EL SHEIKH IBADA (Antinopolis) El Sheikh Ibada is the name of the modern village, as it is known today, situated on the eastern bank of the Nile, about 6 miles north of Mallawi. The village called Sheikh Ibada, the Sheikh pious, in memory of an Arab sheikh who was martyred here after his conversion to Christianity. Near the modern Sheikh Ibada, in 130 A.D., Emperor Adriano founded the city of Antinopolis in honor of his young beloved Antinous, drowned in the Nile, later deified and assimilated to Osiris. Trapezoidal walls surround the city on three sides, with a length of over 3 miles, while the fourth side opened up to the Nile when the city was a river port. The streets inside the walls, intersecting perpendicularly, had a width of 50 feet and were flanked by about 7 feet wide columned porches. Antinopolis gives its economic importance to a caravan trail that connected the city to the Red Sea; it was called the Via Hadriana. Antinopolis was located just south of the ancient village of Besa known for the presence of a famous oracle. The savants, accompanying Napoleon during his 1798 campaign, in their Description de lEgypte, tell us about Roman ruins still visible on the spot: an arch of triumph, roads with double colonnade, a theatre, some temples, a hippodrome, baths and a circus. Practically nothing remains today of what apparently had to be a wonderful Roman town in Egypt. Antinopolis, Ansine in Coptic, is of considerable importance to Coptic Christians of Egypt because, according to tradition, the city had been sanctified by the visit of the Holy Family during their Flight into Egypt. Prior to the founding Antinopolis, ancient settlements that date back as the Dynastic Period were located at its west end. Some remains of these ancient settlements are still visible: a temple in honor of Toth, built by Ramses II, XIX Dynasty, a courtyard with columns, a hypostyle hall and a sanctuary. For further informations, visit my website (my-egypt.it/middle-egypt/el-sheikh-ibada-antinopolis/).
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 09:43:44 +0000
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