The baboon colossi
Of Thoth.
Roland Unger — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roland Unger — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Einsamer Schütze — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roland Unger — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roland Unger — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roland Unger — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Einsamer Schütze — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roland Unger — CC BY-SA 3.0
The site of ancient Khemenu, one of Egypt's great cities and the cult centre of Thoth, god of wisdom and writing. Its name means «Eight-Town», after the eight primordial deities of its creation myth, and the Greeks called it Hermopolis, city of Hermes, whom they identified with Thoth. Its best-known sight is a pair of colossal stone statues of Thoth as a baboon worshipping the sun, standing in a small open-air museum among carved blocks, near the remains of a temple gateway of King Merenptah and other ruins. Outside the temple precinct lie the ruins of a 5th-century basilica, 55 m long, its rows of columns still standing, one of the most impressive Coptic buildings to survive; it was discovered in 1942. The city was an early Christian centre from the 3rd century. Most visitors come on a day trip together with nearby Tuna el-Gebel. The site is not on the ministry list, and visitors report a ticket of about EGP 100 for foreigners, per visitor guides; it is open by day, best in the morning before the heat.
Of Thoth.
Rows of columns.
New Kingdom.
El-Ashmunein village near Mallawi, south of Minya
The two baboon statues of Thoth in the open-air museum, the columns of the 5th-century basilica and Merenptah's temple gateway.