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Herwer was an ancient Egyptian town in the 16th nome (Oryx nome) in Upper Egypt. It is mentioned in several ancient inscriptions dating from the Old, Middle and New Kingdom. The main deities of the place were Khnum and Heqet, both several times called lord or lady of Herwer. Perhaps in the Middle Kingdom, the place became capital of the 16th Upper Egyptian nome. The local governor Amenemhat of that nome was indeed overseer of the priests of Khnum of Herwer. The place is often mentioned in the tombs of Beni Hasan.

or ḥr wr in hieroglyphs Era: Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC)

ḥr wrjt in hieroglyphs Era: Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 BC)

ḥr wr in hieroglyphs Era: New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC)

The localisation of Herwer remains problematic. Yet however in the Onomasticon of Amenope and in the Turin Papyrus 118.11, Herwer is referred to as north of Hermopolis, which excludes an identification with Antinoöpolis. Certainly, however, the place was on the west side of the Nile in the 16th Upper Egyptian nome as in the inscriptions in Beni Hasan, suggesting Herwer is identical with modern village of Hur (Coptic: Ϩⲟⲩⲱⲣ) situated 11 km (6.8 miles) northwest of Hermopolis Magna.

See also

• List of ancient Egyptian towns and cities

References

1. Farouk Gomaa: Die Besiedlung Ägyptens während des Mittleren Reiches, 1. Oberägypten und das Fayyum. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-88226-279-6, pp. 312-15
2. ^ Gauthier, Henri (1927). Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 4. p. 37.
3. Wallis Budge, E. A. (1920). An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. Vol II. John Murray. p. 1022.
4. Farouk Gomaa: Die Besiedlung Ägyptens während des Mittleren Reiches, 1. Oberägypten und das Fayyum. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-88226-279-6, p. 314

• Cities in ancient Egypt
• Former populated places in Egypt