View source for Thebes, Egypt

{{short description|Ancient Egyptian city}}
{{For|the ancient Greek city|Thebes, Greece}}
{{Infobox ancient site
 | name                 = Thebes
 | native_name          = Waset<br>طيبة<br>Θῆβαι<!--under Ptolemies-->
 | alternate_name       = 
 | image                = Decorated pillars of the temple at Karnac, Thebes, Egypt. Co Wellcome V0049316.jpg
 | alt                  = 
 | caption              = Pillars of the [[Great Hypostyle Hall]], in ''[[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia]]''
 | map_type             = Egypt
 | map_alt              = 
 | map_size             = 
 | relief               = yes
 | coordinates          = {{coord|25|43|14|N|32|36|37|E|display=inline,title}}
 | location             = [[Luxor]], [[Luxor Governorate]], [[Egypt]]
 | region               = [[Upper Egypt]]
 | type                 = Settlement
 | part_of              = 
 | length               = 
 | width                = 
 | area                 = 
 | height               = 
 | builder              = 
 | material             = 
 | built                = 
 | abandoned            = 
 | epochs               = 
 | cultures             = 
 | dependency_of        = 
 | occupants            = 
 | event                = 
 | excavations          = 
 | archaeologists       = 
 | condition            = In ruins
 | ownership            = 
 | management           = 
 | public_access        = 
 | website              = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
 | notes                = 
 | designation1         = WHS
 | designation1_offname = Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis
 | designation1_type    = Cultural
 | designation1_criteria   = I, III, VI
 | designation1_date    = 1979 (3rd [[World Heritage Committee|session]])
 | designation1_number  = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/87 87]
 | designation1_free1name  = Region
 | designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Egypt|Egypt]]
}}

'''Thebes''' ({{langx|ar|طيبة}}, {{langx|grc|Θῆβαι}}, ''Thēbai''), known to the [[ancient Egypt]]ians as '''Waset''', was an [[list of ancient Egyptian sites|ancient Egyptian city]] located along the [[Nile]] about {{convert|800|km|sp=us}} south of the [[Mediterranean]]. Its ruins lie within the modern [[Egypt]]ian [[list of Egyptian cities|city]] of [[Luxor]]. Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian [[Nome (Egypt)|nome]] (Sceptre nome) and was the capital of Egypt for long periods during the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] and [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] eras. It was close to [[Nubia]] and the [[Eastern Desert]], with its valuable mineral resources and trade routes. It was a [[Theban Triad|religious center]] and the most venerated city during many periods of ancient Egyptian history.

The site of Thebes includes areas on both the eastern bank of the Nile, where the temples of [[Karnak]] and [[Luxor Temple|Luxor]] stand and where the city was situated; and the western bank, where a [[Theban Necropolis|necropolis of large private and royal cemeteries and funerary complexes]] can be found. In 1979, the ruins of ancient Thebes were classified by [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/87 |title = Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis |website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher = United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date = 7 September 2021}}</ref>

{{anchor|Toponym|Etymology}}

==Toponymy==
{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|{{hiero|1=''wꜣs.t''<br/>"City of the Scepter" |2=<hiero>R19-t:niwt</hiero>|align=center|era=egypt}}
|{{hiero|1=''niw.t rs.t''<br/>"Southern City"<ref>Erman/Grapow: ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'', p. 211.</ref> |2=<hiero>niwt:t*Z1-M24-t</hiero>|align=center|era=egypt}}
|{{hiero|1=''iwnw-sm’''<br/>"Heliopolis of the South"<ref>Erman/Grapow: ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'', pp. 54,479.</ref> |2=<hiero>iwn-nw:niwt-Sma</hiero>|align=center|era=egypt}}
|}

The [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] name for Thebes was ''wꜣs.t'', "City of the [[was-sceptre|''wꜣs'']]", the [[sceptre]] of the [[pharaoh]]s, a long staff with an animal's head and a forked base. From the end of the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], Thebes was known in Egyptian as {{nowrap|''njw.t-jmn''}}, the "City of [[Amun]]", the chief of the [[Theban Triad]] of deities whose other members were [[Mut]] and [[Khonsu]]. This name of Thebes appears in the [[Tanakh]] as the {{nowrap|"Nōʼ ʼĀmôn"}} ({{lang|he|נא אמון}}) in the [[Book of Nahum]]<ref>[[Nahum 3:8]].</ref> and also as "No" ({{lang|he|נא}}) mentioned in the [[Book of Ezekiel]]<ref>Ezekiel 30:14–16.</ref> and [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]].<ref>Jeremiah 46:25.</ref><ref>Huddlestun, John R. “Nahum, Nineveh, and the Nile: The Description of Thebes in Nahum 3:8–9.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 62, no. 2, 2003, pp. 97–98.</ref>

