El Kab
El Kab is ancient Nekheb, the city of the vulture goddess Nekhbet, on the east bank of the Nile between Esna and Edfu. Its temples and rock-cut tombs lie at the edge of the desert, beside the remains of a great walled town.
The city of the vulture goddess
Nekhbet was the protective goddess of Upper Egypt, shown as a vulture and often paired in royal imagery with the cobra goddess Wadjet of Lower Egypt. Her city was an important religious center from very early times, and the town of Nekhen, the Hierakonpolis of the Greeks, lay on the opposite bank. Massive mud-brick walls still mark out the ancient town.
The tombs of Ahmose and Paheri
The rock-cut tombs in the hillside belong to local officials, many from the early New Kingdom. The tomb of Ahmose son of Ebana holds his autobiography, a key account of the wars against the Hyksos. The tomb of Paheri is known for its lively painted scenes of farming and everyday life.
Long before the temple of Edfu rose upriver, the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt was at home on this desert edge.
Temples in the desert
The main temples of Nekhbet stood inside the walled town. Further chapels lie out in the desert valley, among them a small temple of Amenhotep III and a rock-cut shrine of the Ptolemaic period.
- Ancient name
- Nekheb
- Goddess
- Nekhbet
- Location
- East bank
- Known for
- Rock-cut tombs
