Welcome to the city of: Khmunu - Per Djehuty - Hermopolis! Home of the Ogdoad and Djehuty, Patron of all Scribes Seat of Administration, Alabaster and Teaching

You were peacefully roaming the net, making your usual tour of Ancient Worlds when you accidentally clicked on a new link and all became dark. A short moment later, you landed in an unfamiliar place. Somewhat bewildered you realize that you all of a sudden are standing on a stretch of desert, in a rubbled area, full of low mounds half overgrown with coarse grass. In the distance you can see some buildings which look as made of sundried brick. Here and there a couple of palm trees grow, huddling together, giving a narrow strip of shadow. A small company of people, looking as lost and surprized as yourself, have gathered by a sign which says:

You approach them, determined to find out what sort of a place is this, but as you start to ask, they silence you and point to an approaching figure, which indeed looks as if he too has stepped out of nowhere, or at least somewhere far away in place and time. He is naked, except for a white loincloth wrapped around his hips. Under his arm is a roll of papyrus and he looks vaguely distinct female. As he comes closer, you see that he has painted large, heavy black lines around his eyes. What more, you realize that the fellow´s wearing a wig. No normal man would ever appear like this, but this whole situation is nowhere near normal. He starts to walk around to everyone in the group of people, collecting a few coins each from them. That must be the fee mentioned on the sign and you realize this must be the scribe Djehutyhotep, the city guide.

Just as you decide to get out of here, the guy stands in front of you and holds out his hand. (His breath smells of onions). Frantically you search through your pockets. The only thing you manage to dig out is a quarter dollar and you hand it over to him. The eagle on its flip side seems to fascinate him, and he beckons you to join the group.

As you don your sunhat and tie your bootlaces, Djehutyhotep jumps up on a low rock. A bit selfconsciously he looks around the gathered group, clears his throat and begins his guiding. He is not one to miss giving a history lesson now when he´s finally has caught some visitors to his town. In a loud, lecturing voice he starts off:

"Welcome to the great city of Khmunu, nebets and nebu! (laides and gentlemen) As you can see by the sturdy wall work here, we are inside the city walls and the route we will follow, will take you to all the great sights of this town. Now, please stay close to me and don´t get lost!"

The surroundings don´t look anywhere near any city walls but when the scribe jumps off the rock and heads off among the rubble you decide to follow. There must be an explanation somewhere. he other people are already ahead of you, and when you catch up, Djehutyhotep is already far into his tale:

"This city is not on the list of places tourists go to see in Egypt. Most of them don´t even know it exists. Still, here are several temples and a rich middle class, who in the Greek Period supported themselves on administration and alabaster mining. Outside the town which was surrounded by sturdy brickwalls, rich farmlands spread out and a canal provided access to the Nile. With the importance of the cult of Djehuty, the stage was set for wealth and influence."

Here Djehutyhotep pauses for breath, at the same time indicating the area outside of the "city walls", that is, beyond those rubble mounds.

"Now, if you please follow me!"

He sets off towards some mounds covered with grass and climbs up on the nearest one. He waits until he has full attention and then he continues:

"This town, situated on the west bank of the Nile, a little bit northwest of Mallawi, was called Khnumu/Khnumw in ancient Kemetic. the Greeks called it Hermopolis, in their period it was the capital of th 15th Sepat of Upper Egypt. The modern name is El-Ashmunein. The ancient name 'Khnumu' means 'Town of Eight' to honor the eight primeval deities forming the Ogdoad, the creation myth which originated here. These deities are first mentioned in the Pyramid Text, but of all eight only Amun acquired an identity of his own and made it through history. This way please!"

The scribe jumps down from the mound and hurries toward a couple of giant statues of baboons a little ways off. He stops in front of them, makes a respectful gesture and mutters something under his breath. It´s probably some form of ancient prayer . Slightly out of breath you ease yourself down on the ground before him, he corrects his wig and goes on:

" Already in the Old Kingdom this was the center of the cult of Djehuty (Gr: Thoth), the god of wisdom, learning and healing, and the patron of all scribes. Therefore the town was also known as 'Per-Djehuty', the House of Djehuty. These two large statues (here he points at the statues) of Djehuty in baboon-form are still standing here at the entrance to the open air museum. As the Greeks equated Djehuty with their own god Hermes, this place became a popular cult center as well as a pilgrimage center for both Greeks and Egyptians."

You shift uneasily, sitting on the ground is not comfortable, there are so many small stones and sand gets inside your trainers. Djehutyhotep however, goes on unperturbed:

"Early inscriptions show that the town of Khmunu existed already in the 4h Dynasty and burials from the 1st Intermediate Period have been discovered but only small, rubbled parts of the temples are seen nowadays, along with a Roman agora with a restored basilica. Let´s now walk around the perimeter of the Temple of Djehuty!"

You get up from the ground, take a swig from your water bottle and follow Djehutyhotep who now heads for a collection of stones which could with some effort be likened to the base of a set of pylons. Once you´ve settled again, he rattles off a list of old kings, ticking them off with his fingers:

"Many kings have added to these temples. Amenhotep II, Amenhotep III, Horemheb, Merenptah, Ramesses II, Seti II, Nectanebo I, all extended to the Temple of Djehuty which dominated the town. Within its precinct, a small temple to the spouse of Djehuty: Nehmetawy, was built by Nectanebo I. "

Seeing that he has lost you there, Djehutyhotep makes a pause to explain, with a tinge of impatiency:

"This goddess is seldom talked about but she recieved many offerings here in town. She was also a creator deity by the way. Now, at the Temple of Djehuty, there is a pylon built by Ramesses II; its foundations revealed over 1.500 decorated talatat blocks which were brought here from dismantled temple buildings at AkhetAten, and reused. Its hall of columns was still partly standing in 1826 as drawings attest to."