"Thebes" is sometimes claimed to be the [[latinisation of names|Latinised]] form of {{langx|grc|Θῆβαι}}, the [[Hellenization|hellenized]] form of [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic Egyptian]] ''tꜣ jpt'' ("the temple"), referring to ''jpt-swt''. Today, the temple is known as [[Karnak]], and is located on the northeast bank of the city. Since Homer refers to the metropolis by this name, and since Demotic script did not appear until a later date, the etymology is doubtful. As early as [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'',<ref>''Iliad'', IV.406 and IX.383.</ref> the Greeks distinguished the Egyptian Thebes as {{nowrap|"Thebes of the Hundred Gates"}} ({{lang|grc|Θῆβαι ἑκατόμπυλοι}}, ''Thēbai hekatómpyloi'') or "Hundred-Gated Thebes", as opposed to the "[[Thebes, Greece|Thebes of the Seven Gates]]" ({{lang|grc|Θῆβαι ἑπτάπυλοι}}, ''Thēbai heptápyloi'') in [[Boeotia]], Greece.{{refn|group=n|[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] records that owing to its "connection" with the Egyptian city, the Boeotian Thebes also had an idol and temple of Amun from the 5th century BC.<ref>''Description of Greece'', IX.16 §1.</ref>}}

In the {{Lang|la|[[interpretatio graeca]]}}, Amun was rendered as [[Zeus Ammon]]. The name was therefore translated into Greek as Diospolis, "City of Zeus". To distinguish it from the numerous other cities by this name, it was known as the {{nowrap|"Great Diospolis"}} ({{lang|grc|Διόσπολις Μεγάλη}}, ''Diospolis Megálē''; {{langx|la|Diospolis Magna}}). The Greek names came into wider use after the conquest of Egypt by [[Alexander the Great]], when the country came to be ruled by the [[Ancient Macedonia|Macedonian]] [[Ptolemaic dynasty]].

==Characteristics==
===Geography===
Thebes was located along the banks of the [[Nile River]] in the middle part of [[Upper Egypt]] about 800&nbsp;km south of the [[Nile Delta|Delta]]. It was built largely on the [[alluvial plains]] of the Nile Valley, which follows a great bend of the Nile. As a natural consequence, the city was laid in a northeast–southwest axis parallel to the contemporary river channel. Thebes had an area of {{convert|93|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, which included parts of the Theban Hills in the west that culminates at the sacred {{convert|420|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} [[al-Qurn]]. In the east lies the mountainous [[Eastern Desert]] with its [[wadi]]s draining into the valley. Significant among these wadis is [[Wadi Hammamat]] near Thebes. It was used as an overland trade route going to the [[Red Sea]] coast. Wadi Hammamat was the primary trade route linking Egypt to the Red Sea since Pre-Dynastic times.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boundless |title=Ancient Egyptian Trade |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-fmcc-worldhistory/chapter/ancient-egyptian-trade/ |website=Boundless World History. |access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref>  During the 4th millennium BCE, elements of the Uruk civilization were [[Egypt–Mesopotamia relations|transmitted]] to Egypt along this corridor. It is the likely that [[Thinis]], the capital of the First Dynasty, was located in the same region as Thebes for this reason. Both cities were at a crossroad region in Upper Egypt between the Nile in the north to south direction and Saharan caravan routes connecting to Red Sea maritime routes via Wadi Hammamat in the East West direction. The [[Wadi el-Hol]] is also located near Thebes; this valley connected Thebes to an oasis on the Western Desert. It is notable for the first [[Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinatic alphabet]] inscription, which appeared shortly after Thebes became the capital of Egypt.

Nearby towns in the fourth Upper Egyptian [[Nome (Egypt)|nome]] were [[Gebelein|Per-Hathor]], [[Medamud|Madu]], [[El-Tod|Djerty]], [[Hermonthis|Iuny]], [[Sumenu|Sumenu and Imiotru]].<ref name="Wilkinson, T. 2013">Wilkinson, T. (2013). "The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt".</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2021}}

===Demographics===
[[File:Thebes historical population.png|thumb|upright=1|Population of Thebes 2000–900 BC]]

