Thinis (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: Θίνις ''Thinis'', Θίς ''This'' ;
Egyptian: Tjenu; cop, Ⲧⲓⲛ;
ar, ثينيس) was the
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the go ...
of the
first dynasties of
ancient Egypt. Thinis remains
undiscovered but is well attested by ancient writers, including the classical historian
Manetho
Manetho (; grc-koi, Μανέθων ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος) is believed to have been an Ancient Egyptian religion, Egyptian priest from Sebennytos ( cop, Ϫⲉⲙⲛⲟⲩϯ, translit=Čemnouti) who lived in the Ptolemaic Ki ...
, who cites it as the centre of the
Thinite Confederacy
The Thinite Confederacy is an Egyptological term for a hypothesized tribal confederation in ancient Egypt. It is thought to have preceded the full unification of Upper Egypt . The leaders of the Thinite Confederacy were most likely tribal noble ...
, a tribal confederation whose leader,
Menes (or
Narmer
Narmer ( egy, nꜥr-mr, meaning "painful catfish," "stinging catfish," "harsh catfish," or "fierce catfish;" ) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period. He was the successor to the Protodynastic king Ka. Many scholars con ...
), united
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
and was its first
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
. Thinis began a steep decline in importance from
Dynasty III, when the capital was relocated to
Memphis, which was thought to be the first true and stable capital after the unification of old Egypt by
Menes. Thinis's location on the border of the competing
Heracleopolitan and
Theban dynasties of the
First Intermediate Period
The First Intermediate Period, described as a 'dark period' in ancient Egyptian history, spanned approximately 125 years, c. 2181–2055 BC, after the end of the Old Kingdom. It comprises the Seventh (although this is mostly considered spuriou ...
and its proximity to certain
oases
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
of possible military importance ensured Thinis some continued significance in the
Old
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
* Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...
and
New Kingdoms. This was a brief respite and Thinis eventually lost its position as a regional administrative centre by the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
.
Due to its ancient heritage, Thinis remained a significant religious centre, housing the tomb and
mummy
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...
of the regional deity. In ancient Egyptian
religious cosmology
Religious cosmology is an explanation of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe from a religious perspective. This may include beliefs on origin in the form of a creation myth, subsequent evolution, current organizational form ...
, as seen (for example) in the ''
Book of the Dead
The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...
'', Thinis played a role as a mythical place in
heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
.
[Massey 1907: 637]
Although the precise location of Thinis is unknown, mainstream
Egyptological
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious p ...
consensus places it in the vicinity of ancient
Abydos and modern
Girga.
[Gardiner 1964: 430 n.1][Ryholt 1997: 163 n. 594][Strudwick 2005: 509]
Name and location
The name ''Thinis'' (Θίνις) is derived from
Manetho
Manetho (; grc-koi, Μανέθων ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος) is believed to have been an Ancient Egyptian religion, Egyptian priest from Sebennytos ( cop, Ϫⲉⲙⲛⲟⲩϯ, translit=Čemnouti) who lived in the Ptolemaic Ki ...
's use of the adjective ''Thinite'' to describe the pharaoh
Menes.
[Verbrugghe and Wickersham 2001: 131] Although the corresponding ''Thinis'' does not appear in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, it is demanded by the
Egyptian original
and is the more popular name among Egyptologists.
Also suggested is ''This'' (Θίς).
[Tacoma 2006: 54 n. 63]
In correcting a passage of
Hellanicus (b. 490 BCE),
Jörgen Zoega amended
Τίνδων ὄνομα to Θὶν δὲ ᾧ ὄνομα.
Maspero (1903) found that this revealed the name ''Thinis'' and also, from the same passage, a key geographic indicator: επιποταμίη ( en, on the river).
Maspero used this additional detail to support the theory, which included among its followers
Jean-François Champollion
Jean-François Champollion (), also known as Champollion ''le jeune'' ('the Younger'; 23 December 17904 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure in th ...
and
Nestor L'Hôte
Nestor Hippolyte Antoine L’Hôte (24 August 1804 – 24 March 1842) was a French Egyptologist, painter and graphic artist. He published hundreds of sketches and drawings of Egypt and its monuments, a body of work mainly executed during the Fran ...
