Damanhur
| Damanhur دمنهور | |
|---|---|
| City | |
| Downtown Damanhur Mohamed Abdu Statue Opera Square Terra Santa Church Galal Keraitam Square Damanhur Opera House Autobus Mosque Ala'ab Damanhour Stadium
Downtown Damanhur Mohamed Abdu Statue Opera Square Terra Santa Church Galal Keraitam Square Damanhur Opera House Autobus Mosque Ala'ab Damanhour Stadium
| |
| Flag Seal | |
| Damanhur Location within Egypt | |
| Coordinates: 31°02′26″N 30°28′12″E / 31.04056°N 30.47000°E | |
| Country | Egypt |
| Governorate | Beheira |
| Area[1] | |
| • Total | 6.840 km2 (2.641 sq mi) |
| Elevation[1] | 9 m (30 ft) |
| Population (2023)[2] | |
| • Total | 329,572 |
| • Density | 48,180/km2 (124,800/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Area code | (+20) 45 |
Damanhur (Egyptian Arabic: دمنهور Damanhūr, IPA: [dɑmɑnˈhuːɾ]) is a city in Lower Egypt, and the capital of the Beheira Governorate. It is located 160 km (99 mi) northwest of Cairo, and 70 km (43 mi) ESE of Alexandria, in the middle of the western Nile Delta. 31°02′10″N 30°28′10″E / 31.03611°N 30.46944°E Damanhur is a historic city, whose history can be dated back to the Old Kingdom of Egypt.[3] The modern city has also absorbed the ancient villages Shubra al-Jadida (Egyptian Arabic: شبرا الجديدة, Coptic: ϫⲉⲃⲣⲟ ⲙⲃⲉⲣⲓ), Tāmus (Egyptian Arabic: طاموس), Askanida (Egyptian Arabic: اسكنيدة) and Chortaso (Egyptian Arabic: قرطسا, Ancient Greek: Χορτασω).[4]
Etymology
D46-W19-M17-M17-O49-W24-G5-Z1orD46:Aa15-W19-M17-M17-X1:O49-S3-G6-X1:O49- Țemāi en Ḥeru[5]
in hieroglyphs
The city's modern Arabic name comes from Coptic p-Timinhor (Coptic: ⲡϯⲙⲓⲛ̀ϩⲱⲣ, Coptic pronunciation: [ptəmənhoːr]), which in turn is derived from Ancient Egyptian: pꜣ-dmỉ-n-Ḥr.w, lit. 'the settlement of Horus', also attested in Aramaic (Imperial Aramaic: תמנחור, romanized: Temenkhūr).[3]
The Greeks called the city Hermopolis Mikra (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμοῦ πόλις μικρά).[6]
The name of the city suggests that Horus, whom Greeks equated with Apollo, was worshipped as the chief deity. However, the Greek name for the town, Hermopolis Mikra, suggests that Hermes/Thoth was the local god. This discrepancy is possibly due to a misinterpretation that persisted even after the Greeks had gained a better understanding of Egypt.[7]
History
In ancient Egypt, the city was the capital of Lower Egypt's 7th Nome of A-ment. It stood on the banks of a canal known as the Butic Canal, which connected the lake Mareotis with the Canopic or most westerly arm of the Nile.[8] Damanhur was at the westernmost end of the canal.
The ancient city of Metelis, the capital of the old Metelite nome, was also located in this area. The exact location of Metelis was debated for a long time. Some older sources located Metelis at Fuwwah or some other town nearby, but recent research indicates that it was at Metelis (Kom el-Ahmer).
The city attracted the notice of numerous ancient geographers, including Stephanus of Byzantium s. v., Strabo (xvii. p. 802), Ptolemy (iv. 5. § 46), and the author of the Antonine Itinerary (p. 154). Damanhur is a Roman Catholic titular see.
It was first made a provincial capital under Fatimid rule in 11th century, and in the Middle Ages it prospered as a caravan town on the post road from Cairo to Alexandria. It was severely damaged in 1302 by an earthquake, but in the late 14th century the Mamluk sultan Barquq restored its fortifications to protect the city from Bedouins.