According to [[George Modelski]], Thebes had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2000 BC (compared to 60,000 in [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], the largest city in the world at the time). By 1800 BC, the population of Memphis was down to about 30,000, making Thebes the largest city in Egypt at the time.<ref>George Modelski, "[https://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/WCITI2.html Cities of the Ancient World: An Inventory (−3500 to −1200)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519232105/https://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/WCITI2.html |date=2014-05-19 }}"; see also [[list of largest cities throughout history]].</ref> Historian [[Ian Morris (historian)|Ian Morris]] has estimated that by 1500 BC, Thebes may have grown to be the largest city in the world, with a population of about 75,000, a position it held until about 900 BC, when it was surpassed by [[Nimrud]] (among others).<ref>Ian Morris, "[http://www.ianmorris.org/docs/social-development.pdf Social Development] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726164950/http://www.ianmorris.org/docs/social-development.pdf |date=2011-07-26 }}"; see also [[list of largest cities throughout history]].</ref>

Shomarka Keita reported that a 2005 study on mummified remains found that "some Theban nobles had a [[histology]] which indicated notably [[dark skin]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Keita |first=Shomarka|chapter=Ancient Egyptian "Origins and "Identity" |title=Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches |editor-first1=Danielle |editor-last1=Candelora |editor-first2=Nadia |editor-last2=Ben-Marzouk |editor-first3=Kathlyn M. |editor-last3=Cooney |date=2023 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0367434632 |pages=111–122}}</ref>

===Economy===
The archaeological remains of Thebes offer a striking testimony to Egyptian civilization at its height. The Greek poet [[Homer]] extolled the wealth of Thebes in the ''[[Iliad]]'', Book 9 ({{Circa|8th Century BC}}): "...&nbsp;in Egyptian Thebes the heaps of precious ingots gleam, the hundred-gated Thebes."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hall |first=H. R. |author-link=Henry Hall (Egyptologist)|url= |title=The Ancient History of the Near East: From the Earliest Times to the Battle of Salamis |date=1913 |location=London |publisher=Methuen|oclc=1025128}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Baikie |first=James |url= |title=Egyptian Antiquities in the Nile Valley: A Descriptive Handbook|date=1932|location=London |publisher=Methuen|oclc=552977}}</ref>

===Culture===
More than sixty annual festivals were celebrated in Thebes. The major festivals among these, according to the Edfu Geographical Text, were: the [[Opet Festival|Beautiful Feast of Opet]], the Khoiak (Festival), Festival of I [[Shemu]], and Festival of II Shemu. Another popular festivity was the halloween-like [[Beautiful Festival of the Valley]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Opet {{!}} Egyptian festival {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opet-Egyptian-festival |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

==History ==
===Old Kingdom===
[[File:SFEC AEH -ThebesNecropolis-2010-FULL-Overview-039.jpg|thumb|The [[Theban Necropolis]]]]
Thebes was inhabited from around 3200 BC.<ref>[http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/egyptkarnak.htm Karnak (Thebes), Egypt]. Ancient-wisdom.co.uk. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.</ref> It was the eponymous capital of Waset, the fourth [[Upper Egypt]]ian [[Nome (Egypt)|nome]]. At this time it was still a small trading post, while [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]] served as the royal residence of the [[Old Kingdom]] pharaohs. Although no buildings survive in Thebes older than portions of the Karnak temple complex that may date from the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]], the lower part of a statue of Pharaoh [[Nyuserre Ini|Nyuserre]] of the [[5th Dynasty]] has been found in Karnak. Another statue dedicated by the [[12th Dynasty]] king Senusret may have been usurped and re-used, since the statue bears a cartouche of Nyuserre on its belt. Since seven rulers of the [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|4th]] to [[Sixth Dynasty of Egypt|6th]] Dynasties appear on the Karnak king list, perhaps at the least there was a temple in the Theban area that dated to the Old Kingdom.

===First Intermediate Period===
By 2160 BC, a new line of pharaohs (the [[Ninth Dynasty of Egypt|Ninth]] and [[Tenth Dynasty of Egypt|Tenth]] Dynasties) consolidated control over [[Lower Egypt]] and northern parts of [[Upper Egypt]] from their capital in [[Herakleopolis Magna]]. A rival line (the [[Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt|Eleventh Dynasty]]), based at Thebes, ruled the remaining part of Upper Egypt. The Theban rulers were apparently descendants of the [[iry-pat|prince]] of Thebes, [[Intef the Elder]]. His probable grandson [[Intef I]] was the first of the family to claim in life a partial [[Ancient Egyptian royal titulary|pharaonic titulary]], though his power did not extend much further than the general Theban region.

===Middle Kingdom===
[[File:Intef I.jpg|thumbnail|upright|left|[[Serekh]] of Intef I inscribed posthumously for him by Mentuhotep II]]
Finally by {{Circa|2050 BC}}, [[Intef III]]'s son [[Mentuhotep II]] (meaning "Montu is satisfied"), took the Herakleopolitans by force and reunited Egypt once again under one ruler, thereby starting the period now known as the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]]. Mentuhotep II ruled for 51 years and built the first mortuary temple at [[Deir el-Bahri]], which most likely served as the inspiration for the later and larger temple built next to it by Hatshepsut in the 18th Dynasty. After these events, the 11th Dynasty was short-lived, as less than twenty years had elapsed between the death of Mentuhotep II and that of [[Mentuhotep IV]], in mysterious circumstances.

During the [[12th Dynasty]], [[Amenemhat I]] moved the seat of power North to [[Itjtawy]]. Thebes continued to thrive as a religious center as the local god [[Amun]] was becoming increasingly prominent throughout Egypt. The oldest remains of a temple dedicated to Amun date to the reign of [[Senusret I]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} Thebes was already, in the Middle Kingdom, a town of considerable size. Excavations around the Karnak temple show that the Middle Kingdom town had a layout with a [[Grid plan|grid pattern]]. The city was roughly 250 hectares in area. Remains of two palatial buildings were also detected.<ref>[[Barry J. Kemp]]: ''Ancient Egypt, Anatomy of a Civilization'', 3rd ed., New York: Routledge, 2018, {{ISBN|9780415235501}}, pp. 224-227.</ref>

Starting in the later part of the 12th Dynasty, a group of [[Canaan]]ite people began settling in the eastern Nile Delta. They eventually founded the [[Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt|14th Dynasty]] at [[Avaris]] in {{Circa|1805 BC}} or {{Circa|1710 BC}}. By doing so, the Asiatics established hegemony over the majority of the Delta region, subtracting these territories from the influence of the [[13th Dynasty]] that had meanwhile succeeded the 12th.<ref>{{cite book |last= Wilkinson |first= Toby |author-link= Toby Wilkinson |date=2011 |title= The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P07rgiJjsk4C&q=nehesy |location=New York |publisher= Random House |page=560 |isbn=9780747599494 }}, pp. 183-187</ref>

===Second Intermediate Period===
[[File:Beni Hassan (Lepsius, BH 3) 03.jpg|thumbnail|upright=1.5|Depiction of Asiatic (left) and Egyptian people (right). The Asiatic leader is labeled as "Ruler of foreign lands", Ibsha.]]
A second wave of [[Middle East|Asiatics]] called [[Hyksos]] (from ''Heqa-khasut'', "rulers of foreign lands" as Egyptians called their leaders) immigrated into Egypt and overran the Canaanite center of power at Avaris, starting the [[Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt|15th Dynasty]] there. The Hyksos kings gained the upper hand over Lower Egypt early into the [[Second Intermediate Period]] (1657–1549 BC).<ref>Wilkinson (2011), pp. 188 ff.</ref> When the Hyksos took Memphis during or shortly after [[Merneferre Ay]]'s reign ({{Circa|1700 BC}}), the rulers of the 13th Dynasty fled south to Thebes, which was restored as capital.<ref name="bentor">Daphna Ben Tor: ''Sequences and chronology of Second Intermediate Period royal-name scarabs, based on excavated series from Egypt and the Levant'', in: ''The Second Intermediate Period (Thirteenth-Seventeenth Dynasties), Current Research, Future Prospects'' edited by Marcel Maree, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 192, 2010, p. 91</ref>

Theban princes (now known as the [[Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt|16th Dynasty]]) stood firmly over their immediate region as the Hyksos advanced from the [[Nile Delta|Delta]] southwards to [[Middle Egypt]]. The Thebans resisted the Hyksos' further advance by making an agreement for a peaceful concurrent rule between them. The Hyksos were able to sail upstream past Thebes to trade with the [[Nubians]] and the Thebans brought their herds to the Delta without adversaries. The status quo continued until Hyksos ruler [[Apepi (pharaoh)|Apophis]] ([[Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt|15th Dynasty]]) insulted [[Seqenenre Tao]] ([[Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt|17th Dynasty]]) of Thebes. Soon the armies of Thebes marched on the Hyksos-ruled lands. Tao died in battle and his son [[Kamose]] took charge of the campaign. After Kamose's death, his brother [[Ahmose I]] continued until he captured [[Avaris]], the Hyksos capital. Ahmose I drove the Hyksos out of Egypt and the Levant and reclaimed the lands formerly ruled by them.<ref>Margaret Bunson, "[http://www.e-reading.club/bookreader.php/142072/Bunson_-_Encyclopedia_of_ancient_Egypt.pdf Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt]"</ref>

