El Hiba

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title: "El Hiba" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-in-ancient-egypt", "archaeological-sites-in-egypt", "populated-places-in-beni-suef-governorate", "former-populated-places-in-egypt"] description: "Archaeological site in Beni Suef governorate, Egypt" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Hiba" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Archaeological site in Beni Suef governorate, Egypt ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	El Hiba
other_name	al-Ḥībah
native_name	الحيبة
pushpin_map	Egypt
pushpin_label_position	bottom
pushpin_mapsize	300
pushpin_map_caption	Location in Egypt
pushpin_relief	1
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Egypt
subdivision_type1	Governorate
subdivision_name1	Beni Suef
leader_title1
established_title
unit_pref	Imperial
area_total_km2
area_land_km2
population_blank1_title	Ethnicities
timezone	EET
utc_offset	+2
timezone_DST	EEST
utc_offset_DST	+3
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
postal_code_type
::

::callout[type=note] the Egyptian archeological site ::

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El Hiba (alt. el-Hibeh; Arabic الحيبة arb) is the modern name of the ancient Egyptian city of Tayu-djayet (t3yw-ḏ3yt), an ancient nickname meaning "their walls" in reference to the massive enclosure walls built on the site. In Coptic, it was known as ⲧⲉⲩϫⲟ cop. During the Graeco-Roman period it was called Ancyron polis () and Ancyronpolis, meaning anchor city, and it took its name from the manufacture of stone anchors cut from the neighboring quarries. In antiquity, the city was located in the 18th Upper Egyptian nome, and today it is found in the Bani Suwayf governorate.

History

From the late 20th Dynasty to the 22nd Dynasty, Tayu-djayet was a frontier town, marking the division of the country between the High Priests of Amun at Thebes and the kings of Egypt at Tanis. A massive enclosure wall was built at the site, with bricks stamped with the names of the High Priests Pinedjem I and Menkheperre. Earlier, the High Priest Herihor also lived and operated from al-Hibah. During the 22nd Dynasty, king Shoshenq I built a temple dedicated to "Amun-Great-of-Roarings" at the site, complete with a topographical list of cities captured during his "First Campaign of Victory" in Palestine; the temple is also decorated by his son, Osorkon I. The ancient settlement is at a little to the North of the modern town.

Today

Since 2001, El Hibeh has been the focus of ongoing excavations by a team of U.C. Berkeley archaeologists. However, due to instability as a result of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, looters have been allowed to systematically plunder the site, digging hundreds of pits, exposing tombs, destroying walls, and leaving human remains strewn about the grounds.

Notes

References

• Daressy, Georges. 1901. "Le temple de Hibeh." Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte 2:154–156.
• Feucht, Erika. 1978. "Zwei Reliefs Scheshonqs I. aus el Hibeh." Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur 6:69–77.
• Ranke, Hermann, ed. 1926. Koptische Friedhöfe bei Karâra und der Amontempel Scheschonks I. bei el Hibe: Bericht über den badischen Grabungen in Ägypten in den Wintern 1913 und 1914. Berlin and Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter & Co.
• Wainwright, Geoffrey Avery. 1927. "El Hibah and esh Shurafa and Their Connection with Herakleopolis and Cusæ." Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte 27:76–104.
• Wenke, Robert J. 1984. Archaeological Investigations at el-Hibeh 1980: Preliminary Report. American Research Center in Egypt Reports: Preliminary and Final Reports of Archaeological Excavations in Egypt from Prehistoric to Medieval Times 9. Malibu: Undena Publications

References

2. Kitchen, Ken. (1986). "The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 BC), 2nd edition". Aris & Phillips Ltd..
3. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D9%3Aentry%3Dancyron-polis-geo Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Ancyron polis]
4. "U.C. Berkeley Excavations at El Hibeh".
5. "Extensive looting at el Hibeh, Egypt - GHN Community".
6. "Save El Hibeh Egypt".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::