In 1799, the city revolted against the French, who cruelly crushed the rebels, killing 1,500.
In 1986, the population of Damanhur was 188,939. The richly cultivated Beheira province gives rise to mainly agricultural industries which include cotton ginning, potato processing, and date picking. It also has a market for cotton and rice.
On the 10th of February 2023, six people, including three boys, were killed and at least 20 injured when an apartment building collapsed.[9]
Notable people
Climate
Being located close to the Nile Delta and the northern coast of Egypt, that give Damanhur a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh), moderated by blowing winds coming from the Mediterranean Sea, typical to the coast. The city gets average precipitation during winter, and rare rain during other seasons. Hail and frost are not unknown specifically during winter.
| Climate data for Damanhur | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 20.0 (68.0) |
20.0 (68.0) |
22.8 (73.0) |
27.2 (81.0) |
30.0 (86.0) |
32.2 (90.0) |
32.8 (91.0) |
32.8 (91.0) |
31.1 (88.0) |
30.0 (86.0) |
26.1 (79.0) |
21.1 (70.0) |
27.2 (80.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 13.9 (57.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
17.2 (63.0) |
18.9 (66.0) |
22.8 (73.0) |
25.0 (77.0) |
26.1 (79.0) |
27.2 (81.0) |
25.0 (77.0) |
22.8 (73.0) |
20.0 (68.0) |
16.1 (61.0) |
20.7 (69.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.5 (45.5) |
7.9 (46.2) |
9.6 (49.3) |
12.1 (53.8) |
15.5 (59.9) |
18.2 (64.8) |
20.0 (68.0) |
20.4 (68.7) |
18.9 (66.0) |
17.0 (62.6) |
13.9 (57.0) |
9.6 (49.3) |
14.2 (57.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 25 (1.0) |
21 (0.8) |
9 (0.4) |
2 (0.1) |
2 (0.1) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
5 (0.2) |
9 (0.4) |
23 (0.9) |
96 (3.9) |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 81 | 78 | 76 | 67 | 62 | 63 | 67 | 71 | 75 | 77 | 79 | 80 | 73 |
| Source: Arab Meteorology Book[10] | |||||||||||||
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 "Damanhūr (Kism (fully urban), Egypt) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- Back to citation "Egypt: Administrative Division (Governorates and Districts) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Peust, Carsten. "Die Toponyme vorarabischen Ursprungs im modernen Ägypten" (PDF). p. 33.
- Back to citation "Carte geographique de l'Egypte et des pays environnans by Pierre Jacotin". PAThs – Archaeological Atlas of Coptic Literature. 1818; Stefan, Timm (1988). Das christlich-koptische Agypten in arabischer Zeit. pp. 884–885; "TM Places". www.trismegistos.org. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
- Back to citation 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. 1062.
- Back to citation Bernand, A. (2021-12-13). "Hermopolis Mikra: a Pleiades place resource". Pleiades: a gazetteer of past places. R. Talbert, Johan Åhlfeldt, Jeffrey Becker, W. Röllig, Tom Elliott, H. Kopp, DARMC, Sean Gillies, B. Siewert-Mayer, Francis Deblauwe, Eric Kansa. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
- Back to citation "Damanhūr". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 783.
- Back to citation Champollion, L'Egypte, vol. ii. p. 249
- Back to citation Hendawi, Hamza (2023-02-10). "Three boys among six killed in building collapse north of Cairo". The National. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
- Back to citation "Appendix I: Meteorological Data" (PDF). Springer. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
External links
- Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. "Geographical information on Damanhur, Egypt". Retrieved 2008-03-30.
- https://www.facebook.com/Egy. Dam Official Facebook page for the city
- https://web.archive.org/web/20051107230115/http://www.damanhour.5u.com/en.htm English script
- https://web.archive.org/web/20080321235728/http://www.saeednet.4t.com/ live cam from damanhour
- S. Pétridès (1913). "Hermopolis Parva". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.