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THEBES (e 3a1)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 741 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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THEBES (e 3a1) , the See also:Greek name of the See also:ancient See also:capital of Upper See also:Egypt, presumably an See also:Egyptian name (e.g. Zemi, seen in -See also:GAUL , -TWIGS) assimilated to that of the Greek See also:city. It occurs in See also:Homer (Il. ix. 381–4) where it has the epithet Euaro4i1ru?os, " See also:hundred-gated," probably derived in the first See also:place from the gateways of its endless temples, though perhaps misunderstood as if it referred to a city with a hundred See also:gates in the See also:circuit of its walls. Thebes was never a walled city in this sense, though its vast See also:temple enclosures in different quarters -would See also:form as many fortresses in See also:case of See also:siege or tumult. Its Egyptian name was Wesi (or Wis?), later Ne, " the city " (sometimes Ne-Amun, hence No-Amon in See also:Nahum iii. 8), and different quarters were known by See also:special names. In non-See also:literary Greek Thebes was regularly called Diospolis the See also:Great. See also:Ammon, See also:Amen-Re, or Amenrasonther (" Ammon-Re See also:king of the gods ") was its deity, with his See also:consort Mut and their See also:child Khons. Mont also was a See also:local deity and See also:Hathor presided over the western cliffs of Thebes. In very ancient times the city See also:lay on the See also:east See also:bank, the See also:necropolis on the See also:west. As it See also:grew, however, al-though the necropolis was still confined to the west bank, - a vast city of temples, priests and necropolis See also:people, to which were added royal palaces and their accompaniments, covered the western See also:shore as far back as the See also:desert hills.

The See also:

chief See also:nucleus of the ancient Wesi was a See also:town about the temple of See also:Karnak: it probably reaches back to the prehistoric See also:period. At Drah See also:abu'l nagga, opposite to it, are tombs of its princes under the Vlth See also:Dynasty. The temple of Karnak is no doubt of immemorial antiquity. Perhaps no See also:sculpture earlier than the Xllth Dynasty has survived there, but Senwosri I. dedicated statues to his predecessors of the Vth Dynasty who had probably showed their devotion to Ammon in a substantial manner, and See also:Cheops of the IVth Dynasty is named in it. After the end of the Old See also:Kingdom Thebes grew from an obscure provincial town to be. the seat of a strong See also:line of princes who See also:con-tended for supremacy with Heracleopolis and eventually triumphed in the Xlth Dynasty of See also:Manetho. The most important See also:monument of the See also:Middle Kingdom now extant at Thebes is the funerary temple of Menthotp III. of this dynasty, which has been revealed by the excavations of the Egypt Exploration Fund at See also:Deir el Bahri (see See also:ARCHITECTURE, See also:section Egyptian, fig. 4) : and the period is well represented by an abundance of statues of the XIIth and Xlllth dynasties from the temple of Karnak. The name Amenemhe, so See also:common in the XIIth Dynasty, shows the importance of the Theban See also:god at this See also:time. It was not, however, till the XVIIIth Dynasty, the beginning of the New See also:Empire, that the whole site began to be occupied by monuments which have survived to the See also:present See also:day. The See also:early rulers of this dynasty down to Tethmosis III. See also:developed Karnak, and on the west bank built the great funerary temple of Deir el Bahri and smaller temples as far See also:south as Medinet Habu, and began the See also:long See also:series of royal tombs in the famous Valley of the Tombs of the See also:Kings far back in the desert behind Deir el Bahri. Amenophis III. continuing, trans-formed western Thebes monumentally: built three great temples in addition, that of Mont on the See also:north of Karnak, the temple of Mut on the south and the temple of Ammon at See also:Luxor, and connected the last two with the See also:state temple of Karnak by avenues of sphinxes. On the west bank of the huge colossi of See also:Memnon marked the entrance of his funerary temple, a magnificent See also:building which was afterwards destroyed, and the great See also:lake of Birket Habu was dug and embanked in front of his See also:brick See also:palace at the extreme south.

