| Location |
25.7 N - 32.6 E
Upper Egypt - 800 km south of the Mediterranean
East bank of Nile
|
| Nome |  The sceptre - the 4th nome of Upper Egypt |
| Type of Settlement | Capital City |
| Necropolis | Valley of Kings - the necropolis where the Pharaohs and nobles were entombed
|
| Local deity | The holy triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu |
| Ancient name | Waset |
| Contemporary name | Luxor and Karnak now occupy parts of its site |
| Historical Development |
1- Old Kingdom - a number of small settlements and a village called Waset
2- Middle Kingdom - Mentuhotep I 11th Dynasty united Egypt and
established Thebes as his capital.
Amenemhet I 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.
3- New Kingdom - Ahmose I 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
4- As the New Kingdom began to decay and the locus of power to shift to the Nile Delta, Thebes went into decline.
5- For a time in the 11th cent. B.C., it was a separate political entity under sacerdotal rule. Thebes was sacked by the Assyrians in 661 B.C., an event referred to in the Bible (Nah. 3.8–10).
6-The Romans sacked it in 29 B.C., and by 20 B.C. a Greek visitor to the site reported only a few scattered villages.
|
| Monuments |
a) Temple of Karnak - the most important sanctuary of the New Kingdom
b) Luxor Temple complex - center of the Festival of Opet
|
