{
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "name": "site",
    "crs": {
        "type": "name",
        "properties": {
            "name": "EPSG:4326"
        }
    },
    "features": [
        {
            "type": "Feature",
            "geometry": {
                "type": "Point",
                "coordinates": [
                    30.8035806072,
                    27.7796202493
                ]
            },
            "properties": {
                "id": 30,
                "site_uri": "https:\/\/4care-skos.mf.no\/site\/30",
                "modern_name": "al-A\u0161m\u016bnayn",
                "ancient_name": "Hermoupolis Megal\u0113",
                "typology": "city",
                "date_from": 0,
                "date_to": 0,
                "dating_criteria": "",
                "place_names": [
                    {
                        "language": "Egyptian",
                        "pl_name": "\u1e2amnw"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "Greek",
                        "pl_name": " \u1f19\u03c1\u03bc\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b9\u03c2 \u039c\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7 | \u1f19\u03c1\u03bc\u03bf\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b9\u03c2"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "Coptic",
                        "pl_name": "\u00a5moun | \u00a5moun(in) | smoun"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "Arabic",
                        "pl_name": "\u0627\u0644\u0623\u0634\u0645\u0648\u0646\u064a\u0646\u200e\u200e"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "English",
                        "pl_name": "Hermopolis Magna | el-Ashmunein "
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "French",
                        "pl_name": "Hermoupolis Magna | Hermopolis Magna | el-Achmounein |  Achmounein | Achmouneyn"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "German",
                        "pl_name": "el-Aschmunein"
                    }
                ],
                "trismegistos_uri": "https:\/\/www.trismegistos.org\/place\/816",
                "pleiades_uri": "https:\/\/pleiades.stoa.org\/places\/756574",
                "paths_uri": "https:\/\/atlas.paths-erc.eu\/places\/28",
                "description": "Hermopolis Magna, modern day al-A\u0161m\u016bnayn, is situated on the western bank of the Nile, 40km south of al-Miny\u0101 and 7km north of Mallaw\u012b (Maehler, 2012: 1). Known as \u2018Khumu\u2019 in the Pharaonic period, which became \u2018Shmun\u2019 in Coptic, it was the principal seat of worship of the Egyptian god Thoth, who the Greeks identified with Hermes, thus calling the city Hermopolis (Wace et al. 1959: 1). In order to differentiate it from a \u2018Hermopolis\u2019 in the Delta, it became known as Hermopolis Magna (Wace et al. 1959: 1). The necropolis of T\u016bna al-\u01e6abal is associated with the site, and contains extensive cemeteries dedicated to baboons and ibises, both of which are representative of the god Thoth (Atiya, 1991: 285). The necropolis is so extensive, however, that it is considered an archaeological site in its own right. During the Pharaonic period, the site was the capital of the 15th Upper Egyptian nome.\r\nMost of the area that has so far been cleared and surveyed was dedicated to temples and other public buildings. The account of the building repairs of 263\/7 mention temples of Sarapis, Hadrian, Antinoos, Tyche, and Aphrodite (Maehler, 2012: 1). During the Roman period, the city was divided into four quarters, \u2018citadel\u2019 east and west, and \u2018town\u2019 east and west. Each of these areas were divided by a colonnaded street running from the sun-gate in the east to the moon-gate in the west, also known as \u2018Antinoe Street\u2019, which was crossed by the Dromos of Hermes, a road commissioned by Nectanebo I (378-360 BCE) (Maehler, 2012: 1).\r\nIn more or less the center of the ruins of the town is an area denoted K\u016bm al-Kan\u012bsa. This space was considered by earlier explorers to have been an agora, a classification which went unchallenged for quite some time. This was until the excavations conducted by the Service des Antiquit\u00e9s in the mid-1940s revealed that the structure was in fact a Christian basilica built on top of at least four Ptolemaic buildings, including a temple dedicated to Ptolemy III and his wife Berenike (Wace et al. 1959: 5). Based on an inscription uncovered in the 1940s, the temple was likely constructed at the beginning of Ptolemy\u2019s reign, perhaps 246 BCE and likely no later than 240 (Wace et al. 1959: 4).