Coptos
| Qift | |
|---|---|
 Qift
|
|
| Coordinates: 25°59′44″N 32°48′57″E / 25.99556°N 32.81583°E | |
| Country |
 Egypt
|
| Governorate | Qena Governorate |
| Time zone | EST (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 (UTC) |
Qift (Arabic: قفط; Coptic: Ⲕⲉϥⲧ Keft or Kebto; Egyptian Gebtu; Ancient Greek: Κόπτος Coptos or Koptos; Roman Justinianopolis) is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about 43 km north of Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile.
In ancient Egypt, Qift, known then as Gebtu, was an important center for administration, religion, and commerce, being the chief city of the fifth Upper Egyptian nome of Harawî (Two Hawks). From Qift and Qus, trading expeditions heading for the Red Sea and many mining expeditions into the Eastern Desert left the Nile Valley. Gebtu was at the starting-point of the two great caravan routes leading to the coast of the Red Sea, the one toward the port Tââou (Myoshormos or Myos Hormos), the other more southerly, toward the port of Shashirît (Berenice).
Under the native pharaohs, the whole trade of southern Egypt with the Red Sea passed over these two roads; under the Ptolemies as well as in Roman and Byzantine times, merchants followed the same roads for purposes of barter at the coasts of Zanzibar and in Southern Arabia, India, and the Far East.
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