Hermopolis Magna

Hermopolis

Hermopolis
Shown within Egypt
Location	El Ashmunein, Minya Governorate, Egypt
Region	Upper Egypt
Coordinates	27°46′53″N 30°48′14″E / 27.78139°N 30.80389°E / 27.78139; 30.80389Coordinates: 27°46′53″N 30°48′14″E / 27.78139°N 30.80389°E / 27.78139; 30.80389
Type	Settlement
Site notes
Condition	In ruins

Hermopolis (also Hermopolis Magna, Greek: Ἑρμοῦ πόλις μεγάληHermou polis megaleEgyptian Khemenu, Ḫmnw) was a major city in antiquity, located near the boundary between Lower and Upper Egypt. A provincial capital since the Old Kingdom period, Hermopolis developed into a major city of Roman Egypt, and an early Christian center from the 3rd century. It was abandoned after the Muslim invasion.

Its remains are located near the modern Egyptian town of El Ashmunein (from Coptic: Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛⲉⲓⲛ Shmounein) in Al Minya governorate.

Khemenu (Ḫmnw), the Ancient Egyptian name of the city, means "eight-town", after the Ogdoad, a group of eight deities who represented the world before creation. The name survived into Coptic as Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛⲉⲓⲛ (Shmounein), from which the modern name, El Ashmunein, is derived. In Greek, the city was called Hermopolis, after Hermes, whom the Greeks identified with Thoth, because the city was the main cult centre of Thoth, the god of magic, healing and wisdom, and the patron of scribes. Thoth was associated in the same way with the Semitic Eshmun. Inscriptions at the temple call the god "The Lord of Eshmun".