===New Kingdom and the height of Thebes===
[[File:Statues of Memnon at Thebes during the flood-David Roberts.jpg|thumbnail|right|''[[Colossi of Memnon|Statues of Memnon]] at Thebes during the flood'', after [[David Roberts (painter)|David Roberts]], {{circa|1845}}]]
[[Ahmose I]] founded a new age for a unified Egypt with Thebes as its capital. The city remained as capital during most of the [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|18th Dynasty]] ([[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]]). It also became the center for a newly established professional [[civil service]], where there was a greater demand for scribes and the literate as the royal archives began to fill with accounts and reports.<ref>Tyldesley, Joyce. ''Egypt's Golden Empire: The Age of the New Kingdom'', pp. 18–19. Headline Book Publishing Ltd., 2001.</ref> At the city the favored few of
[[Nubia]] were reeducated with Egyptian culture, to serve as administrators of the colony.<ref>Draper, R. (2008). "The Black Pharaohs". National Geographic Magazine. Retrieved 2016-02-24, from [https://web.archive.org/web/20071211153712/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/]</ref>
[[File:Karnak Temple Complex-en.svg|thumb|Overhead illustration of the [[Karnak]] temple]]
With Egypt stabilized again, religion and religious centers flourished and none more so than Thebes. For instance, [[Amenhotep III]] poured much of his vast wealth from foreign tribute into the temples of [[Amun]].<ref name="auto1">Dorman, P. (2015). "Thebes|Ancient city, Egypt". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-02-07, from http://www.britannica.com/place/Thebes-ancient-Egypt</ref> The Theban god Amun became a principal state deity and every building project sought to outdo the last in proclaiming the glory of Amun and the pharaohs themselves.<ref>Mark, J. (2009). "Thebes". Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2016-02-06, from https://www.worldhistory.org/Thebes_(Egypt)/</ref> [[Thutmose I]] (reigned 1506–1493 BC) began the first great expansion of the [[Karnak]] temple. After this, colossal enlargements of the temple became the norm throughout the New Kingdom.

Queen [[Hatshepsut]] (reigned 1479–1458 BC) helped the Theban economy flourish by renewing trade networks, primarily the Red Sea trade between Thebes's Red Sea port of [[Al-Qusayr, Egypt|Al-Qusayr]], [[Eilat|Elat]] and the [[land of Punt]]. Her successor [[Thutmose III]] brought to Thebes a great deal of his war booty that originated from as far away as [[Mittani]]. The 18th Dynasty reached its peak during his great-grandson [[Amenhotep III]]'s reign (1388–1350 BC). Aside from embellishing the temples of Amun, Amenhotep increased construction in Thebes to unprecedented levels. On the west bank, he built the enormous [[Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III|mortuary temple]] and the equally massive [[Malkata]] palace-city, which fronted a 364-hectare artificial lake. In the city proper he built the [[Luxor Temple|Luxor temple]] and the Avenue of the Sphinxes leading to Karnak.

For a brief period in the reign of Amenhotep III's son [[Akhenaten]] (1351–1334 BC), Thebes fell on hard times; the city was abandoned by the court, and the worship of Amun was proscribed. The capital was moved to the new city of [[Amarna|Akhetaten]] (Amarna in modern Egypt), midway between Thebes and Memphis. After his death, his son [[Tutankhamun]] returned the capital to Memphis,<ref>J. van Dijk: ''The Amarna Period and the later New Kingdom'', in: I. Shaw: ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'', Oxford 2000, {{ISBN|0-19-815034-2}}, p. 290</ref> but renewed building projects at Thebes produced even more glorious temples and shrines.<ref name="auto1"/>

[[File:John Frederick Lewis - The Ramesseum at Thebes - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|right|''The Ramesseum at Thebes'', by [[John Frederick Lewis]], {{circa|1845}} ([[Yale Center for British Art]], [[New Haven]])]]

With the [[19th Dynasty]] the seat of government moved to the [[Nile Delta|Delta]]. Thebes maintained its revenues and prestige through the reigns of [[Seti I]] (1290–1279 BC) and [[Ramesses II]] (1279–1213 BC), who still resided for part of every year in Thebes.<ref name="auto1"/> Ramesses II carried out extensive building projects in the city, such as statues and obelisks, the third enclosure wall of [[Karnak]] temple, additions to the [[Luxor Temple|Luxor temple]], and the [[Ramesseum]], his grand [[mortuary temple]]. The constructions were bankrolled by the large [[Granary|granaries]] (built around the Ramesseum) that concentrated the taxes collected from Upper Egypt;<ref>Wilkinson, T. (2013). "The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt"</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2021}} and by the gold from expeditions<ref name="Wilkinson, T. 2013"/>{{page needed|date=October 2021}} to Nubia and the Eastern Desert. During Ramesses's long 66-year reign, Egypt and Thebes reached an overwhelming state of prosperity that equaled or even surpassed the earlier peak under Amenhotep III.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ramses II {{!}} Biography, Accomplishments, Tomb, Mummy, Death, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ramses-II-king-of-Egypt |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:SFEC-2010-MEDINET HABU-061.JPG|thumbnail|upright|left|Polychromed column with bas-reliefs at the temple of [[Medinet Habu (temple)|Medinet Habu]], dedicated to Rameses III]]

