View source for Hermopolis

{{short description|Village in Minya Governorate, Egypt}}
{{About|Hermopolis Magna|other cities called Hermopolis|Hermopolis (disambiguation)|the Hermopolite nome|Hare nome}}
{{Infobox ancient site
  |name = Hermopolis
  |native_name = {{lang|cop|{{Script/Coptic|Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ}}}}
  |alternate_name = {{lang|ar|الأشمونين}}
  |image = AshmuneinBasilica.jpg
  |alt = 
  |caption = Basilica of Hermopolis
  |map_type = Egypt
  |map_alt = 
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  |coordinates = {{coord|27|46|53|N|30|48|14|E|display=inline,title}}
  |location = El Ashmunein, [[Minya Governorate]], [[Egypt]]
  |region = [[Upper Egypt]]
  |type = Settlement
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  |condition = In ruins
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'''Hermopolis'''<ref>([[Ammianus Marcellinus]], II 16)</ref> (or ''Hermopolis Magna'') was a major city in antiquity, located near the boundary between [[Lower Egypt|Lower]] and [[Upper Egypt]]. Its Egyptian name ''Khemenu'' derives from the eight deities (the [[Ogdoad (Egyptian)|Ogdoad]]) said to reside in the city.
[[File:The black siltstone obelisk of Pharaoh Nectanebo II, c.350 BCE. From Cairo, Egypt. British Museum.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Black [[siltstone]] [[obelisk]] of King [[Nectanebo II]] (r. 358 to 340 BCE). According to the vertical inscriptions he set up this obelisk at the doorway of the [[sanctuary]] of [[Hermes Trismegistus|Thoth Thrice-Great]], Lord of Hermopolis. It is now on display in the [[British Museum]], [[London]].]]
A provincial capital since the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt]], Hermopolis developed into a major city of [[Roman Egypt]], and an early [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Christian]] center from the third century. It was abandoned after the [[Muslim conquest of Egypt]] but was restored as both a [[Catholic Church|Latin Catholic]] (meanwhile suppressed) and a Coptic Orthodox [[titular see]].

Its remains are located near the modern town of el-Ashmunein (from the Coptic name<ref name=Coptic/>) in [[Mallawi]], [[Minya Governorate]], Egypt.

== Name ==
{{hiero|ḫmnw<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 4 |date=1927 |page=176 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1927/page/n91}}</ref>|<hiero>Z1*Z1*Z1*Z1:Z1*Z1*Z1*Z1-nw-w-niwt:t*Z1</hiero>|align=left|era=mk}}

The common English name is Hermopolis ({{langx|grc|Ἑρμούπολις}} ''Hermoúpolis'' "the City of [[Hermes]]", also ''Hermopolis Magna'', {{lang|grc|Ἑρμοῦ πόλις μεγάλη}} ''Hermoû pólis megálẽ'',<ref>"Great Hermopolis", for distinction with [[Damanhur|Lesser Hermopolis]],
e.g. [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] ''s.v.'' {{lang|grc|Ἑρμοῦ πόλις}}; [[Ptolemy]] IV 5. § 60. [[Antonine Itinerary]] pp. 154f.</ref> {{langx|egy|[[wikt:ḫmnw|ḫmnw]]||Eight}} {{ipa|/χaˈmaːnaw/}} (reconstructed pronunciation), [[Egyptological pronunciation]]: "Khemenu"; {{langx|cop|{{coptic|Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ}}}} ''Shmūn'', and thus {{langx|ar|الأشمونين|al-Ashmunayn|The Two Shmun}}).