, locating Thinis at modern-day Girga or a neighbouring town, possibly El-Birba.
Other proposals for Thinis' location have lost favour at the expense of the Girga-Birba theory:
Auguste Mariette
François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette (11 February 182118 January 1881) was a French scholar, archaeologist and Egyptologist, and the founder of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, the forerunner of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Early ...
, founder director of the
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...
, suggested
Kom el-Sultan
The area now known as Kom El Sultan is located near Abydos, in Egypt. It is a big mudbrick structure, the purpose of which is not clear and thought to have been at the original settlement area, dated to the Early Dynastic Period. The structure i ...
; A. Schmidt, El-Kherbeh; and
Heinrich Karl Brugsch,
Johannes Dümichen and others supported El-Tineh, near Berdis.
[Maspero 1903: 331 n.1] Mainstream Egyptological consensus continues to locate Thinis at or near to either Girga,
or El-Birba
[Bagnall 1996: 334] (where an inscribed statue fragment mentioning Thinis is said to have been found).
[Wilkinson 2000: 354]
History
Pre-dynastic and Early Dynastic periods
Although the archaeological site of Thinis has never been located,
[Anderson 1999: 105] evidence of population concentration in the
Abydos-Thinis region dates from the fourth millennium BCE.
Thinis is also cited as the earliest royal
burial-site in Egypt.
[Clark 2004: 115]
At an early point, the city of Abydos ceded its political rank to Thinis,
and although Abydos would continue to enjoy supreme religious importance,
[Maspero 1903: 333] its history and functions cannot be understood without reference to Thinis.
The role of Thinis as centre of the
Thinite Confederacy
The Thinite Confederacy is an Egyptological term for a hypothesized tribal confederation in ancient Egypt. It is thought to have preceded the full unification of Upper Egypt . The leaders of the Thinite Confederacy were most likely tribal noble ...
(or Dynasty 0) and into the
Early Dynastic Period (specifically
Dynasty I and
Dynasty II
The Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt (or Dynasty II, c. 2890 – c. 2686 BC) is the latter of the two dynasties of the Egyptian Archaic Period, when the seat of government was centred at Thinis. It is most known for its last ruler, ...
) is taken from Manetho,
[Wilkinson 2000: 67] and, according to Wilkinson (2000), seems to be confirmed by Dynasty I and late Dynasty II royal tombs at Abydos, the principal regional
necropolis
A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead".
The term usually i ...
.
Old Kingdom to Second Intermediate Period
Such importance seems to have been short-lived: certainly, the national political role of Thinis ended at the beginning of
Dynasty III (c. 2686 BCE), when
Memphis became the chief religious and political centre.
[Najovits 2003: 171] Nonetheless, Thinis retained its regional significance: during
Dynasty V
The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and VI under the group title the Old Kingdom. The Fifth Dynasty pharaohs reigned for approximately 150 years, from the early 25th century BC until ...
it was the probable seat of the "
Overseer of Upper Egypt The Overseer of Upper Egypt was an important Ancient Egyptian title during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods. The title appears first in the early Fifth Dynasty. The first title holder is the vizier Kay, who possibly lived during the reigns of N ...
", an administrative official with responsibility for the Nile Valley south of the
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
, and throughout
antiquity it was the eponymous capital of ''
nome''
VIII of Upper Egypt and seat of its
nomarch
A nomarch ( grc, νομάρχης, egy, ḥrj tp ꜥꜣ Great Chief) was a provincial governor in ancient Egypt; the country was divided into 42 provinces, called nomes (singular , plural ). A nomarch was the government official responsib ...
.
During the wars of the
First Intermediate Period
The First Intermediate Period, described as a 'dark period' in ancient Egyptian history, spanned approximately 125 years, c. 2181–2055 BC, after the end of the Old Kingdom. It comprises the Seventh (although this is mostly considered spuriou ...