\r\nHermopolis Magna is known to have been an episcopal see from the second half of the third century. According to tradition, this is where the Holy Family reached the end of its journey. The Christian occupation of the side is well-documented, with a bishop present until the end of the 13th century (Stillwell et al. 1976: 1). Much of the architectural elements related to the ancient structures were reused in the construction of mosques.\r\nBasilicaThe site\u2019s transept basilica is one the largest churches in Egypt, and is the most distinctive architectural element attesting to the extensive Christian population of the site. The structure, likely dating from the beginning of the fifth century, is situated outside the area of the Thoth temple, has a total of 40 columns, and shows the remnants of several staircases indicating the existence of a gallery (Wace et al. 1959: 18; Atiya, 1991: 287; Bara\u0144ski, 1992: 21). It was built over a number of pre-existing Ptolemaic buildings, including a sanctuary, the architectural elements of which were re-used in the foundations of the basilica. In lieu of the documentation from earlier excavations, the joint Polish-Egyptian mission focused on this structure for three seasons, documenting the architecture and initiating the preservation of the monument. Survey of the basilical remains during these seasons revealed an inscription of Nectanebo II, presumably from the Thoth temple, and evidence of two other Ptolemaic buildings: a temple devoted to the royal cult of Ptolemy III and a building constructed by Ptolemy VII and later adapted by Claudius, both of these were dismantled and repurposed in the Christian era (Bara\u0144ski, 1992: 22). Below the central part of the apse of the basilica is a small crypt-chamber, constructed in brick, originally covered by a barrel-vault, the second course of which made use of the Ptolemaic foundation (Wace et al. 1959: 23). Like most church crypts in Egypt, this is understood to have been the repository of the body of a saint or martyr, perhaps that of Macarius the Great (Ab\u016b Mak\u0101r), whose body was known to have been preserved at al-A\u0161m\u016bnayn (Wace et al. 1959: 25).\r\nSouth ChurchA second church, also very large but less well preserved than the transept basilica, is located at the southern edge of the archaeological area, in front of the temple of Ramses II. It was uncovered in 1946 by \u02bfAbd al-Mun\u02bfim Ab\u016b Bakr, who was excavating the temple of Ramses. In 1980, during the British excavations, Bailey planned and measured these structures. The church, which has a very broad nave, includes a considerably well-preserved crypt comprising two rooms \u201cseparated from each other by a flattened archway\u201d, accessed via a staircase. To the south of the church are the remains of a number of installations which have at one point been identified as those of a wine press. It has since been redefined as likely having belonged to the baptistery tank situated on this side of the church (Atiya, 1991: 287; Bailey, 1991: 46, 50). Much of the decoration of this church was similarly repurposed from earlier buildings (Atiya, 1991: 287).\u00a0\r\nAlongside these two churches, there are an additional seven others, as well as a monastery dedicated to Saint Severus, which are known by name and partly by location (Atiya, 1991: 285). A later account (6th-8th century) relating to the taxation of certain churches in Hermoupolis and its surroundigs (P.Lond.Copt. 1100) records five of these churches that were dedicated to the Virgin. One (or perhaps two) of these is described by Ab\u016b al-Mak\u0101rim in the 13th century (Evetts, 1895: 76b and 77a).",
                "archaeological_research": "The site is known to have been visited by Napoleon\u2019s savants, who found a portico of twelve columns still standing, understood to have belonged to the Temple of Thoth, which was completed in the reign of Philip III Arrhidaeus (323-317 BC). A German expedition was carried out in 1929 under the direction of G\u00fcnther Roeder, which focused predominantly on studying the topography, while conducting limited work in the so-called \u2018agora\u2019. This was followed by the work of the Service des Antiquit\u00e9s, who in 1939, under the direction of \u00c9mile Baraize, cleared and re-erected a number of columns of the \u2018tetrastyle\u2019 on the northern side of the \u2018agora\u2019 (against Antinoe road). In 1942, the work of the Service des Antiquit\u00e9s was led by Mu\u1e25arram Kam\u0101l, who initiated extensive clearance of the whole \u2018agora\u2019. Baraize began reconstruction on the \u2018agora\u2019, which both he and Kam\u0101l recognised as a Christian basilica (Wace et al. 1959: 1). At the same