''Khemenu'' ({{lang|egy|Ḫmnw}}), the [[Egyptian language]] name of the city,<ref>Ian Shaw & Paul Nicholson, ''The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press'', 1995. p.125</ref> means "Eight-Town", after the [[Ogdoad (Egyptian)|Ogdoad]], a group of eight "primordial" deities whose cult was situated there. The name survived as Coptic {{Coptic|Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ}} ''Shmun'', from which the modern name ''el Ashmunein'' ({{langx|ar|الأشمونين}}) is derived.<ref name="Coptic">G. Mussies in:   Matthieu Sybrand Huibert, Gerard Heerma van Voss (eds.), ''Studies in Egyptian Religion: Dedicated to Professor Jan Zandee'' (1982),  [https://books.google.com/books?id=f-X33suvcPwC&pg=PA92 p. 92].<!--cited as ''Shmun'', presumably "Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ";  unreferenced user-contributed form: {{Coptic|Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛⲉⲓⲛ}} (''Shmounein'');  another variant {{lang|cop|ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛⲏ}} ''Shmounē'' is found at: {{cite web|url=https://st-takla.org/books/pauline-todary/coptic-language/egyptian.html|title=أسماء بعض البلاد المصرية بالقبطية - كتاب لغتنا القبطية المصرية - St-Takla.org|first=Michael Ghaly -|last=Alex|website=st-takla.org}}-->
</ref>

In [[Koine Greek]], the city was called "The City of [[Hermes]]" since the Greeks identified Hermes with [[Thoth]], because the city was the main cult centre of Thoth, the Pharaonic god of magic, healing, and wisdom and the patron of scribes. Thoth was associated in the same way with the [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] deity [[Eshmun]]. Inscriptions at the temple call the god "The Lord of Eshmun".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://artflx.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.22:1:182.geography |title=Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography |website=artflx.uchicago.edu |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709153241/http://artflx.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.22:1:182.geography |archive-date=9 July 2012 }}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Tomb of Djehutynakht 21.jpg|thumb|200px|Objects from the tomb of [[Djehutynakht (10A)|Djehutynakht]], a [[nomarch]] during the Middle Kingdom era of Egypt.]]
The city was the capital of the [[Hare nome]] (the fifteenth [[nome (Egypt)|nome]] of [[Upper Egypt]]) in the [[Heptanomis]]. Hermopolis stood on the borders of Upper and [[Lower Egypt]], and, for many ages, the [[Thebaid]] or upper country extended much further to the north than in more recent periods. As the border town, Hermopolis was a place of great resort and opulence, ranking second to [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] alone. A little to south of the city was the castle of Hermopolis, at which point rivercraft from the Thebaid paid tolls ({{lang|grc|Ἑρμοπολιτάνη φυλακή}},<ref>[[Strabo]] xvii. p.&nbsp;813; Ptol. ''loc. cit.''</ref> the [[Bahr Yussef]] in [[Arabic]]). The grottos of [[Beni Hasan]], near [[Antinopolis|Antinoöpolis]] on the opposite bank of the Nile, were the common cemeteries of the Hermopolitans because although the river divided the city from its necropolis, from the wide curve of the western hills at this point, it was easier to ferry the dead over the water than to transport them by land to the hills.

Hermopolis became a significant city in the [[Roman province]] of [[Thebais Prima]] in the administrative [[diocese of Egypt]].

The principal Egyptian deities worshipped at Hermopolis were [[Typhon]] ([[Set (deity)|Set]]) and [[Thoth]]. Typhon was represented by a [[hippopotamus]], on which sat a hawk fighting with a serpent.<ref>[[Plutarch|Plut.]] ''Is. et Osir'', p.&nbsp;371, D.</ref> Thoth, whom the [[ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] associated with [[Hermes]] because they were both gods of magic and writing, was represented by the [[ibis]].

== Ecclesiastical history ==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2017}}
A Christian tradition holds it to be the place where the [[Holy Family]] found refuge during its exile in Egypt.

Hermopolis Maior was a [[suffragan diocese]] of the provincial capital's Metropolitan [[Archdiocese of Antinoe]], in the sway of the [[Patriarchate of Alexandria]]. Like most, it faded under Islam.

List of bishops of Hermopolis:
* Conon (circa 250)
* Fasileus (in 325)
* Dios (circa 350)
* Plusianus (4th century)
* Andreas (in 431)
* Gennadius (circa 444 - after 449)
* Victor (circa 448/463)
* Ulpianus (6th century)
* Johannes I (6th century)
* Johannes II (6th-7th century)
* Isidorus (7th century)
* Eugenius (?)
* Paulus (?)

