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The modern city of Luxor is located about 600 km South of Cairo. The importance of Luxor is not only a modern one, but it started ever since the beginning of the ancient Egyptian history
The name `Luxor` is a European from the Arabic name `El Uqsor` meaning palaces, which was a term applied to the number of the large buildings found everywhere in the city. The Nile divides the city in to Eastern Bank which extends from the north of the Karnak Temple to about 5 km to the South of Luxor Temple. As for the West Bank, it was considered as the Land of the Dead where we can find tombs and funerary temples. The word `Thebes` – as well as the modern name – refers to both banks. The word `Thebes` was the term uses by the Greeks. The first reference to Luxor by the word `Thebes` was mentioned by Homer in Chapter IV in the Illiad meaning `Thebes of the hundred gates`. As for the ancient Egyptian word for `Thebes`, there were many terms used along the history such as `waset`, another word used to refer to the East and the West banks of Thebes. In the New Kingdom, its name was `Niwet`, which means city. As for the epithet `Iwn-rsyt` means Southern Heliopolis. This term was used normally in Hieroglyphic texts to indicate the religious importance of the city. But, the official name of the city during the Greco-Roman Period was `Dispolis Magna`.
Thebes from the Prehistoric Period to the end of the Early Dynastic Period:
Thebes was known from very early periods and this was proved through the archaeological evidence found in the area dating to these periods. There are some stone vessels as well as fragments of the ceramic which prove – with no doubt – that the city existed ever since 3700 B.C. – 3000 B.C.
Thebes in the Old Kingdom:
From the middle of the 5th Dynasty, the rulers of Egypt showed interest in the site. This is reflected in the archaeological records discovered in the area. A group of tombs dating back to the Old Kingdom was discovered forming a necropolis in a site known as `El Khokha` for officials who lived in the first half of the 6th Dynasty, the number of the tombs as well as the size and type of the decoration ensure the importance of the officials.
Thebes in the 1st Intermediate Period:
The 1st Intermediate Period was a turning point in the history of Thebes. There were two ruling houses struggling over the double crown; one at Herakleapolis ( Ahnasia ) and the other at Thebes ended by the full control of the Thebean rulers and the establishment of Thebes as the capital of the 11th Dynasty.
Thebes in the Middle Kingdom:
Although the 12th Dynasty was the peak of the Middle Kingdom, but it was a decline in the importance of Thebes that it only regained its importance in much later date. There is very few evidence from the period which can be limited to what was discovered in Karnak temples as well as the traces of the temple of Mentuhotep II at Deir El Bahari.
Thebes in the 2nd Intermediate Period:
The major political event of the 2nd Intermediate Peiod was the Hyksos Invasion. Political situation in Thebes at this time is not clear. The real historical records started from the time of the war of libration. The first who started this war was from Thebes, sequence after the famous quarrel mentioned in a Ramisside text known as the quarrel of `Appophis and sequence complaining that the noise of the hippopotamus depriving the ruler of Thebes to sleep at Avaris, being hundreds of kilometers away. This was the first confrontation between the Hyksos and the Thebes rulers which was considered the first phase of the war of the liberation which ended by the complete expel of the Hyksos and the foundation of the new empire by King Ahmose and Thebes was the capital of the largest ancient Empire and the most important political and religious center in the whole world.
Thebes in the New Kingdom:
The 18th Dynasty
Thebes started to be a royal residence. Several building activities took place in the form of the cult temples, funerary temples and tombs. god Amon, the local god of the city became the chief god of Egypt with temples built dedicated to him such as Karnak and Luxor temples
The 19th Dynasty
Thebes remained a religious and burial city, kings came to visit Thebes on different occasions but it became a real for distance for these who lived in Eastern Delta. The Kings of this Dynasty built some important mortuary temples and tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The area known as the valley of Queens began to have decorated tombs for royal wives. Officials were still buried in Thebes but there is considerable evidence for the build of the officials at Memphis and Saqqara
The 20th Dynasty
The kings of the 20th Dynasty continued to live on "Piramesse" in Eastern Delta, but they still have their temples and places of burial in Eastern and Western Thebes. Some of the major monuments dating to the 20th Dynasty were: the temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, the temple of Khonsu at Karnak in addition to some small structures in the same temple. The workmen village at Deir El Medina is considered one of the major archaeological evidence of the period. In addition to these monuments, there is a collection of papyri from a late part of this Dynasty from the reign of Ramses IX which deal with tomb robberies as well as the unstable condition in Thebes at this period of the fall of this Dynasty.
Thebes in the 3rd Intermediate Period:
The best known event of this period relate to Thebes was the reburials of some of the New Kingdom rulers in the Valley of the Kings. The priests made great efforts to fulfill their tasks and an important period in the history of Egypt known after their name, the priests` Dynasty
Thebes in the Late Period:
This period appeared a phase of prosperity in Thebes compared to the earlier Dynasties. This can be easily noticed through the buildings, the wealth and prestige of the local officials, there were considerable buildings and extension which lasted the 30th Dynasty under the rule of King Nakhtanebo I.
Thebes in the Graeco- Roman Period:
The area of Thebes because less important after the fall of the 30th Dynasty. Although it seems, unlikely, that Alexander the Great visited Thebes during his short stay in Egypt but there were a few monuments carrying his name in the area such as a sanctuary. |
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