time, in 1945, Rizq-All\u0101h Na\u01e7\u012bb Makram-All\u0101h, a lecturer from Alexandria University, carried out further clearance on the north and west sides, where he supposedly found Pharaonic walls of unbaked brick, which on the west side ran beneath the narthex, and on the west side were far below the Ptolemaic level. While a number of photographs were taken, he left no documentation or plans regarding these structures, and they were destroyed by the elements soon after they were uncovered (Wace et al. 1959: 2). Baraize uncovered many pieces of painted architecture of the Ptolemaic period, as well as the inscription which showed that the Ptolemaic building the basilica was built on top of was dedicated to Ptolemy III and his wife Berenike (Wace et al. 1959: 2).\r\nThe University of Alexandria conducted work in August and September of 1949, and the following year, in 1950, the team was joined in March and April by A. H. S. Megaw, Director of Antiquities of Cyprus. Supplementary work was carried out in December 1950 and September 1951 (Wace et al. 1959: 3). This work, which resulted in the clearing of the whole structure, was very much in line with other work conducted in the mid-twentieth century, with limited records, and no analysis of archaeological context. The British Museum ran excavations between 1983 and 1989, resulting in a number of monographs. Between 1987 and 1990, a joint Polish-Egyptian team conducted work on the site\u2019s basilica. This work, comprising both archaeological and conservational fieldwork, was led by Marek Bara\u0144ski in association with the Center of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, Przedsi\u0119biorstwo Pa\u0144stwowe Pracownie Conservacji Monuments (PP PKZ) (State Ateliers for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage) and the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation.",
                "bibliography": "\u2022 Atiya, A. S. 1991. \u201cAshmunein.\u201d In The Coptic Encyclopedia, edited by A. S. Atiya, New York: Macmillan Publishers. 285-287.\u2022 Badawy, A. 1958. \u201cThe Cemetery at Hermopolis West.\u201d Archaeology\u00a011: 117-22.\u2022 Bailey, D. M. 1982. \u201cA Late Roman Building and a Wine Press.\u201d British Museum Occasional Paper 32: 11-18.\u2022 Bailey, D. M. 1991. Excavations at el-Ashmunein IV: Hermopolis Magna: Buildings of the Roman Period. London: British Museum Press.\u2022 Bailey, D. M. 1998. Excavations at el-Ashmunein V. Pottery, Lamps and Glass of the Late Roman and Early Arab Period. London: British Museum Press.\u2022 Bailey, D. M., W. V. Davies, and A. J. Spencer. 1982. \u201cAshmunein (1980).\u201c British Museum Occasional Paper 37: 11-19.\u2022 Bailey, D. M. and P. Grossmann 1994. \u201cThe South Church at Hermopolis Magna (Ashmunein): A Preliminary Report.\u201d In Churches Built in Ancient Times: Recent Studies in Early Christian Archaeology, edited by K. Painter, 49-71. London: Accordia Research Centre.\u2022 Baraize, E. 1940. \u201c\u201cL\u2019Agora\u201d d\u2019Hermoupolis.\u201d Annales du Service des antiquit\u00e9s de l'\u00c9gypte 40: 741-745.\u2022 Bara\u0144ski, M. 1990. \u201cPreserving the Christian Basilica of El-Ashmunein.\u201d Bulletin de l'Institut fran\u00e7ais d'arch\u00e9ologie orientale 90: 41-49.\u2022 Bara\u0144ski, M. \u00a01992. \u201cExcavations at the Basilica Site at el-Ashmunein\/Hermopolis Magna in 1987-1990.\u201d Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 3: 19-23.\u2022 Becker, C. H. A. 1912. \u201dEl-Ashmunain.\u201d Eretz Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies 1: 502-503.\u2022 Bittel, K. and A. Hermann. 1934. \u201cGrabungsbericht Hermopolis 1933.\u201d Mitteilungen des Deutschen Arch\u00e4ologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 5: 11-44.\u2022 Cl\u00e9dat, J. 1902. \u201cNotes arch\u00e9ologiques et philologiques, IV: Ashmounein.\u201d\u00a0Bulletin de l'Institut fran\u00e7ais d'arch\u00e9ologie orientale 2: 41-70.\u2022 Cl\u00e9dat, J. 1907. \u201cNotes d\u2019arch\u00e9ologie copte: Ashmounein.\u201d\u00a0Annales du Service des antiquit\u00e9s de l'\u00c9gypte 9: 230.\u2022 Effendi Chaban, M. 1907. \u201cFouilles \u00e0 Achmounein.\u201d Annales du Service des antiquit\u00e9s de l'\u00c9gypte 8: 211-223.\u2022 El-Khachab, A. 1955. \u201cNumismatica.\u201d Annales du Service des antiquit\u00e9s de l'\u00c9gypte 53\/2: 251-278.\u2022 Evetts, B. T. A. ed. 1895. Churches and Monasteries of Egypt and Some Neighbouring Countries. Attributed to Ab\u00fb \u1e62\u00e2li\u1e25, the Armenian. London: Oxford University Press. 218-222.\u2022 Grohmann, A. 1939. \u201cContribution to the Topography of Al-Ushm\u00fbnain from Arabic Papyri.