(c. 2181 – c. 2055 BCE),
Ankhtifi
Ankhtifi (or Ankhtify) was a nomarch of Hierakonpolis and a supporter of the pharaoh in Herakleopolis Magna ( 10th Dynasty), which was locked in a conflict with the Theban based 11th Dynasty kingdom for control of Egypt. Hence, Ankhtifi was poss ...
, nomarch of
Hierakonpolis
Nekhen ( egy, nḫn, ); in grc, Ἱεράκων πόλις Hierakonpolis ( either: City of the Hawk, or City of the Falcon, a reference to Horus or ''Hierakōn polis'' "Hawk City" in arz, الكوم الأحمر, el-Kōm el-Aḥmar, lit=the ...
, demanded recognition of his suzerainty from the "overseer of Upper Egypt" at Thinis,
[Hamblin 2006: 373] and although the
city walls
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
, cited in Ankhtifi's autobiography,
seem to have left Ankhtifi capable of only a
show of force
A show of force is a military operation intended to warn (such as a warning shot) or to intimidate an opponent by showcasing a capability or will to act if one is provoked. Shows of force may also be executed by police forces and other armed, non ...
,
he appears to have purchased Thinis' neutrality with
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legume ...
.
[Brovarski 1999: 44]
Following Ankhtifi's death, Thinis was the northernmost ''nome'' to fall under the sway of
Intef II
Wahankh Intef II (also Inyotef II and Antef II) was the third ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. He reigned for almost fifty years from 2112 BC to 2063 BC. His capital was located at Thebes. In his time, ...
, pharaoh of the
Theban Dynasty XI (c. 2118 – c. 2069 BCE).
[Hamblin 2006: 375] Progress north by the Theban armies was halted by
Kheti III, pharaoh of the
Heracleopolitan Dynasty IX, in a battle at Thinis itself
that is recorded in the ''
Teaching for King Merykara
The ''Teaching for King Merykara'', alt. ''Instruction Addressed to King Merikare'', is a literary composition in Middle Egyptian, the classical phase of the Egyptian language, probably of Middle Kingdom date (2025–1700 BC).
In this ''sebayt' ...
'', and, throughout Intef II's later years, his war against the Heracleopolitans and their allies, the nomarchs of
Assyut, was waged in the land between Thinis and Assyut.
As Thebes began to gain the upper hand,
Mentuhotep II
Mentuhotep II ( egy, Mn- ṯw-ḥtp, meaning " Mentu is satisfied"), also known under his prenomen Nebhepetre ( egy, Nb- ḥpt- Rˁ, meaning "The Lord of the rudder is Ra"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Eleventh Dyn ...
(c. 2061 – c. 2010 BCE), during his campaign of reunification, brought Thinis, which had been in revolt, possibly at Heracleopolitan instigation
and certainly with the support of an army under the command of the nomarch of Assyut,
firmly under his control.
[Hamblin 2006: 385]
During the
Second Intermediate Period
The Second Intermediate Period marks a period when ancient Egypt fell into disarray for a second time, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom. The concept of a "Second Intermediate Period" was coined in 1942 by ...
(c. eighteenth century BCE), Thinis may have experienced resurgent autonomy:
Ryholt (1997) proposes that the Abydos dynasty of kings might better be called the "Thinite Dynasty" and that, in any event, their royal seat was likely at Thinis, already a ''nome'' capital.
New Kingdom and Late Period
The city's steady decline appears to have halted briefly during
Dynasty XVIII (c. 1550 – c. 1292 BCE), when Thinis enjoyed renewed prominence, based on its geographical connection to various
oases
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
of possible military importance. Certainly, the office of mayor of Thinis was occupied by several notable
New Kingdom
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
figures: Satepihu, who participated in the construction of an
obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
for
Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut (; also Hatchepsut; Egyptian: '' ḥꜣt- špswt'' "Foremost of Noble Ladies"; or Hatasu c. 1507–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, af ...
and was himself subject of an exemplary
block statue
The block statue is a type of memorial statue that first emerged in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The block statue grew in popularity in the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, and by the Late Period, this type of statue was the most c ...
; the
herald
A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms.
Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...
Intef, an indispensable member of the royal household and the travelling-companion of
Thutmose III
Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 ...
;
and Min, tutor to the prince
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...
.
[Bryan 2006: 100]
Nonetheless, Thinis had declined to a settlement of little significance by the historic period. The misleading reference on a seventh-century BCE
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
n stele to "Nespamedu, king of Thinis" is nothing more than a reflection of Assyrian "ignorance of the subtlety of the Egyptian political hierarchy".
Certainly, by the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, Thinis had been supplanted as capital of its ''nome'' by
Ptolemais, perhaps even as early as that city's foundation by
Ptolemy I
Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedo ...
.
Religion
As each ''nome'' was home to the tomb and
mummy
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...
of its dead ''nome''-god, so at Thinis was the temple and last resting-place of
Anhur
In early Egyptian mythology, Anhur (also spelled Onuris, Onouris, An-Her, Anhuret, Han-Her, Inhert) was a god of war who was worshipped in the Egyptian area of Abydos, and particularly in Thinis. Myths told that he had brought his wife, Mehit ...
,
whose epithets included "bull of Thinis", worshipped after his death
[Maspero 1903: 163] as
Khenti-Amentiu
Khenti-Amentiu, also Khentiamentiu, Khenti-Amenti, Kenti-Amentiu and many other spellings, is an ancient Egyptian deity whose name was also used as a title for Osiris and Anubis. The name means " Foremost of the Westerners" or "Chief of the Weste ...
,
and who, as ''nome''-god, was placed at the head of the local
ennead
The Ennead or Great Ennead was a group of nine deities in Egyptian mythology worshipped at Heliopolis: the sun god Atum; his children Shu and Tefnut; their children Geb and Nut; and their children Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. The Ennea ...
.
The high priest of the temple of Anhur at Thinis was called the first prophet, or chief of seers, a title that Maspero (1903) suggests is a reflection of Thinis' decline in status as a city.
One such chief of seers,
Anhurmose Anhurmose was an ancient Egyptian official of the New Kingdom. He was the ''high priest of Anhur'' under Merenptah, but started his career as a military man, most likely under king Ramesses II (reigned about 1279–1213 BC).
Anhurmose is mainly kn ...
, who died in the reign of
Merneptah (c. 1213 – c. 1203 BCE), broke with the tradition of his New Kingdom predecessors, who were buried at Abydos, and was laid to rest at Thinis itself.
[Frood 2007: 107]
The lion-goddess
Mehit
Mehit or Mehyt was an ancient Egyptian goddess. In the Early Dynastic period she was depicted as a reclining lioness with three bent poles projecting from her back. In that era she appears in numerous early dynastic sealings and ivory artifact ...
was also worshipped at Thinis, and the restoration of her temple there during Merneptah's reign was probably overseen by
Anhurmose Anhurmose was an ancient Egyptian official of the New Kingdom. He was the ''high priest of Anhur'' under Merenptah, but started his career as a military man, most likely under king Ramesses II (reigned about 1279–1213 BC).
Anhurmose is mainly kn ...
.
There is evidence that
succession
Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence.
Governance and politics
*Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...
to the office of chief of seers of Anhur at Thinis was familial: in the
Herakleopolitan period, one Hagi succeeded his elder brother, also called Hagi, and their father to the post; and, in the New Kingdom,
Wenennefer was succeeded in the priestly office by his son, Hori.
[Frood 2007: 189]
In ancient Egyptian
religious cosmology
Religious cosmology is an explanation of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe from a religious perspective. This may include beliefs on origin in the form of a creation myth, subsequent evolution, current organizational form ...
, Thinis played a role as a mythical place in
heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
. In particular, as set out in the ''
Book of the Dead
The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...
'', its
eschatological
Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...
significance can be seen in certain rituals: when the god
Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
triumphs, "joy goeth its round in Thinis", a reference to the celestial Thinis, rather than the earthly city.
See also
*
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{Second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
Populated places established in the 4th millennium BC
Populated places disestablished in the 1st millennium BC
Cities in ancient Egypt
Egyptology
Egyptian mythology
Lost ancient cities and towns
Archaeological sites in Egypt
Narmer
Former capitals of Egypt