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| El Kab, Temple of Amenhotep III |
Elkab, also named Nekheb, is a site called
Nekheb by the Egyptians
and one of the nation’s earliest villages, dating to c. 6000 B.C.E. Elkab is on
the east bank of the Nile, 20 miles south
of Eana. The site
is across the
river from Hierakonpolis and is
related to nearby Nekhen (modern Kom
el-Ahmar). Predynastic palaces,
garrisoned ramparts, and other
interior defences attest to the years of the site, which
was devoted to
the goddess Nekhebet, the patroness of Upper Egypt.
Elkab’s citizens rose
against Ahmose (r. 1550–1525 B.C.E.) when he started the
Eighteenth Dynasty, and he dotted the siege of the Hyksos capital of Avaris to
put down the rebellion.
The nomarchs of
the area were energetic and
independent. Their rock-cut
graves are in the
northern section of
the city and
display their vivacious
access to life
and death. King Tuthmosis III (r.1479–1425 B.C.E.) erected
the first chapel
to Nekhebet, broken by
his heir Amenhotep II. The temple of Nekhebet
had a series of lower temples involved as well as a devoted lake and a
necropolis. A temple observances the god
Thoth was started by
Ramses II (r. 1290–1224
B.C.E.). The present
Nekhebet enshrine dates
to the Late Period (712–332 B.C.E.). In the valley
of Elkab shrines of Nubian gods were
discovered, and in
far wadis a shrine
to a deity
made Shesmetet and a
temple of Hathor and Nekhebet
stand in ruins. The rock-cut tombs of
’Ahmose-Pen Nekhebet, ’Ahmose, son of Ebana, and Paheri are also on the
site. Elkab likewise contains El-Hammam, called “the Bath,” which was seen to the reign of RamsesII. His stela is still evident there. Amenhotep III (r. 1391–1353 B.C.E.) also
erected a chapel there for the devoted Bark of Nekhebet.