Antinoöpolis

New Kingdom During the New Kingdom, the city, Hir-we, was the location of Ramesses II's great temple, dedicated to the gods of Khmun and Heliopolis. Roman period During the Roman Empire, the city of Antinoöpolis was erected in AD 130 by the emperor Hadrian on the site of Hir-we as the cult centre of the deified Antinoüs. All previous buildings, including a necropolis, were razed and replaced, with the exception of the Temple of Ramses II. Medieval period The city was abandoned around the 10th century. It continued to host a massive Graeco-Roman temple until the 19th century, when it was destroyed to feed a cement works. Over the centuries, stone from the Hadrianic city was removed for the construction of homes and mosques. By the 18th century, the ruins of Antinopolis were still visible, being recorded by such European travellers as Jesuit missionary Claude Sicard in 1715 and Edme-François Jomard the surveyor circa 1800. However, in the 19th century, Antinopolis was almost completely destroyed by local industrial production, as the chalk and limestone was burned for powder while stone was used in the construction of a nearby dam and sugar factory. File:SheikhAbadaTempleRamses3.jpg|Ruins of the Temple of Ramses File:SheikhAbadaTempleR3Cartouche.jpg|Cartouche from the Temple of Ramses File:SheikhAbadaTempleR3Columns.jpg|Columns from the Temple of Ramses File:SheikhAbadaTempleR3Censing.jpg|Carvings and hieroglyphs from the Temple of Ramses File:Antinoé, ritratto di ragazzo, 190-210 ca..JPG|Funerary portrait of a boy, AD c. 190–230 File:Antinoé, ritratto d'uomo di colore, 190-230 dc ca..JPG|Funerary portrait of a man, AD c. 190–230 File:Portrait du Fayoum 03b.JPG|Encaustic funerary portrait of a woman File:Woman, Antinoopolis, AD 250-300 (Houston, TX, Menil Collection).jpg|Funerary portrait of a woman. Probably from Antinoöpolis, c. 250–300 AD (Menil Collection) ==Structure and organization==

The city of Antinoöpolis was governed by its own senate and prytaneus or president. The senate was chosen from the members of the wards (), of which we learn the name of one – – from inscriptions (Orelli, No. 4705); and its decrees, as well as those of the prytaneus, were not, as usual, subject to the revision of the nomarch, but to that of the prefect () of the Thebaid. Antinoöpolis first belonged to the Heptanomis, but under Diocletian (286 AD) Antinoöpolis became the capital of the nome of the Thebaid. Antinoë was the seat of a Christian bishop by the 4th century, originally a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Ptolemais in Thebaide, but it became a metropolitan see itself in the 5th century, having as suffragans Herrmopolis Parva, Cusae, Lycopolis, Hypselis, Apollonopolis Parva, Antaeopolis, Panopolis and Theodosiopolis. No longer a Latin residential bishopric, Antinoë is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. ==Archaeological finds==

The earliest finds at the site date to the New Kingdom, when Bes and Hathor were important deities. One at least of them, which ran from north to south, had on either side of it a corridor supported by columns for the convenience of foot-passengers. The walls of the theatre near the southern gate, and those of the hippodrome without the walls to the east, are still extant. At the north-western extremity of the city was a portico, of which four columns remain, inscribed to Good Fortune, and bearing the date of the 14th and last year of the reign of Alexander Severus, 235 AD. As far as can be ascertained from the space covered with mounds of masonry, Antinoöpolis was about a mile and a half in length, and nearly half a mile broad. The remains of the city, having a three and a half mile circumference, suggests Roman and Hellenistic foundations and was surrounded by a brick wall on three sides, leaving the fourth side open to the Nile. At the beginning of the 19th century, when Napoleonic surveys were made, a theatre, many temples, a triumphal arch, two streets with double colonnades (illustrated in ''Description de l'Egypte''), a circus, and a hippodrome nearby, were still to be seen. A small collection of textiles excavated 1913–1914 by John de Monins Johnson are held in the collections of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. File:Antinoë (Antinoöpolis). 1. Plan général des environs; 2. Vue des ruines de la ville, prise du côté du sud-ouest (NYPL b14212718-1268149).jpg|Ruin-field from the south-west & topography File:Antinoë (Antinoöpolis). Plan topographique des ruines et de l'enceinte de la ville (NYPL b14212718-1268148).jpg|Topographical map of the city File:Antinoë (Antinoöpolis). Vue du portique du Théatre (NYPL b14212718-1268150).jpg|Portico of the Roman theatre File:Antinoë (Antinoöpolis). Plan, élévation, coupes et détails de l'arc de triumphe (NYPL b14212718-1268153).jpg|Plan, elevation, and section of the triumphal arch File:Antinoë (Antinoöpolis). 1-20. Plans, élévations et détails de divers portiques; 21-24. Plan et détail d'un bâtiment de bains; 25-28. Colonnade de la rue principale (NYPL b14212718-1268156).jpg|Various porticoes, a bathhouse, and the main colonnaded street File:Antinoë (Antinoöpolis). 1-9. Élévation et détails de la colonne d'Alexandre Sévère; 10-15. Détails d'architecture de divers monumens; 16.17. Plan et coupe de l'hippodrome; 18. Plan d'une (NYPL b14212718-1268155).jpg|Column of Alexander Severus and the hippodrome File:Antinoë (Antinoöpolis). Plan, élévation, coupes et détails du portique du Théatre (NYPL b14212718-1268151).jpg|Plan and elevation of the portico of the Roman theatre File:Antinoë (Antinoöpolis). 1.2. Vue et détails de la colonne d'Alexandre Sévère; 3.4. Fragment d'une statue d'Antinoüs (NYPL b14212718-1268154).jpg|Column of Alexander Severus and a statue of Antinoüs ) Albert Gayet ) ) Albert Gayet (1856–1916) was known as the "archaeologist of Antinoöpolis" and, without his extensive research and documentation of the site, very little would be known about this Greco-Roman city. Though there is much data of Antinoöpolis recorded from the Napoleonic Commission, Gayet's report sheds a greater light on the ancient city. As Christianity began to spread through the Roman Empire, Antinoöpolis became a place of worship. Centuries after the city of Antinoüs was established by the Roman emperor, Christianity became the way of life. The city was home to many nuns and monks and Christian sanctuaries were built. Many came to venerate saints, such as Claudius and Colluthus, and monasteries were abundant. Gayet's findings confirm the wide spread of Christianity. Gayet's excavations have revealed mummies, grave goods, and thousands of fabrics at the site of Antinoöpolis. Gayet uncovered a large cemetery, the burial place of numerous Coptic Christians. Mummification was prohibited by law in the fourth century A.D., and so the remains of deceased Christians were dressed in tunics and swaddled with other textiles before being buried. Gayet's findings give researchers a better understanding of early Christian burial practices and his preservation of artistic textiles found at the site show the evolving Coptic style. The transformation of style was the canonical art of ancient Egypt infused with Classical and then Christian art. == Antinoöpolis today ==

Today, Antinoöpolis is the site of El Sheikh Ibada, a small village. Many of the original buildings have been broken down for materials to build newer structures, such as sugar factories for El-Rodah, but visitors can still see the remains of the Roman Circus and ruins of a few temples. Mummy with valedictory inscription and attached funerary portrait, probably from Antinoöpolis. Hadrianic period. Louvre inv. No. AF 6882. ==References==