Herwer was an
ancient Egyptian town in the 16th
nome (
Oryx nome
The Oryx nome ( Egyptian: ''Ma-hedj'') was one of the 42 '' nomoi'' (administrative divisions; Egyptian: ''sepat'') in ancient Egypt. The oryx nome was the 16th nome of Upper Egypt, Wolfram Grajetzki, ''The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt: histo ...
) in
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient E ...
. It is mentioned in several ancient inscriptions dating from the
Old,
Middle and
New Kingdom. The main deities of the place were
Khnum
Khnum or also romanised Khnemu (; egy, 𓎸𓅱𓀭 ẖnmw, grc-koi, Χνοῦβις) was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt an ...
and
Heqet
Heqet ( Egyptian ', also ' "Heqtit"), sometimes spelled Heket, is an Egyptian goddess of fertility, identified with Hathor, represented in the form of a frog.
To the Egyptians, the frog was an ancient symbol of fertility, related to the annu ...
, both several times called ''lord'' or ''lady'' of ''Herwer''. Perhaps in the
Middle Kingdom, the place became capital of the 16th Upper Egyptian nome. The local governor
Amenemhat of that nome was indeed ''overseer of the priests of Khnum of Herwer''. The place is often mentioned in the tombs of
Beni Hasan.
The localisation of Herwer remains problematic. Yet however in the
Onomasticon of Amenope
The Onomasticon of Amenope is an ancient Egyptian papyrus from the late 20th Dynasty to 22nd Dynasty. It is a compilation belonging to a tradition that began in the Middle Kingdom, and which includes the ''Ramesseum Onomasticon'' dating from the ...
and in the
Turin Papyrus 118.11, Herwer is referred to as north of
Hermopolis
Hermopolis ( grc, Ἑρμούπολις ''Hermoúpolis'' "the City of Hermes", also ''Hermopolis Magna'', ''Hermoû pólis megálẽ'', egy, ḫmnw , Egyptological pronunciation: "Khemenu"; cop, Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ ''Shmun''; ar, الأشموني ...
, which excludes an identification with
Antinoöpolis. Certainly, however, the place was on the west side of the Nile in the 16th Upper Egyptian nome as in the inscriptions in Beni Hasan, suggesting Herwer is identical with modern village of Hur ( cop, Ϩⲟⲩⲱⲣ) situated northwest of
Hermopolis Magna
Hermopolis ( grc, Ἑρμούπολις ''Hermoúpolis'' "the City of Hermes", also ''Hermopolis Magna'', ''Hermoû pólis megálẽ'', egy, ḫmnw , Egyptological pronunciation: "Khemenu"; cop, Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ ''Shmun''; ar, الأشموني ...
.
[Farouk Gomaa: Die Besiedlung Ägyptens während des Mittleren Reiches, 1. Oberägypten und das Fayyum. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1986, {{ISBN, 3-88226-279-6, p. 314]
See also
*
References
Cities in ancient Egypt
Former populated places in Egypt