The chief energies of this king in fact were expended on developing the south extremity of Thebes on both See also:

banks. The city and its monuments now covered an See also:area about three See also:miles square. After this Thebes experienced a serious set-back with the See also:heresy of Akhenaton, the son of Amenophis III. He moved his capital northward to Akhetaton (El Amarna) and strove to suppress the See also:worship of Ammon, doing See also:infinite damage to the monuments of Thebes by defacing his name and figure. After about twenty years, however, the reaction came, Thebes was again the capital, and a little later under Seti (Sethos) I. and See also:Rameses II. of the XXth Dynasty it was raised to greater architectural magnificence than ever. These two kings built the great columnar See also:hall of Karnak, added a large See also:court with pylons to Luxor, and on the west bank built the funerary temple of Seti at Kurna, and the Ramesseum with its gigantic See also:colossus, be-sides other edifices of which only traces remain. Under the XVIIIth and XIXth Dynasties Thebes was at the height of its greatness. Conquering Pharaohs brought See also:home trains of prisoners and spoil, embassies came thither of See also:strange people in every variety of See also:costume and of every See also:hue of skin, from See also:Ethiopia, Puoni (See also:Punt), See also:Mesopotamia, See also:Asia See also:Minor, See also:Libya, and the islands of the Mediterranean, bringing See also:precious stones, rare animals, beautiful slaves, costly garments and vessels of See also:gold and See also:silver, while the ground shook with the See also:movement of See also:colossal architraves, statues and obelisks. The tombs of the XVIIIth Dynasty on the west bank and the sculptures in the temples reflect the brilliancy of these days, but even the reign of Rameses II. marks the beginning of the decline of Thebes. The enormous constructive See also:energy of the proud See also:Pharaoh, in-See also:stead of being concentrated on the capital, was expended with almost equal lavishness on other parts of the See also:country. In every city he See also:left his See also:mark. A great temple at Tanis boasted a larger colossus than existed in Thebes: See also:Heliopolis and See also:Memphis must have been lavishly adorned, and the temples of Abu Simbel (q.v.) alone would have been sufficient to satisfy the ambition of many of the great Pharaohs.

After Rameses II. the efforts of all his successors combined could add little to the wonders of Thebes. The temple and See also:

tower of Rameses III. (XXth Dynasty) at Medinet Habu, his See also:tomb in the Biban el Moluk, the temple of Khons (Rameses III. and later) and the court of Sheshonk I. (XXIInd Dynasty) at Karnak are the only great achievements. For the See also:rest there are the tombs of many kings in the Biban el Moluk and a See also:good See also:deal of comparatively See also:petty construction and tinkering, with the help of See also:stone robbed from older structures. Earlier and greater kings had remorselessly destroyed buildings which interfered with their own plans. The " Memnon " temple of Amenophis III. had already gone, sacrificed perhaps to Akhenaton's god. Rameses II. had plundered his predecessors' monuments for materials. Hitherto Thebes had been glorified by.the See also:process, but henceforth it was rather to perish. The See also:tide of prosperity was flowing northward and such monumental energy as remained was expended more widely. For several centuries after the fall of the New Empire Thebes was but one of several alternating or contemporaneous capitals. Memphis, Tanis, See also:Bubastis, See also:Sais, Heracleopolis had at one time or another at least equal claims.

The Ethiopian conquerors of Egypt made Thebes their Egyptian capital, but in 668 See also:

Assur-bani-See also:pal sacked the city. See also:Psammetichus did not neglect it, and during the XXVIth Dynasty Petemenopi, a wealthy See also:priest and See also:official, excavated for himself the greatest private tomb that ever was made. Probably every king that included Thebes in his See also:realm, except the Assyrians and the Persians, left his memorial there in chapels erected or sculptures added. Of the Persians, however, not even See also:Darius is traceable at Thebes; on the other See also:hand, there is no support for the tradition that See also:Cambyses destroyed its monuments. See also:Ptolemy I. gave a new capital to the upper country in the Greek See also:foundation of Ptolemais, and thus struck a fresh See also:blow at the prosperity of Thebes. For a See also:short period in the reign of Epiphanes, when Upper Egypt was in See also:rebellion against the Ptolemaic See also:rule, Thebes was the capital of See also:independent native dynasts. In a later rebellion, Thebes was captured after a three years' siege and severely punished by Lathyrus (Ptolemy X., See also:Soter II.). In the reign of See also:Augustus, having joined in the insurrection against the tax-gatherers, it was destroyed by See also:Cornelius See also:Gallus and became a collection of villages. Though its vast ;buildings have since served as quarries for See also:mill-stones and for the See also:lime-burner, Thebes still offers the greatest assemblage of monumental ruins in the See also:world. . We will now briefly enumerate the See also:principal See also:groups of monuments. On the east bank at Karnak stand the great state temple of Amen-Re with its obelisks of Hatshepsut and Tethmosis I. and the vast columnar hall of Rameses II.; the temple of Mut and the well-preserved temple of Khons; the temple of Luxor and avenues of rams and sphinxes connecting all these. These temples are described in the articles KARNAK, LUXOR and ARCHITECTURE: Egyptian.

On the west bank, in front of the necropolis, on the edge of the desert or projecting into the cultivation, was a See also:

low See also:row of temples: the northernmost, placed far in front of the others, is the well-preserved temple of Seti I. at Kurna; then follow the Ramesseum and Medinet Habu; and the See also:foundations of many others can be traced. The temple of Amenophis III., to which the colossi of " Memnon " were attached, was again far forward of the line. The Ramesseum contains the remains of a stupendous seated colossus, in See also:black See also:granite, of its builder Rameses II., thrown on its See also:face. When perfect it was probably 57 ft. high and weighed about loco tons, surpassing the " Memnon " statues of Amenophis III. in See also:size and See also:weight. The temple of Rameses III. at Medinet Habu, sculptured with very interesting scenes from his Syrian, Libyan and other See also:wars and from religious festivals, is remarkable also for the unique entrance-tower which probably formed See also:part of the royal palace. Northward and far back in the See also:foot-hills is the Ptolemaic temple of Deir el See also:Medina, and beyond under the cliffs of Deir el Bahri the See also:terrace temple of See also:Queen Hatshepsut, the walls of which are adorned with scenes from her expedition to Puoni (See also:Somaliland) in See also:search of See also:incense trees, and many other subjects. The necropolis extends from Kurna in the north through Drah abu'l nagga, the Assasif, and Shekh abd el Kurna to Kurnet Murrai of Medinet Habu. The finest tombs are of the XVIIIth Dynasty. Far behind Medinet Habu are the Tombs of the Queens, where royal relatives of the XXth Dynasty are buried; and immediately behind the lofty cliffs of Deir el Bahri, but accessible only by a very circuitous route from Kurna, are the tombs of the kings (from Tethmosis I. onward to the end of the XXth Dynasty) in the Biban el Moluk and the Western Valley. They are decorated with religious scenes and texts, especially those which describe the passage of the See also:sun through the underworld. Those of Seti I. and Rameses III. are the most remarkable. These royal sepulchres are long galleries excavated in the See also:rock with See also:chambers at intervals: in one of the innermost chambers was laid the See also:body in its See also:sarcophagus.

In the XXIst Dynasty, when tomb robberies were rife and most of their valuables had been stolen, the royal mummies were removed from place to place and at last deposited for safety in the tomb of Amenophis II. and in the See also:

burial-place of the priest-kings at Deir el Bahri. The finding of the two cachettes nearly intact has been among the greatest marvels of archaeological See also:discovery, and the systematic exploration of the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings by See also:Theodore M. See also:Davis has been annually rewarded with results of the highest See also:interest. See See also:Baedeker's Egypt; E. Naville, (Temple of) Deir el Bahari, introduction and parts i.—v. (See also:London, 1894—1906); W. M. F. See also:Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes (ruined temples on west bank), (London, 1897) ; G. Daressy, See also:Notice explicative See also:des ruins de Medinet Habu (See also:Cairo, 1897) ; G. See also:Maspero, " See also:Les Momies royales de Deir el Bahari " in Memoires de la See also:mission archeologique francaise au Caire, tome L; and many other See also:works. (F.

Lt.

End of Article: THEBES (e 3a1)

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