The city was a titular diocese in the [[Roman Catholic Church]],<ref>{{CathEncy|id=07289a|title=Hermopolis Magna}}</ref> and still is (?) in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]].
The diocese was nominally restored in the 18th century as Latin [[Titular bishopric]] of '''Hermopolis Maior''' (Latin; 1925-1929 renamed Hermopolis Magna) / '''Ermopoli Maggiore''' (Curiate Italian)
Its territory was reassigned in 1849 to the [[Coptic Catholic Eparchy of Mina]], as a restoration of Hermopolis (as its Latin title attests).

In 1949 the titular see was suppressed, having had the following incumbents, all of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank :
* Luigi Antonio Valdina Cremona (1729.03.23 – death 1758.10.24) (Italian) no actual prelature recorded 
* Dominik Józef Kiełczewski (1760.07.21 – death 1776.02.28) as [[Auxiliary Bishop]] of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chełm]] (Poland) (1760.07.21 – retired 1775.07.14) and on emeritate
* [[Bishop-elect]]? Bernardo Maria Serio (1802.08.09 – death ?) as Auxiliary Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palermo|Archdiocese of Palermo]] (Sicily, Italy) (1802.08.09 – ?)
* Denis-Antoine-Luc de Frayssinous (French) (1822.04.19 – death 1841.12.12) no actual prelature recorded
* Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski (1842.01.27 – 1856.09.18) as [[Apostolic Administrator]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Warszawa|Archdiocese of Warszawa]] (Warschau, Poland) (1844 – 1856.09.18); later succeeded as Metropolitan Archbishop of Warszawa (1856.09.18 – 1861.10.05)
* [[Catacombe dei Cappuccini#Interments|Agostino Franco]] (1858.06.15 – death 1877) as [[Ordinary (Catholic Church)|Ordinary]] of [[Silicia of the Italo-Albanese]] (Italy) (1858.06.15 – 1859) and Ordinary of [[Italia continentale of the Italo-Albanese]] (Italy) (1858.06.15 – 1860)
* Charles-Bonaventure-François Theuret (1878.07.15 – 1887.03.15) as [[Apostolic Administrator]] of the [[Subiaco Benedictine]] [[Abbey nullius of Saints-Nicholas-et-Benoît]] ([[Monaco]]) (1878.07.15 – 1887.03.15); later (see promoted) first Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Monaco|Monaco]] (Monaco) (1887.03.15 – death 1901.11.11)
* Father Jan Ignacy Korytkowski (1888.04.27 – 1888.05.14) as Auxiliary bishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno|Archdiocese of Gniezno]] (Gnesen, Poland) (1888.04.27 – 1888.05.14)
* Raphael Valenza (1889.05.24 – death 1897.12.22) as Auxiliary Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chieti|Archdiocese of Chieti]] (Italy) (1889.05.24 – 1897.12.22)
* [[Robert Brindle]] (1899.01.29 – 1901.12.06) as Auxiliary Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster|Archdiocese of Westminster]] (England, UK) (1899.01.29 – 1901.12.06); later Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham|Nottingham]] (England) (1901.12.06 – 1915.06.01), emeritus as Titular Bishop of [[Tacapæ]] (1915.06.01 – death 1916.06.27)
* [[Juan Bautista Benlloch y Vivo]] (1901.12.16 – 1906.12.06) as [[Apostolic Administrator]] of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Solsona|Solsona]] (Spain) (1901.12.16 – 1906.12.06); later Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell|Urgell]] (Spain) (1906.12.06 – 1919.01.07), Metropolitan Archbishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Burgos|Burgos]] (Spain) (1919.01.07 – death 1926.02.14), created [[Cardinal-Priest]] of [[S. Maria in Ara Coeli]] (1921.06.16 – 1926.02.14)
* John Jeremiah Lawler (1910.02.08 – 1916.01.29) as Auxiliary Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul|Archdiocese of Saint Paul]] (USA) (1910.02.08 – 1916.01.29); later Bishop of Lead (1916.01.29 – 1930.08.01), Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City|Rapid City]] (USA) (1930.08.01 – death 1948.03.11)
* Giorgio Glosauer (1917.07.07 – death 1926.06.09) as Auxiliary Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Praha|Archdiocese of Praha]] (Prague, Czech Republic) (1917.07.07 – 1926.06.09)
* Eduardo José Herberhold, [[Friars Minor]] (O.F.M.) (1928.01.07 – 1931.01.30) as [[Coadjutor Bishop-Prelate]] of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santarém, Brazil|Territorial Prelature of Santarem]] (Brazil) (1928.01.07 – 1931.01.30); later Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilhéus|Ilhéus]] (Brazil) (1931.01.30 – death 1939.07.24)
* Francesco Fulgenzio Lazzati, O.F.M. (born Italy) (1931.07.14 – 1932.05.24) as [[Apostolic Vicar]] of [[Apostolic Vicariate of Mogadishu|Mogadishu]] (then Italian [[Somalia]]) (1931.07.14 – 1932.05.24).

== Remains ==
Hermopolis comparatively escaped the frequent wars which, in the decline both of the Pharaonic and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] eras, devastated the Heptanomis; but, on the other hand, its structures have undergone severe changes under its [[Muslim]] rulers, who have burned its stones for lime or carried them away for building materials.<ref>{{cite wikisource|chapter=Destruction of Egyptian Monuments|wslink=Littell's Living Age/Volume 153/Issue 1972|plaintitle=Littell's Living Age|last=|first=|year=|publisher=|page=|wspage=|scan=}}</ref> A surviving [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri|Oxyrhynchus Papyrus]] of the 3rd century CE indicates that high-rise buildings with seven stories existed in the town.<ref>Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2719, in: Katja Lembke & Cäcilia Fluck, Günter Vittmann, ''Ägyptens späte Blüte. Die Römer am Nil'', Mainz 2004, {{ISBN|3-8053-3276-9}}, p. 29</ref> The collection of Arabic papyri in the [[John Rylands Library]], Manchester, contains many documents referring to Hermopolis (''Ushmun''); they date from the 8th to 11th centuries CE.<ref>Margoliouth, D. S. (1933) ''Catalogue of Arabic Papyri in the John Rylands Library, Manchester''. Manchester: the John Rylands Library</ref>

=== The temple ===
The Ibis-headed god Thoth was, with his accompanying emblems, the [[Ibis]] and the Cynocephalus monkey, the most conspicuous among the sculptures upon the great portico of the temple of Hermopolis. His designation in inscriptions was "The Lord of Eshmoon". This portico was a work of the [[Ancient Egypt|Pharaonic era]], but the erections of the [[Ptolemies]] at Hermopolis were on a scale of great extent and magnificence and, although raised by Greek monarchs, are essentially Egyptian in their conception and execution. The portico, the only remnant of the temple, consists of a double row of pillars, six in each row. The architraves are formed of five stones; each passes from the centre of one pillar to that of the next, according to a well-known usage with Egyptian builders. The intercolumnation of the centre pillars is wider than that of the others; and the stone over the centre is twenty-five feet and six inches long. These columns were painted yellow, red and blue in alternate bands. There is also a peculiarity in the pillars of the Hermopolitan portico peculiar to themselves, or at least discovered only again in the temple of [[Gournou]]. (Dénon, ''L'Egypte'', plate 41.) Instead of being formed of large masses placed horizontally above each other, they are composed of irregular pieces, so artfully adjusted that it is difficult to detect the lines of junction. The bases of these columns represent the lower leaves of the lotus; next come a number of concentric rings, like the hoops of a cask; and above these the pillars appear like bunches of reeds held together by horizontal bonds. Including the capital, each column is about 40 feet high; the greatest circumference is about 28{{frac|1|2}} feet, about five feet from the ground, for they diminish in thickness both towards the base and towards the capital. The widest part of the intercolumnation is 17 feet; the other pillars are 13 feet apart.

