Upper egypt

High Egypt and its nomos.

Upper Egypt refers to the southern part of the country, which extends from the south of the ancient region of Memphis (near Cairo), to the first cataract of the Nile River (at Aswan), but during Pharaonic times it was called schmau "land of barley".

The Nile Delta region is called Lower Egypt. It covers approximately from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east (on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea) and to the city of Cairo in the south.

Both Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt are situated on the Lower Nile.

History

During the predynastic period of Egypt, two independent kingdoms arose: Upper and Lower Egypt. They were reunited by Pharaoh Menes, of Upper Egypt, under his command, beginning with this event the dynastic history of Egypt.

Upper Egypt had an exceptional environment: it included a very fertile plain thanks to the alluvium of the Nile, and it produced food surpluses. A short distance away, in the surrounding desert, there were oases from which expeditions were organized to the mining deposits of the desert and the Sinai mountains, to obtain precious metals and stones.

This wealth made the country a crossroads for trade routes, both overland from Nubia to the south and the Red Sea to the east, the so-called Wadi Hammamat route, a trade that is confirmed by the find in Drinking amphoras of wine from Canaan. Obviously, there was also the river route from the Nile to the Delta. This wealth of the country was reflected in that of its rulers, who used part of this wealth in their tombs.

The first kings of Upper Egypt managed to convince their subjects of two fundamental events for them: that they were responsible both for the flooding of the river, and for the union with Lower Egypt, facts that were not allowed to be forgotten, maintaining everything a range of symbols: the throne, the double crown, the sceptres, as well as the identification with the gods; Already in pre-dynastic times, the king was "approved" with Horus, who was incarnated in each pharaoh. The cult of Horus was practiced throughout Egypt.

White crown, spike and vulture in hieroglyphic

The supreme god of Upper Egypt was Seth and the symbol was the White crown (Hedyet), the vulture goddess Nekhbet and the white lotus flower; another symbol was the reed, frequently represented together with the bee of Lower Egypt, preceding the cartouche that contained the name of the pharaoh.

The White Crown was unified, at the beginning of the first dynasty, with the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, originating the Double Crown, main symbol of the pharaohs as kings of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Wine amphoras from the tini era. Open. Louvre Museum.

Thebaid

In the time of Strabo, who visited Egypt c. 25 a.m. C., Egypt was divided into 37 nomos: 10 in Lower Egypt (Nile delta), 17 in Middle Egypt and another 1000 ***** in Upper Egypt: the Thebaid.

According to Pliny the Elder, a writer of the I century, the number of nomes varied between 37 and 47.

The most important localities in Upper Egypt, from Thebes to the first cataract, are: