Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt; ⲙⲁⲣⲏⲥ (Coptic); ta shemaw (Egyptian); Άνω Αίγυπτος (Greek); صعيد مصر (Arabic); الصعيد (Egyptian Arabic); Aegyptus superior (Latin)
	Unknown–c. 3150 BC
	Thinis Nekhen Thebes Naqada Map of Upper Egypt showing important sites that were occupied during Naqada III (clickable map)
Capital	Thinis
Common languages	Ancient Egyptian
Religion	Ancient Egyptian religion
Government	Monarchy
Pharaoh
• Unknown	Unknown (first)
• c. 3150 BC	Narmer (last)
History
• Established	Unknown
• Disestablished	c. 3150 BC
	Succeeded by
Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)
Today part of	Egypt

Upper Egypt (Arabic: صعيد مصر‎ Ṣaʿīd Miṣr, shortened to الصعيد Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [es.sˤe.ˈʕiːd], locally: [es.sˤɑ.ˈʕiːd], Coptic: ⲙⲁⲣⲏⲥ) is the strip of land on both sides of the Nile that extends between Nubia and downriver (northwards) to Lower Egypt. It is the southernmost portion of Egypt.

Geography[edit]

Upper Egypt is between the Cataracts of the Nile above modern-day Aswan, downriver (northwards) to the area of El-Ayait,^[2] which places modern-day Cairo in Lower Egypt. The northern (downriver) part of Upper Egypt, between Sohag and El-Ayait, is also known as Middle Egypt.

In Arabic, inhabitants of Upper Egypt are known as Sa'idis and they generally speak Sai'idi Egyptian Arabic.

In ancient Egypt, Upper Egypt was known as tꜣ šmꜣw,^[3] literally "the Land of Reeds" or "the Sedgeland"^[4] It was divided into twenty-two districts called nomes.^[5] The first nome was roughly where modern-day Aswan is and the twenty-second was at modern Atfih just to the south of Cairo.

History[edit]

Hedjet, the White Crown of Upper Egypt

Predynastic Egypt[edit]

The main city of prehistoric Upper Egypt was Nekhen,^[6] whose patron deity was the vulture goddess Nekhbet.^[7]

By about 3600 BC, Neolithic Egyptian societies along the Nile had based their culture on the raising of crops and the domestication of animals.^[8] Shortly after 3600 BC, Egyptian society began to grow and increase in complexity.^[9] A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the Levantine ceramics, appeared during this time. Extensive use of copper became common during this time.^[9] The Mesopotamian process of sun-drying adobe and architectural principles—including the use of the arch and recessed walls for decorative effect—became popular during this time.^[9]

Concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, occurred. At the same time the societies of the Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt also underwent a unification process.^[9] Warfare between Upper and Lower Egypt occurred often.^[9] During his reign in Upper Egypt, King Narmer defeated his enemies on the Delta and merged both the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Egypt under his single rule.^[10]

Dynastic Egypt[edit]

For most of pharaonic Egypt's history, Thebes was the administrative center of Upper Egypt. After its devastation by the Assyrians, its importance declined. Under the Ptolemies, Ptolemais Hermiou took over the role of Upper Egypt's capital city.^[11] Upper Egypt was represented by the tall White Crown Hedjet, and its symbols were the flowering lotus and the sedge.

Medieval Egypt[edit]

In the 11th century, large numbers of pastoralists, known as Hilalians, fled Upper Egypt and moved westward into Libya and as far as Tunis.^[12] It is believed that degraded grazing conditions in Upper Egypt, associated with the beginning of the Medieval Warm Period, were the root cause of the migration.^[13]

20th-century Egypt[edit]

In the 20th-century Egypt, the title Prince of the Sa'id (meaning Prince of Upper Egypt) was used by the heir apparent to the Egyptian throne.^{[Note 1]}

Although the Kingdom of Egypt was abolished after the Egyptian revolution of 1952, the title continues to be used by Muhammad Ali, Prince of the Sa'id.

Upper Egypt and Coptic language[edit]

Upper Egypt is known to contain a few remaining villages, where the historical Coptic language, the latest phase of the Egyptian language, has been revived and reconstructed as a spoken language.^[15]^[16]

List of rulers of prehistoric Upper Egypt[edit]

The following list may not be complete (there are many more of uncertain existence):

Name	Comments	Dates
Elephant		End of 4th millennium BC
Bull		4th millennium BC
Scorpion I	Oldest tomb at Umm el-Qa'ab had scorpion insignia	c. 3200 BC?
Iry-Hor	Possibly the immediate predecessor of Ka.	c. 3150 BC?
Ka^[17]^[18]	May be read Sekhen rather than Ka. Possibly the immediate predecessor of Narmer.	c. 3100 BC
Scorpion II	Potentially read Serqet; possibly the same person as Narmer.	c. 3150 BC
Narmer	The king who combined Upper and Lower Egypt.^[19]	c. 3150 BC

List of nomes[edit]

Map of Ancient Egypt with its historical nomes. "Upper Egypt" is in the lower portion of the map.

Number	Ancient Name	Capital	Modern Capital	Translation
1	Ta-khentit	Abu / Yebu (Elephantine)	Aswan	The Frontier/Land of the Bow
2	Wetjes-Hor	Djeba (Apollonopolis Magna)	Edfu	Throne of Horus
3	Nekhen	Nekhen (Hierakon polis)	al-Kab	Shrine
4	Waset	Niwt-rst / Waset (Thebes)	Karnak	Sceptre
5	Harawî	Gebtu (Coptos)	Qift	Two Falcons
6	Aa-ta	Iunet / Tantere (Tentyra)	Dendera	Crocodile
7	Seshesh	Seshesh (Diospolis Parva)	Hu	Sistrum
8	Abdju	Abdju (Abydos)	al-Birba	Great Land
9	Min	Apu / Khen-min (Panopolis)	Akhmim	Min
10	Wadjet	Djew-qa / Tjebu (Aphroditopolis)	Edfu	Cobra
11	Set	Shashotep (Hypselis)	Shutb	Set animal
12	Tu-ph	Hut-Sekhem-Senusret (Antaeopolis)	Qaw al-Kebir	Viper Mountain
13	Atef-Khent	Zawty (Lycopolis)	Asyut	Upper Sycamore and Viper
14	Atef-Pehu	Qesy (Cusae)	al-Qusiya	Lower Sycamore and Viper
15	Wenet	Khemenu (Hermopolis)	Hermopolis	Hare^[20]
16	Ma-hedj	Herwer?	Hur?	Oryx^[20]
17	Anpu	Saka (Cynopolis)	al-Kais	Anubis
18	Sep	Teudjoi / Hutnesut (Alabastronopolis)	el-Hiba	Set
19	Uab	Per-Medjed (Oxyrhynchus)	el-Bahnasa	Two Sceptres
20	Atef-Khent	Henen-nesut (Heracleopolis Magna)	Ihnasiyyah al-Madinah	Southern Sycamore
21	Atef-Pehu	Shenakhen / Semenuhor (Crocodilopolis, Arsinoë)	Faiyum	Northern Sycamore
22	Maten	Tepihu (Aphroditopolis)	Atfih	Knife

Notes[edit]

^ The title was first used by Prince Farouk, the son and heir of King Fouad I. Prince Farouk was officially named Prince of the Sa'id on 12 December 1933.^[14]

References[edit]

