Qaw el-Kebir

Qaw el-Kebir (Arabic: قاو الكبير) or El Etmannyieh (Arabic: العتمانية) is a village in the Asyut Governorate of Egypt. An old settlement, it was known in Ancient Egypt as Tjebu[1] or Tkow (Coptic: ⲧⲕⲱⲟⲩ, Ancient Egyptian: Ḏw-qȝw, lit. 'high mountain'). In Greek and Roman Egypt, its name was Antaeopolis (Ancient Greek: Ἀνταίου πόλις) after its tutelary deity, the war god known by the Hellenized name Antaeus.

For another place named Antaeopolis, see Barca (ancient city).
Qaw el-Kebir
ⲧⲕⲱⲟⲩ
ⲧⲕⲟⲟⲩ
قاو الكبير
The Ptolemaic temple of Antaepolis in the early 1800s, from the Description de l'Égypte
The Ptolemaic temple of Antaepolis in the early 1800s, from the Description de l'Égypte
Nickname: 
العتمانية
Qaw el-Kebir is located in Egypt
Qaw el-Kebir
Qaw el-Kebir
Location in Egypt
Coordinates: 26°54′N 31°31′E
Country Egypt
GovernorateAsyut
Time zoneUTC+2 (EST)

History
Dw
q		 A28t
niwt
ḏw ḳꜣ(t)[2]
in hieroglyphs

Several large terraced funerary complexes in Tjebu by officials of the 10th nome during the Twelfth and Thirteenth dynasties represent the peak of non-royal funerary architecture of the Middle Kingdom. Cemeteries of different dates were also found in the area. The tomb of the local governor May dates to the New Kingdom. A Ptolemaic temple of Ptolemy IV Philopator, enlarged and restored under Ptolemy VI Philometor and Marcus Aurelius, was destroyed in the first half of the nineteenth century.

TbTbW
W		 niwt
ṯbw[3][1]
in hieroglyphs
Era: 2nd Intermediate Period
(1650–1550 BC)
Bead net dress (UC17743) excavated in 1923–24 from the site, Petrie Museum.

The temple in this town was large, comparatively speaking—an 18-column pronaos, with a twelve-column hypostyle hall preceding the vestibule hall, the inner sanctum, and two flanking chambers of equal size.[4]

The edifice was dedicated primarily to "Antaeus", who represented a warrior fusion of Seth and Horus. 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 as Nemtiwey.

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.[5] In cliffside quarries not far from the ancient site, visitors can see notable reliefs of both Antaeus and Nephthys.[6] 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.[7]

  • Statue of Governor Wahka, son of Neferhotep, from Qaw el-Kebir, between 1976 and 1794 BC. (Middle Kingdom). Museo Egizio, Turin.
    Statue of Governor Wahka, son of Neferhotep, from Qaw el-Kebir, between 1976 and 1794 BC. (Middle Kingdom). Museo Egizio, Turin.

See also

References
  1. Bennett, James E. (2019). The Archaeology of Egypt in the Third Intermediate Period. Cambridge University Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-108-48208-0.
  2. Gauthier 1929, p. 125.
  3. Gauthier 1929, p. 75.
  4. Description de l'Egypte, pp. 422–425.
  5. Cf. Lexikon der A, E. Graefe, Nephthys, Chicago Stele.
  6. Cf. Baedeker, 1902, etc.
  7. Cf. Petrie, Flinders, Antaeopolis the Tombs of Qau (Egypt), London, Quaritch 1930.

Sources

Gauthier, Henri (1929). Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 6.

Alexander Ilin-Tomich (2018) The Governor's Court in Late Middle Kingdom Antaeopolis, Revue d'égyptologie 68:61-78, DOI:10.2143/RE.68.0.3285267 [1]

26°54′N 31°31′E

  1. Ilin-Tomich, Alexander (2018). "The Governor's Court in Late Middle Kingdom Antaeopolis". Revue d'Égyptologie. 68: 61–78. doi:10.2143/RE.68.0.3285267.
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