The city continued to be well kept in the early [[20th Dynasty]]. The [[Papyrus Harris I|Great Harris Papyrus]] states that [[Ramesses III]] (reigned 1187–56) donated 86,486 slaves and vast estates to the temples of Amun. Ramesses III received tributes from all subject peoples including the [[Sea Peoples]] and [[Meshwesh]] Libyans. The whole of Egypt was experiencing financial problems, however, exemplified in the events at Thebes's village of [[Deir el-Medina]]. In the 25th year of his reign, workers in Deir el-Medina began striking for pay and there arose a general unrest of all social classes. Subsequently, an unsuccessful [[Harem conspiracy]] led to the executions of many conspirators, including Theban officials and women.<ref>[http://www.greatdreams.com/thebes/ramiii.htm RAMESSES III: THE LAST GREAT PHARAOH]. http://www.greatdreams.com/. Retrieved on 2016-02-06.</ref>

Under the later Ramessids, Thebes began to decline as the government fell into grave economic difficulties. During the reign of [[Ramesses IX]] (1129–1111 BC), about 1114 BC, a series of investigations into the plundering of royal tombs in the necropolis of western Thebes uncovered proof of corruption in high places, following an accusation made by the mayor of the east bank against his colleague on the west. The plundered royal mummies were moved from place to place and at last deposited by the priests of Amun in a tomb-shaft in [[Deir el-Bahri]] and in the tomb of [[Amenhotep II]]. (The finding of these two hiding places in 1881 and 1898, respectively, was one of the great events of modern archaeological discovery.) Such maladministration in Thebes led to unrest.<ref name="auto1"/>
{{clear left}}

===Third Intermediate Period===
Control of local affairs tended to come more and more into the hands of the [[Theban High Priests of Amun|High Priests of Amun]], so that during the [[Third Intermediate Period]], the High Priest of Amun exerted absolute power over the South, a counterbalance to the [[21st Dynasty|21st]] and [[22nd Dynasty]] kings who ruled from the Delta. Intermarriage and adoption strengthened the ties between them, daughters of the Tanite kings being installed as God's Wife of Amun at Thebes, where they wielded greater power. Theban political influence receded only in the [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|Late Period]].<ref name="auto">[http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thebes.htm Egypt: Thebes, A Feature Tour Egypt Story]. http://www.touregypt.net/. Retrieved on 2016-02-06.</ref>

By around 750 BC, the [[Kushites]] (Nubians) were growing their influence over Thebes and Upper Egypt. In 721 BC, King [[Shabaka]] of the Kushites defeated the combined forces of [[Osorkon IV]] ([[22nd Dynasty]]), [[Peftjauawybast]] ([[23rd Dynasty]]) [[Bakenranef]] ([[Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt|24th Dynasty]]) and reunified Egypt yet again. His reign saw a significant amount of building work undertaken throughout Egypt, especially at the city of Thebes, which he made the capital of his kingdom. In [[Karnak]] he erected a pink granite statue of himself wearing the [[Pschent]] (the double crown of Egypt). [[Taharqa]] accomplished many notable projects at Thebes (i.e. the Kiosk in Karnak) and Nubia before the Assyrians started to wage war against Egypt.

===Late Period===
[[File:Karnak Taharkasäule 01.JPG|thumb|150px|right|A column of [[Taharqa]] at the precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak Temple restored to full height]]
In 667 BC, attacked by the [[Assyria]]n king [[Ashurbanipal]]'s army, Taharqa abandoned Lower Egypt and fled to Thebes. After his death three years later his nephew (or cousin) [[Tantamani]] seized Thebes, invaded Lower Egypt and laid siege to Memphis, but abandoned his attempts to conquer the country in 663 BC and retreated southwards.<ref>Barbara Watterson, ''Women in Ancient Egypt'' (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing Limited, 2011), 153. {{ISBN|1445612666}} and books.google.com/books?id=7VeoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP153</ref> The Assyrians pursued him and [[Sack of Thebes|took Thebes]], whose name was added to a long list of cities plundered and destroyed by the Assyrians, as Ashurbanipal wrote:

<blockquote>
This city, the whole of it, I conquered it with the help of Ashur and Ishtar. Silver, gold, precious stones, all the wealth of the palace, rich cloth, precious linen, great horses, supervising men and women, two obelisks of splendid electrum, weighing 2,500 talents, the doors of temples I tore from their bases and carried them off to Assyria. With this weighty booty I left Thebes. Against Egypt and Kush I have lifted my spear and shown my power. With full hands I have returned to Nineveh, in good health.<ref>Ashurbanipal (auto) biography cylinder, c. 668 BCE; in James B. Pritchard, ed., ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement'' (Princeton UP, 1950/1969/2014), 294-95. {{ISBN|9781400882762}}. Translated earlier in John Pentland Mahaffy et al., eds., ''A History of Egypt, vol. 3'' (London: Scribner, 1905), 307. Google Books partial-view: books.google.com/books?id=04VUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA307; and E. A. Wallis Budge, ''A History of Ethiopia: Volume I, Nubia and Abyssinia'' (London: Taylor & Francis, 1928/2014), 38. {{ISBN|9781317649151}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Thebes never regained its former political significance, but it remained an important religious centre. Assyrians installed [[Psamtik I]] (664–610 BC), who ascended to Thebes in 656 BC and brought about the adoption of his own daughter, [[Nitocris I]], as heiress to God's Wife of Amun there. In 525 BC, Persian [[Cambyses II]] invaded Egypt and became pharaoh, subordinating the kingdom as a [[satrapy]] to the greater [[Achaemenid Empire]].<ref>Roger Forshaw, ''Egypt of the Saite Pharaohs, 664–525 BC'' (Manchester University Press, 2019), 198. {{ISBN|9781526140166}}.</ref>

===Graeco-Roman Period===
[[File:Temple of Deir el-Medina 18.JPG|thumb|150px|right|Relief in [[Hathor]] temple, Deir el-Medina (built during the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic Dynasty]])]]
The good relationship of the Thebans with the central power in the North ended when the native Egyptian pharaohs were finally replaced by Greeks, led by [[Alexander the Great]]. He visited Thebes during a celebration of the [[Opet Festival]]. In spite of his welcoming visit, Thebes became a center for dissent. Towards the end of the third century BC, [[Hugronaphor]] (Horwennefer), possibly of Nubian origin, led a revolt against the Ptolemies in Upper Egypt. His successor, [[Ankhmakis]], held large parts of Upper Egypt until 185 BC. This revolt was supported by the Theban priesthood. After the suppression of the revolt in 185 BC, [[Ptolemy V]], in need of the support of the priesthood, pardoned them.

Half a century later the Thebans rose again, elevating a certain [[Harsiesi]] to the throne in 132 BC. Harsiesi, having helped himself to the funds of the royal bank at Thebes, fled the following year. In 91 BC, another revolt broke out. In the following years, Thebes was subdued, and the city turned into rubble.<ref>[http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/the_destruction_of_thebes.htm The fall of Thebes to the Assyrians and its decline thereafter]. http://www.reshafim.org.il/. Retrieved on 2016-02-06.</ref>

During the [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman occupation]] (30 BC–641 AD), the remaining communities clustered around the pylon of the Luxor temple. Thebes became part of the Roman province of ''[[Thebais]]'', which later split into ''Thebais Superior'', centered at the city, and ''Thebais Inferior'', centered at [[Ptolemais Hermiou]]. A [[Roman legion]] was headquartered in Luxor temple at the time of [[Roman relations with Nubia|Roman campaigns in Nubia]].<ref>Dorman, P. (2015). "Luxor". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-02-27, from http://www.britannica.com/place/Luxor</ref> Building did not come to an abrupt stop, but the city continued to decline. In the first century AD, [[Strabo]] described Thebes as having been relegated to a mere village.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Major sites==
Eastern Thebes:[[File:S F-E-CAMERON 2006-10-EGYPT-KARNAK-0002.JPG|thumb|The main entrance to Karnak flanked by ram-headed sphinxes]][[File:Louxor dromos & pylône.JPG|thumb|Obelisk, Ramesside colossi and great pylon of Luxor Temple with subtle orange glow]]
* Ancient built-up area
* [[Precinct of Amun-Re|Great Temple of Amun]] at Karnak (Ancient Egyptian ''Ta-opet''). Still the second largest religious building ever built, it is the main house of worship for [[Amun]], Thebes's patron deity, and the residence of the powerful [[High Priest of Amun|Amun priesthood]]. What differentiated it from the many temples of Egypt is the length of time it was built over (more than 2,000 years, starting in the Middle Kingdom). The main features of this temple are its ten large [[Pylon (architecture)|pylon]]s, the [[Great Hypostyle Hall]], a [[sacred lake]], sub-temples, numerous shrines and multiple [[obelisk]]s. It was the most important temple for a majority of Ancient Egyptian [[History of Ancient Egypt|history]].
* [[Luxor Temple]] (''Ipet resyt''). Unlike the other temples in Thebes, it is not dedicated to a cult god or a deified version of the king in death. Instead, it is dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship; it may have been where many of the [[pharaoh]]s of Egypt were crowned. It is a centerpiece of the "Opet Festival", where the sacred [[barque]] of the [[Theban Triad]] travels from Karnak to Luxor temple highlighting the godly significance of the pharaoh's re-coronation .
* [[Temple of Khonsu]]
* [[Precinct of Mut]]
* [[Precinct of Montu]]
* [[Avenue of Sphinxes]]

