the Second Dynasty. It appears to be similar in structure and purpose as the 'forts' constructed at Abydos, and has no apparent military function. The true function of these structures is unknown, but they seem to be related to the rituals of kingship and the culture. [3]

The ritual structure was built on a Predynastic cemetery and excavations there, as well as the work of later brick robbers, have seriously undermined the walls and lead to the near collapse of the structure. For two years, during 2005 and 2006, the team lead by Renee Friedman was attempting to stabilize the existing structure and support the endangered areas of the structure with new mud-bricks. [4]

External links

1. ^ [1] Photographs of the Narmer Palette and the macehead of King Scorpion
2. ^ [2] Nekhen "Fort"
3. ^ Renee Friedman, The "Fort" at Hierakonopolis p.31, Ancient Egypt June/July 2006
4. ^ The "Fort" at Hierakonopolis p.36, Ancient Egypt June/July 2006
geographic coordinate system enables every location on the earth to be specified by the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system aligned with the spin axis of the Earth.
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Hieracon or Hierakon (Greek: Ἱεράκων) or Theracon (Not. Imp.) or Ancient Egyptian Pr-Nemty
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Greek}}} 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
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recognised as minority language in parts of:
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Regulated by:
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Strabo[1] (Greek: Στράβων; 63/64 BC – ca. AD 24) was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. He is mostly famous for his 17-volume work Geographica
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Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system. It is also the system of rules for that practice.

Technically, from a linguistic point of view, it is a mapping from one system of writing into another.
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al-‘Arabiyyah in written Arabic (Kufic script):  
Pronunciation: /alˌʕa.raˈbij.ja/
Spoken in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman,
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Upper Egypt is a narrow that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan to the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo. The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Aiyat and Asyut is sometimes known as Middle Egypt.
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Dynasties of Pharaohs
in Ancient Egypt
Predynastic Egypt
Protodynastic Period
Early Dynastic Period
1st 2nd
Old Kingdom
3rd 4th 5th 6th
First Intermediate Period
7th 8th 9th 10th
11th (Thebes only)

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and
32nd century
←← ↔ →→


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and
31st century
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tȝwy 'Two Lands'
in hieroglyphs
<hiero>N16:N16</hiero>

Dynasties of Pharaohs
in Ancient Egypt
Predynastic Egypt
Protodynastic Period
Early Dynastic Period
1st 2nd
Old Kingdom
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and
31st century
←← ↔ →→


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c. 2613 BC – 2494 BC — The Great Sphinx at Giza is built. Fourth Dynasty.
  • c. 2601 BC–c. 2515 BC — Great Pyramids at Giza are built for Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu. Fourth Dynasty.
  • c. 2601 BC — Khufu started to rule in Ancient Egypt.
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    • Naqada is a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena. It was known in Ancient Egypt as Nubt and in classical antiquity as Ombos. Its name derives from ancient Egyptian nub, meaning gold
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    The Badarian culture provides the earliest direct evidence of agriculture in Upper Egypt. It flourished between 4400 to 4000 BCE, and might have already existed as far back as 5000 BCE. It was first identified in Badari, Asyut.
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    and
    34th century
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    Motto
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    No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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    James Edward Quibell (11 November 1867 - June 5 1935[1]) was a British Egyptologist, born in Newport, Shropshire.

    He was educated at Adams' Grammar School and Christ Church College, Oxford.
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    Frederick William Green (1869 – 1949) was an English Egyptologist, who worked at a number of sites throughout Egypt. He was born in London on 21 March 1869.[1]
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    The Main deposit was a foundation deposit of particular note in a temple (presumably of Horus) in Nekhen.[1] It was dug during the early Old Kingdom, and was excavated in 1894.
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    Dynasties of Pharaohs
    in Ancient Egypt
    Predynastic Egypt
    Protodynastic Period
    Early Dynastic Period
    1st 2nd
    Old Kingdom
    3rd 4th 5th 6th
    First Intermediate Period
    7th 8th 9th 10th
    11th (Thebes only)

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    Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found.
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    A development of the club, a mace consists of a strong, heavy wooden, metal-reinforced, or metal shaft, with a head made of stone, copper, bronze, iron or steel. The mace was the first weapon made specifically for use against humans, rather than using hunting weapons to fight with.
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    Scorpion, also translated as King Scorpion or Scorpion II, or rarely as Serqet, refers to the second of two kings so-named of Upper Egypt during the Protodynastic Period. His name may refer to the goddess Serket.
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    Michael Lynn Hoffman is a movie director. He grew up in Payette, Idaho, played basketball, and attended college at Boise State University. There he was elected as student body president of BSU.
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    Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar).
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    Barbara Georgina Adams (February 19 1945 – June 26 2002) was a British Egyptologist.

    She was a specialist in Predynastic Egypt and worked for many years at Hierakonpolis, where she was the co-director of the expedition.
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    University College London, commonly known as UCL, is the oldest multi-faculty constituent college of the University of London, one of the two original founding colleges, and the first British University to be founded on a non-religious basis.
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