=== Coptic Basilica ===
Outside the temple complex stand the remains of a [[basilica]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=B.C. Archaeology: Ashmunein|url=http://www.bcarchaeology.com/Ashmunein.html|access-date=2020-06-22|website=www.bcarchaeology.com|archive-date=2021-10-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022182731/http://www.bcarchaeology.com/Ashmunein.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> built in the 5th century over earlier buildings.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Ashmunein|url=https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/en/2019/04/24/ashmunein-2/|access-date=2020-06-22|website=pcma.uw.edu.pl}}</ref> It is one of the most impressive [[Copts|Coptic]] buildings:<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barański|first=Marek|date=1992|title=Excavations at the basilica site at el-Ashmunein/ Hermopolis magna in 1987–1990.|url=https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/pam/PAM_1991_III/446.pdf|journal=Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean|volume=3}}</ref> 55 m long, it features a colonnaded [[transept]] ending in [[exedra]]s and side galleries. The [[nave]] with the [[apse]] is 14.7 m wide, and the width of the [[aisle]]s is 5.6 m.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barański|first=Marek|title=Konserwacja wczesnochrześcijańskiej bazyliki w Aszmunein.|url=http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Ochrona_Zabytkow/Ochrona_Zabytkow-r1990-t43-n3_(170)/Ochrona_Zabytkow-r1990-t43-n3_(170)-s135-139/Ochrona_Zabytkow-r1990-t43-n3_(170)-s135-139.pdf|journal=Ochrona Zabytków|volume=43}}</ref> The church was discovered in 1942 by Moharam Kamal,<ref>Moharam Kamal, Excavations in the so-called Agora of El Ashmunein. ASAE - Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte 46/1 947, 289–295</ref> later cleaned by an expedition from the [[Alexandria University]], and in the years 1987–1990 documented by a Polish-Egyptian expedition from the [[Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology|Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw]], State Ateliers for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, and the [[Ministry of Antiquities (Egypt)|Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Museum ===
Currently there is a small open-air museum in which stand two massive statues of [[Thoth]] as a baboon worshipping the sun, and a few carved blocks of masonry.

== Famous people ==
* [[David of Hermopolis]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oca.org/saints/lives/2016/09/06/102528-st-david-of-hermopolis-in-egypt |title=St. David of Hermopolis in Egypt - Orthodox Church in America |website=Oca.org |access-date=2017-03-19}}</ref>
* [[Severus Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ]]

==See also==
* [[List of ancient Egyptian towns and cities]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Egypt]]
* [[Coptic architecture]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources and external links ==
{{commonscat|Hermopolis Magna}}
* [https://archive.org/stream/historyofegyptvo034990mbp#page/n48/mode/1up Silhouette of Hermopolis Magna temple-from A History Of Egypt Volume V by J Graflon Milne] retrieved 20:34GMT 27.9.11
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t3007.htm GCatholic - (former &) titular Latin see]
* Sayed Hemeda, Abdulrahman Fahmy, Abbas Moustafa, Mahmoud Abd El Hafez,The Early Basilica Church, El-Ashmonein Archaeological Site, Minia, Egypt: Geo-Environmental Analysis and Engineering Characterization of the Building Materials, Open Journal of Geology 09/03 (2019)
* Marek Barański. [https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/pam/PAM_1991_III/446.pdf Excavations at the basilica site at el-Ashmunein/ Hermopolis magna in 1987–1990. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 3 (1992)]
; Bibliography - Ecclesiastical history
* Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p.&nbsp;461
* Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 5, p.&nbsp;219; vol. 6, p.&nbsp;234
* Michel Lequien, ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus'', Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 595-596
* Gaetano Moroni, ''Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica'', Vol. 22, p.&nbsp;61
* [[Klaas Worp|Klaas A. Worp]], ''A Checklist of Bishops in Byzantine Egypt (A.D. 325 - c. 750)'', in ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' 100 (1994) 283-318

[[Category:Cities in ancient Egypt]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Egypt]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Egypt]]
[[Category:Minya Governorate]]
[[Category:Set (deity)]]
[[Category:Thoth]]
[[Category:Hermes]]