previous next

ABÛ [Sdot ]IR Egypt.

The Arabic name of several sites connected in the past with the cult of Osiris:

1) Abû [Sdot ]ir Bana, identified with Busiris (Hdt. 2.59, 61) and Cynopolis (Strab. 17.1.19), lies in the Delta S of modern Samannud.

2) Abû [Sdot ]ir El-Malaq, in the vicinity of the Faiyum district and N of modern Ihnasia el-Medina. This, the Heracleopolis Magna of Strabo (17.1.39) is the site of a Graeco-Roman necropolis.

3) Abû [Sdot ]ir, near the Giza Pyramids, is the Busiris of Pliny (36.12.76), famous as a cult center. The latest tombs date from the Ptolemaic period.

4) Abû [Sdot ](uwe)ir, a short distance W of Ismailia on the Suez Canal, was probably the site of the Egyptian city of Pithom, capital of the seventh nome of Lower Egypt, or Patumus (Hdt. 11.158), where a stele of Ptolemy II Philadelphos was found together with fragments of other Ptolemaic inscriptions.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

B. Porter & R. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings, IV. Lower and Middle Egypt (1934); J. Ball, Egypt in the Classical Geographers (1942)M; K. Michalowski, L'Art de l'Ancienne Égypte (1968) 491-94.

S. SHENOUDA

hide References (4 total)
  • Cross-references from this page (4):
    • Herodotus, Histories, 2.59
    • Strabo, Geography, 17.1.19
    • Strabo, Geography, 17.1.39
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 36.12
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: