Idfa (Arabic: إدفا) is a village in Sohag Governorate in Upper Egypt located 6.4 km (4.0 mi) from the nearby city of Sohag. In antiquity, it was known by the ancient Egyptians as Iteb, then it was named by the Greeks as Itos (Ancient Greek: Ἰτος).
Idfa
إدفا | |
|---|---|
  Location in Egypt | |
| Coordinates: 26°34′21″N 31°38′20″E / 26.57250°N 31.63889°E | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Governorate | Sohag |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EST) |
Location
editThe Greek spelling Itos, which was derived from the Egyptian Iteb and formed the root of the Arabic name Idfa, was found on several ostracas found in today's Idfa. In addition, a poultry farmer is named "Horo(n)mephis" on two of these ostracas, which represents the Greek form of Horus Iunmutef.[1] An inscription on the outer wall of the temple of Edfu indicates that Iteb was a cult place of the aforementioned Horus Iunmutef. On the south wall of the Pronaos, Horus Iunmutef can be seen in this context as "the cleaner of the great house of Horus from Iteb, who is in his barge" at the head of the convoy of Horus. From the representations on the north wall of the Mammisi of temple of Dendera, further references to the place Chemmis (modern Akhmim) have been obtained, which allowed an assignment of Iteb in the immediate vicinity to Chemmis. In addition, Osiris bears the title "Lord of Iteb".[2]
Hieroglyphs
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| jtp(t)[3] in hieroglyphs | ||||||||||
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| Era: Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC) | ||||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Itos (Edfa)". Trismegistos.
- ^ Kurth, Dieter (2004). Die Inschriften des Tempels von Edfu. Abteilung I Übersetzung. Vol. 2: Edfou VII. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447050166.
- ^ Peust, Carsten (2010). Die Toponyme vorarabischen Ursprungs im modernen Ägypten. Gottingen. p. 50.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Bibliography
edit- François Daumas. Les mammisis de Dendara. Paris University, Paris. 1955.
- Dieter Kurth. Die Inschriften des Tempels von Edfu. Abteilung I Übersetzung. Band 2: Edfou VII. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. 2004. ISBN 3-447-05016-0
- Serge Sauneron. Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie Orientale (BIFAO): Edfou. Vol. 62. Cairo. 1964.