PETER GROSSMANN - Page 14 of 16

Qal‘At Al-Babayn (Castle Of The Two Gates)

QAL‘AT AL-BABAYN (castle of the two gates) A medieval fortress on the east bank of the Nile (some 12 miles [19 km] south of Idfu), at which a few sturdy fortification walls with towers and numerous domestic buildings remain. The unusual, hook-shaped ground plan is determined by the lie of the land. The fortress falls …

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Qararah

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

QARARAH An early Christian settlement on the east bank of the Nile, east of the modern railway station of Magharah (about 112 miles or 180 km south of Cairo). Apart from the remains of a few miserable houses (Ranke, 1926, p. 7, pl. 7), only the cemeteries have survived, and these afford information about an …

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Qift (Coptos)

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

QIFT (Coptos) A city on the east bank of the Nile, about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Luxor. It was already of some significance early on as the exit point of the desert routes to the Red Sea and to the quarries in the desert area. In the third century A.D. during the Palmyrene …

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Hisn

Culture / By Armia FAYEZ

HISN A rampart or defensive wall. The word is also used in this sense for the fortification walls of towns. In the Egyptian cenobite monasteries the hisn has the significance of a protective wall and is equally important as a defense against hostile assaults and to prevent uncontrolled intercourse between the inhabitants of the monastery …

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Hilwan, History And Christian Buildings

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

HILWAN, History and Christian Buildings This town is on the east bank of the Nile 14 miles (20 km) south of Cairo. It has always been known for its curative sulfuric waters. History According to the HISTORY OF THE PATRIARCHS, the governor of Egypt ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Marwan (seventh-eighth century) built Hilwan and commanded the …

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Pbow

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

PBOW History Pbow is the Coptic name of the second and most important monastery of Saint PACHOMIUS. For centuries the superior of the whole Pachomian congregation resided at Pbow. The site is now considered equivalent to the town of Faw al-Qibli (Faw of the South, in contrast with the neighboring village Faw al-Bahari, Faw of …

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Madamud

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

MADAMUD A town on the east bank of the Nile, about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Luxor, and from the pharaonic down to the Roman period an important cultic center of the Theban district-god Month, which still emerges from the place-name today. The temple of Month and of the bull Buchis sacred to him …

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Madinat Madi

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

MADINAT MADI An abandoned site on the southwest edge of the Fayyum (perhaps identical with the ancient Narmuthis), which grew out of an older temple settlement the beginnings of which reach back into the Middle Kingdom. The temple itself was built by Amenemhet III (Twelfth Dynasty) and contains numerous additions from the Ptolemaic and Roman …

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Madinat Habu

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

MADINAT HABU The great fortified mortuary temple of Ramses III. The Coptic settlement in the temple area of Madinat Habu is the simple continuation and the final stage of a civilian migration into the temple precincts that began as early as the Twenty-first Dynasty (from 1090 B.C.). At first, it was significantly limited only to …

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Makhurah (Mareotis)

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

MAKHURAH (Mareotis) A small late Roman settlement on the Mediterranean coast about 10 miles (16 km) west of ABUSIR (Taposiris Magna). Up to now the significance of the place has not been ascertained. Apart from two large churches, there are only a few domestic buildings within the surrounding wall, and the people that lived in …

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