Here Djehutyhotep hauls out a tattered piece of papyrus from the bunch he is carrying along, and hands it around. It´s an old drawing of a hall of pillars and you bend over it, the scribe´s relentless lecturing filling your ears:

" Nearby the Temple of Djehuty was a small shrine to Amun, from the time of Merenptah, and to the east of it are the remains of the latest temple additions; - another small temple to Nehmet-awy, built in the time of Domitian."

Djehutyhotep collects the image back again, hides it in the papyrus roll and beckons you to follow once more. This time he takes you far in among the mounds and rubble and when you are all gathered around him, he points at the ground, which here is cleared away. Some slabs are visible, neatly lying side by side, making a pavement of sorts. Djehutyhotep goes on:

"Take a good look, Nebs and Nebets, the ground you stand on is the same as was trod on, thousands of years ago, with sandals same as the ones I wear! This is the remains of a processional street which went through town from north to south. Material from earlier periods was found in it which indicated that this part of the town had held homes of fairly wealthy families. Considering the alabaster mines at Hatnub which lay in the eastern desert, and the fertile farm land around the city, the town of Khmunu was a prosperous one. "

Djehutyhotep waits while you all inspect the little stretch of visible pavement, then he begins to conclude his tour:

"The tour of the town ends here. Thank you for your participation. If you want to continue with the excursions outside town, to the Tomb of Petosiris and to the mines at Hatnub, it will cost you another five debens each - per excursion that is, and I advise you to bring an extra pair of sandals for the road out there is rather uneven."

No one in the group seems interested, they are all resting on the ground by now, tired and sweating, and using their waterbottles. You are surprized to find your curiosity is teased and, not sure if adressing an ancient scribe with 'sir', you anyhow dare a question:

"Please, er - sir? Can yo tell us a little about the excursions?"

Djehutyhotep seems pleased with the opportunity to share more info and begins:

"Excursions will leave from the City Gates at two hours before dawn each morning. Partakers are adivced to notify their guide - that is - me, of how many will join. They are also adviced to pay their debens in advance and bring food for the day, a fresh set of torches, a reed mat, extra sandals and a skin of water or wine. A jar of croc dung is also mandatory as treatment of possible cobra bites. You can get supplies at DjehutyKa´s Provsions, that is the store my brother-in-law has. He will give you a good price."

But the rest of the group has had more than enough. They quickly disappear in the direction of a souvenir stand, and you find yourself alone with Djehutyhotep. You feel a little bit awkward an not sure of how to talk to this strange figure. Fidgeting a little, you put your hands in your pockets and - lo! An old bar of Mars, half melted and mushy but still recognizable is your reward. You unwrap if and offer it to Djehutyhotep, who, after tasting it, brightens up and offers you to sit down with him and share his wine, which he pulls out from a hidingplace behind a couple of rocks. After some firendly silence in which nothing is heard other than the swigs out of his wine skin, he dries his mouth and begins to talk again while you slowly drift off to sleep, exhausted by the heat, the strangeness of the situation and the boring history lesson:

"The Royal quarries at Hatnub was in use already in the Old Kingdom and exclusively for the King. But now and then in history, not only kings but also very wealthy families dug in and made profit, and in rebel times these could finance their claim to the throne by the riches. The stone mined here, travetine, also called alabaster, could be cut so finely that light shone through it, was used for all kinds of beautiful and useful things, from altars, sarcophagi and even shrines, to canopic chests, lamps, jars and containers of varying size. At Hatnub there were settlements for the workers, there were stoneways, cairns, causeways, windbreaks, drystone walls. "

Once again Djehutyhotep pulls out two more images from his roll of papyrus, which you throw a cursory look at while, stifling a yawn.

"Here, I have some images: the first one is a picture of how it looked when a statue that Ramesses II (Ankh! Udja! Seneb!) was delivered and the other one is of the Tomb of Petosiris, who was once a high priest here. I will tell you about it."

Tucking the images back, Djehutymose leans back, puts his hands behind his neck and rattles off the last piece of his story while his words gets interspersed with more and more yawns. You have already long since fallen asleep, and therefore you miss the last bit.

"Some 7 km west of Khmunu is the necropolis of Tuna el-Gebel, which stretches some 3 km along the edge of the desert. The south part of this served Khmunu during later periods. The finds here, apart from some which date from the time of Ramesses II and which may have been found out of context, are animal burials of ibis and baboon dating from the Late Period. The most interesting feature at the necropolis is the Early Greco-Roman Tomb of Petosiris, who was a high priest in the Temple of Djehuty. It is built in the form of a temple with an entrance portico and a cult chapel. Scenes of everyday life and of offering bearers, all in Greco-Egyptian style adorn the walls and inside the chapel are texts of which the most noteworthy is a description of works in the temples of Hermopolis. It´s situated by the road to the Bahariya Oasis."

Finally Djehutyhotep seems to be done lecturing. The breeze rustles through the palm trees and the sun beats down mercilessly on those with no roof over their heads. Propped up against a rock two people are lying blissfully snoring away the hours. Voices drift in the distance and a small, quick lizard runs by. It stops briefly to listen for any danger, but decides that the snorings are harmless, then it takes a detour around two pairs of feet which block its way, one of them sandaled, the other in trainers. Then the coast is clear and the little animal can scuttle away on its secret business. It is soon gone, the last visible thing is the thin tail disappearing between a glitch in the stone.