
| Location |
Upper Egypt - 800 km south of the Mediterranean East bank of Nile
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| Nome | The sceptre - the 4th Nome of Upper Egypt
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| Type of Settlement | Capital City
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| Necropolis | Valley of Kings - the necropolis where the Pharaohs and nobles were entombed
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| Local deity | The holy triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu
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| Ancient name | Waset
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| Contemporary name | Luxor and Karnak now occupy parts of its site
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| Historical Development |
- Old Kingdom - a number of small settlements and a village called Waset
- Middle Kingdom - Mentuhotep I 11th Dynasty united Egypt and established Thebes as his capital.
Amenemhet 1 of the 12th Dynasty moved his capital to Crocodilopolis, Thebes took the role as the religious center of the nation, as its god Amun was promoted to principal state deity.
- New Kingdom - Ahmose 1 18th Dynasty established Thebes as his Capital and the golden age of the city began. The city rapidly became prominent as the royal residence and as a seat of the worship of the god Amun
- As the New Kingdom began to decay and the locus of power to shift to the Nile Delta, Thebes went into decline.
- For a time in the 11th cent. BC, it was a separate political entity under sacerdotal rule. Thebes was sacked by the Assyrians in 661 BC, an event referred to in the Bible (Nah. 3.8?10).
- The Romans sacked it in 29 BC, and by 20 BC a Greek visitor to the site reported only a few scattered villages.
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| Monuments |
- Temple of Karnak - the most important sanctuary of the New Kingdom
- Luxor Temple complex - center of the Festival of Opet
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