The mud-brick walls
A massive enclosure, still largely standing.
Olaf Tausch — CC BY 3.0 · Olaf Tausch — CC BY 3.0 · Olaf Tausch — CC BY 3.0 · Olaf Tausch — CC BY 3.0 · Harald Gaertner — CC BY-SA 4.0
El Kab is an archaeological site on the east bank of the Nile at the mouth of Wadi Hillal in Upper Egypt. The ancient city was called Nekheb, after the vulture goddess Nekhbet, and the Greeks knew it as the city of Eileithyia. It brings together prehistoric and pharaonic settlements, inscribed rock-cut tombs and the remains of sandstone temples built between the 18th and 30th Dynasties. Nekheb was among Egypt's first urban centres. It faced Nekhen, or Hierakonpolis, across the river and became capital of the third nome of Upper Egypt. Belgian archaeologists have worked here since 1937. Its best-known text comes from the tomb of Ahmose son of Ebana, a naval officer in the wars against the Hyksos around 1550 BC, whose autobiography tells of those campaigns. The first thing you see from the road is the massive mud-brick wall, dating to about the 4th century BC, still largely standing around a broad enclosure. Near its centre lie the ruins of the temples of Nekhbet and Thoth. The rock tombs in the hills hold wall paintings and inscriptions, among them those of Ahmose son of Ebana, Sobeknakht II and Setau, a priest under Ramesses III. Some tombs may be locked, so ask at the gate. El Kab lies 18 km north-west of Edfu and 64 km south of Luxor in a straight line, so it fits a day trip from Luxor with Esna and Edfu. There are few services on site, so bring water.
A massive enclosure, still largely standing.
Paintings and texts, including Ahmose's.
Sandstone ruins inside the wall.
East bank of the Nile at the mouth of Wadi Hillal, north of Edfu
A goddess shown as a white vulture, protector of Upper Egypt. She appears on royal crowns with the cobra Wadjet as a symbol of the united land.
Its walls carry his first-person account of the wars against the Hyksos, a key source for that period and the start of the New Kingdom.