\u201d Bulletin de l\u2019Institut d\u2019\u00c9gypte 21: 211-214.\u2022 Grossmann, P. 1989. \u201cNeue fr\u00fchchristliche Funde aus \u00c4gypten.\u201d In Actes du XIe congr\u00e8s international d\u2019arch\u00e9ologie chr\u00e9tienne. Lyon, Vienne, Grenoble, Gen\u00e8ve, Aoste, 21-28 septembre 1986. Rome: \u00c9cole Fran\u00e7aise de Rome, 1989: 1873-1875.\u2022 Grossmann, P. 2002.\u00a0Christliche Architektur in \u00c4gypten. Leiden: Brill. 437-441.\u2022 Hemeda, S., A. Fahmy, A. Moustafa and M. A. El Hafez. 2019. \u201cThe Early Basilica Church, El-Ashmonein Archaeological Site, Minia, Egypt: Geo-Environmental Analysis and Engineering Characterization of the Building Materials.\u201d Open Journal of Geology 9: 157-186.\u2022 Kamal, M. 1947. \u201cExcavations on the Antiquities Department (1942) in the so-called \u201cAgora\u201d of Hermopolis (Ashmunain).\u201d Annales du Service des antiquit\u00e9s de l'\u00c9gypte 46: 289-295.\u2022 Karig, J. S. 1961. \u201cHermopolis 1959, Bericht \u00fcber die photographische Arbeit in Ashmunein.\u201d Mitteilungen des Deutschen Arch\u00e4ologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 17: 128-130.\u2022 M\u00e4lher, H. 1974. Papyri aus Hermopolis. Berlin.\u2022 Maehler, H. 2012. \u201cHermopolis Magna (Greco-Roman)\u201c. In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, edited by R. S. Bagnall, Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.\u2022 Meautis, G. 1918.\u00a0Hermopolis-La-Grande. Lausanne.\u2022 Roeder, G. 1937. \u201cBericht \u00fcber die Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Hermopolis-Expedition 1935.\u201d Mitteilungen des Deutschen Arch\u00e4ologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 7: 1-56.\u2022 Roeder, G. 1938. \u201cDie Ausgrabungen in Hermopolis im Fr\u00fchjahr 1938.\u201d Annales du Service des antiquit\u00e9s de l'\u00c9gypte 38: 435-453.\u2022 Roeder, G. 1939. \u201cDie Ausgrabungen in Hermopolis im Fr\u00fchjahr 1939.\u201d Annales du Service des Antiquit\u00e9s de l'\u00c9gypte 39: 727-747.\u2022 Roeder, G. 1951. Ein Jahrzehnt deutscher Ausgrabungen in einer \u00e4gyptischen Stadtruine. Deutsche Hermopolis-Expedition 1929-1939. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg.\u2022 Roeder, G. 1959. Hermopolis 1929-1939, Aussgrabungen der Deutschen Hermopolis-Expedition in Hermopolis, Ober-\u00c4gypten, in Verbindung mit zahlreichen Mitarbeitern. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg.\u2022 Roeder, G. 1969. Amarna-Reliefs aus Hermopolis. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg.\u2022 Ronczewski, K. 1936. \u201cKapitellfragmente aus Hermopolis 1933.\u201d Mitteilungen des Deutschen Arch\u00e4ologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 6: 88-102.\u2022 Schmitz, H. 1934. \u201cDie Bau-Urkunde in P. Vindob. G 12565 im Lichte der Ergebnisse der deutschen Hermopolis-Expedition.\u201c M\u00fcnchener Beitr\u00e4ge zur Papyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte 19: 406-428.\u2022 Snape, S. R. 1989. A Temple of Domitian at El-Ashmounein. British Museum Expedition to Middle Egypt. London: British Museum Press.\u2022 Spencer, A. J. 1982. The Possible Existence of Third Intermediate Period Elite Tombs at El-Ashmunein. London: British Museum Press.\u2022 Spencer, A. J. 1983. Excavations at el-Ashmunein I: The Topography of the Site. London: British Museum Press.\u2022 Spencer, A. J. 1989. Excavations at el-Ashmunein II: The Temple Area. London: British Museum Press.\u2022 Spencer, A. J. 1993. Excavations at el-Ashminein III: The Town. London: British Museum Press.\u2022 Stillwell, R., W. L. MacDonald and M. H. McAlister. 1976. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press.\u2022 Timm, S. (ed.) 1984-1992. Das Christliche-Koptische \u00c4gypten in Arabischer Zeit: Eine Sammlung Christicher St\u00e4tten in \u00c4gypten in Arabischer Zeit unter Ausschyss von Alexandria, Kairo, des Apa-Mena-Klosters (Der Abu Mina), der Sketis (Wadi n-Natrun) und der Sinai-Region. vol 1. Weisbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichert.\u2022 Wace, A. J. B., A. H. S. Megaw and T. C. Skeat. 1959.\u00a0Hermopolis Magna, Ashmunein: the Ptolemaic Sanctuary and the Basilica. Alexandria: Alexandria UNiversity Press.\u2022 William Smith, L. L. D. 1854. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: Walton and Maberly.",
                "external_links": [],
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "author": "Rhiannon Williams",
                        "year": "2020"
                    },
                    {
                        "author": "Victor Ghica",
                        "year": "2020"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}