Ptolemais Hermiou, or Ptolemais in the
Thebaid, was a city and metropolitan archbishopric in Greco-Roman
Egypt and remains a Catholic
titular see.
Today, the city of El Mansha ()-Bsoi () in the
Sohag Governorate is located where the ancient city used to be.
History
Ptolemais Hermiou was established on the west bank of the
Nile at the site of the Egyptian village of Psoï ( in the
Thinis nome by the
Ptolemaic ruler Ptolemy I Soter sometime after 312 BCE to be the capital of
Upper Egypt.
According to
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
, it was the largest city in the
Thebaid, equal to
Memphis in size. It also had its own constitution, an assembly with elected magistrates and judges not unlike a traditional Greek polis. Greek settlers to the city were brought over from the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
and
northern Greece. The city housed temples to Greek and Egyptian gods (Zeus, Dionysus, Isis) as well as a cult for the worship of the
Ptolemaic Dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic ...
. There was also a theater and actor's guild present in the city.
OGIS 51
- Greek inscription in English translation
Titular see
The provincial capital and hence Metropolitan archdiocese of the Late Roman province of Thebais Secunda, which had faded, was nominally restored as a Latin Metropolitan titular archbishopric in the late 19th century as Ptolemais antea Syis, renamed simply Ptolemais in 1925, Ptolemais in Thebaide in 1933.
It has been vacant for decades, having had the following incumbents of the highest rank :
* Lorenzo Passerini (1892.07.11 – 1901.04.18), later Titular Latin Patriarch of Antioch (1901.04.18 – 1915.12.13)
* Luigi Canali, Franciscans (O.F.M. Obs.) (1901.08.03 – 1905.04.22)
* José Marcondes Homem de Melo (1906.12.06 – 1908.08.09)
* Raffaele Virili (1915.01.14 – 1925.03.09)
* Paolo Giobbe (1925.03.30 – 1958.12.15) (later Cardinal)
* Pietro Parente (1959.10.23 – 1965.12.07) (later Cardinal)
References
External links
GCatholic, with titular incumbent bio links
Ptolemaic colonies
Populated places in Sohag Governorate
Former populated places in Egypt
Upper Egypt
{{egypt-geo-stub