^ Ermann & Grapow, op.cit. Wb 5, 227.4-14
^ See list of nomes. Maten (Knife land) is the furthest north nome of Upper Egypt on the right bank, while Atef-Pehu (Northern Sycamore land) is the northernmost on the left bank. Brugsch, Heinrich Karl (2015). A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs. 1. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 487., originally published in 1876 in German.
^ Ermann & Grapow 1982, Wb 5, 227.4-14.
^ Ermann & Grapow (1982), Wb 4, 477.9-11
^ The Encyclopedia Americana Grolier Incorporated, 1988, p.34
^ Bard & Shubert (1999), p. 371
^ David (1975), p. 149
^ Roebuck (1966), p. 51
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Roebuck (1966), pp. 52–53
^ Roebuck (1966), p. 53
^ Chauveau (2000), p. 68
^ Ballais (2000), p. 133
^ Ballais (2000), p. 134
^ Brice (1981), p. 299
^ https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/16207/Coptic-Ancient-language-still-spoken-today
^ https://smass.co.uk/coptic-language
^ Rice 1999, p. 86.
^ Wilkinson 1999, p. 57f.
^ Shaw 2000, p. 196.
^ ^a ^b Grajetzki (2006), pp. 109–111

Bibliography[edit]

Ballais, Jean-Louis (2000). "Conquests and land degradation in the eastern Maghreb". In Graeme Barker & David Gilbertson (eds.). Sahara and Sahel. The Archaeology of Drylands: Living at the Margin. Vol. 1, Part III. London: Routledge. pp. 125–136. ISBN 978-0-415-23001-8.CS1 maint: uses editors parameter (link) CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Bard, Katheryn A.; Shubert, Steven Blake (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-18589-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Brice, William Charles (1981). An Historical Atlas of Islam. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-06116-9. OCLC 9194288.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Chauveau, Michel (2000). Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra: History and Society Under the Ptolemies. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3597-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
David, Ann Rosalie (1975). The Egyptian Kingdoms. London: Elsevier Phaidon. OCLC 2122106.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Ermann, Johann Peter Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1982). Wörterbuch der Ägyptischen Sprache [Dictionary of the Egyptian Language] (in German). Berlin: Akademie. ISBN 3-05-002263-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Grajetzki, Wolfram (2006). The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt: History, Archaeology and Society. London: Duckworth Egyptology. ISBN 978-0-7156-3435-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Rice, Michael (1999). Who's Who in Ancient Egypt. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-15449-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Roebuck, Carl (1966). The World of Ancient Times. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons Publishing.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Shaw, Ian (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280458-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (1999). Early Dynastic Egypt. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-18633-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links[edit]

Media related to Upper Egypt at Wikimedia Commons

[15] The title was first used by Prince Farouk, the son and heir of King Fouad I. Prince Farouk was officially named Prince of the Sa'id on 12 December 1933.^[14]

[1] Ermann & Grapow, op.cit. Wb 5, 227.4-14

[2] See list of nomes. Maten (Knife land) is the furthest north nome of Upper Egypt on the right bank, while Atef-Pehu (Northern Sycamore land) is the northernmost on the left bank. Brugsch, Heinrich Karl (2015). A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs. 1. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 487., originally published in 1876 in German.

[FOOTNOTEErmannGrapow1982Wb_5,_227.4-14-3] Ermann & Grapow 1982, Wb 5, 227.4-14.

[4] Ermann & Grapow (1982), Wb 4, 477.9-11

[5] The Encyclopedia Americana Grolier Incorporated, 1988, p.34

[6] Bard & Shubert (1999), p. 371

[7] David (1975), p. 149

[8] Roebuck (1966), p. 51

[Roebuck1-9] Roebuck (1966), pp. 52–53

[10] Roebuck (1966), p. 53

[11] Chauveau (2000), p. 68

[12] Ballais (2000), p. 133

[13] Ballais (2000), p. 134

[14] Brice (1981), p. 299

[16] ttps://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/16207/Coptic-Ancient-language-still-spoken-today

[17] ttps://smass.co.uk/coptic-language

[FOOTNOTERice199986-18] Rice 1999, p. 86.

[FOOTNOTEWilkinson199957f-19] Wilkinson 1999, p. 57f.

[FOOTNOTEShaw2000196-20] Shaw 2000, p. 196.

[WG-21] Grajetzki (2006), pp. 109–111

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Upper Egypt

Contents

Geography[edit]