Western Thebes:[[File:Luxor Temple of Hatshepsut A.jpg|thumb|Sunshine illuminates Hatshepsut's mortuary temple in Deir al-Bahri]][[File:Grabeingang-Tal der Könige-Aegypten.jpg|thumb|The entrance to [[KV19]], tomb of [[Mentuherkhepeshef (son of Ramesses IX)|Mentuherkhepeshef]] in the [[Valley of the Kings]]]]
* Village of [[Deir el-Medina]]
* [[Malkata]] palace complex
* [[Ramesseum]]
* [[Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III]]
* [[Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut]]
* [[Mortuary Temple of Seti I]]
* [[Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III]]
* [[Valley of the Kings]]
* [[Valley of the Queens]]
* [[Tombs of the Nobles (Luxor)|Tombs of the Nobles]]
* [[Aten (city)|The Rise of Aten]]

==Cultural heritage==
The two great [[Egyptian temple|temples]]—[[Luxor Temple]] and [[Karnak]]—and the [[Valley of the Kings]] and the [[Valley of the Queens]] are among the greatest achievements of ancient Egypt.

From 25 October 2018 to 27 January 2019, the [[Museum of Grenoble]] organized with the support of the [[Louvre]] and the [[British Museum]], a three-month exhibition on the city of Thebes and the role of women in the city at that time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.museedegrenoble.fr/1890-servir-les-dieux-egypte.htm,|title=museedegrenoble.fr, Servir les dieux d'Égypte (Serving the Gods of Egypt, Adoratrices, Songstresses, and Priests of Amun at Thebes).}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
In the novel ''[[The Egyptian]]'' (1945) by [[Mika Waltari]], there are elaborate descriptions of how Thebes looked during the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt.

Thebes is a setting in the films ''[[The Mummy (1999 film)|The Mummy]]'' (1999) and ''[[The Mummy Returns]]'' (2001). It is said to be the "Land of the Living". (In real history, there was no such name given to it.) The films feature scenes taking place in ancient Egypt in its prime, which affect the story in the modern setting some 3000 years later.

==See also== 
* [[New Thebes]]
* [[List of ancient Egyptian towns and cities]]
* [[Thebes, Greece]] – the [[namesake]]
* [[List of historical capitals of Egypt]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=n}}
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Thebes}}
{{commons category|Theban Necropolis}}
*[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/87/ More information on ancient Thebes, a World Cultural Heritage site]
*[http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/ Theban Mapping Project]
*[http://archive.cyark.org/ancient-thebes-intro Ramesseum/Ancient Thebes Digital Media Archive (photos, laser scans, panoramas)], data from an Egyptian [[Supreme Council of Antiquities]]/[[CyArk]] research partnership
*[http://www.international.icomos.org/risk/2001/egyp2001.htm ICOMOS Heritage at Risk 2001/2002]

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Heracleopolis Magna|Herakleopolis]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Capital of Egypt]]
| years = 2060 BC – c. 1980 BC
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Itjtawy]]
}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Itjtawy]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = Capital of [[Upper Egypt]]
| years = c. 1700 BC – c. 1550 BC
}}
{{s-aft
| after = Thebes as capital of united Egypt
}}
{{s-bef
| before = Thebes
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Capital of Egypt]]
| years = c. 1550 BC – c. 1353 BC
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Akhetaten]]
}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Akhetaten]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Capital of Egypt]]
| years = c. 1332 BC – 1085 BC
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Pi-Ramesses]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Egypt}}
{{Ancient Egypt topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Thebes, Egypt| ]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 4th millennium BC]]
[[Category:Populated places disestablished in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Egypt]]
[[Category:Cities in ancient Egypt]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Egypt]]
[[Category:Former national capitals|Egypt]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Egypt]]
[[Category:Amun]]
[[Category:Upper Egypt]]
[[Category:Former capitals of Egypt]]