Antaeopolis

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography

ANTAEO´POLIS(Ἀνταίον πόλις, Ptol. 4.5.71; Steph. B. s.v.;Plin. Nat. 5.9. § § 9, 38; Plut. de Solert. Anim. 23; It. Anton. p. 731: Eth. Ἀνταιο-πολίτηςwas the capital of the Antaeopolite nome in Upper Egypt. It stood upon the eastern bank of 1 the Nile, in lat. 27° 11′ N. The plain below Antaeopolis was the traditional scene of the combat between Isis and Typhon, in which the former avenged herself for the murder of her brother-husband Osiris. (Diod. 1.21.) Under the Christian emperors of Rome, Antaeopolis was the centre of an episcopal see. Medals struck at this city in the age of Trajan and Hadrian are still extant. The site of Antaeopolis is now occupied by a straggling village Gouel-Kebéer. A few blocks near the river's edge are all that remains of the temple of Antaeus. One of them is inscribed with the names of Ptolemaeus Philopator and his queen Arsinoe. Its last vertical column was carried away by an inundation in 1821. But the ruins had been previously employed as materials for building a palace for Ibrahim Pasha. The worship of Antaeus was of Libyan origin. ( Dictionary of Biography, s. v. )
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