Upper Egypt


Upper Egypt is the strip of land on both sides of the Nile that extends between Nubia and to Lower Egypt. It is the southernmost portion of Egypt.

Geography

Upper Egypt is between the Cataracts of the Nile above modern-day Aswan, downriver to the area of El-Ayait, which places modern-day Cairo in Lower Egypt. The northern part of Upper Egypt, between Sohag and El-Ayait, is also known as Middle Egypt.
In Arabic, inhabitants of Upper Egypt are known as Sa'idis and they generally speak Sai'idi Egyptian Arabic.
In ancient Egypt, Upper Egypt was known as tꜣ šmꜣw, literally "the Land of Reeds" or "the Sedgeland" It was divided into twenty-two districts called nomes. The first nome was roughly where modern-day Aswan is and the twenty-second was at modern Atfih just to the south of Cairo.

History

Predynastic Egypt

The main city of prehistoric Upper Egypt was Nekhen, whose patron deity was the vulture goddess Nekhbet.
By about 3600 BC, Neolithic Egyptian societies along the Nile had based their culture on the raising of crops and the domestication of animals. Shortly after 3600 BC, Egyptian society began to grow and increase in complexity. A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the Levantine ceramics, appeared during this time. Extensive use of copper became common during this time. The Mesopotamian process of sun-drying adobe and architectural principles—including the use of the arch and recessed walls for decorative effect—became popular during this time.
Concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, occurred. At the same time the societies of the Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt also underwent a unification process. Warfare between Upper and Lower Egypt occurred often. During his reign in Upper Egypt, King Narmer defeated his enemies on the Delta and merged both the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Egypt under his single rule.

Dynastic Egypt

For most of pharaonic Egypt's history, Thebes was the administrative center of Upper Egypt. After its devastation by the Assyrians, its importance declined. Under the Ptolemies, Ptolemais Hermiou took over the role of Upper Egypt's capital city. Upper Egypt was represented by the tall White Crown Hedjet, and its symbols were the flowering lotus and the sedge.

Medieval Egypt

In the 11th century, large numbers of pastoralists, known as Hilalians, fled Upper Egypt and moved westward into Libya and as far as Tunis. It is believed that degraded grazing conditions in Upper Egypt, associated with the beginning of the Medieval Warm Period, were the root cause of the migration.

20th-century Egypt

In the 20th-century Egypt, the title Prince of the Sa'id was used by the heir apparent to the Egyptian throne.
Although the Kingdom of Egypt was abolished after the Egyptian revolution of 1952, the title continues to be used by Muhammad Ali, Prince of the Sa'id.

Upper Egypt and [Coptic language]

Upper Egypt is known to contain a few remaining villages, where the historical Coptic language, the latest phase of the Egyptian language, has been revived and reconstructed as a spoken language.

List of rulers of prehistoric Upper Egypt

The following list may not be complete :
NameImageCommentsDates
ElephantEnd of 4th millennium BC
Bull4th millennium BC
Scorpion IOldest tomb at Umm el-Qa'ab had scorpion insigniac. 3200 BC?
Iry-Hor
Possibly the immediate predecessor of Ka.c. 3150 BC?
Ka
May be read Sekhen rather than Ka. Possibly the immediate predecessor of Narmer.c. 3100 BC
Scorpion II
Potentially read Serqet; possibly the same person as Narmer.c. 3150 BC
Narmer
The king who combined Upper and Lower Egypt.c. 3150 BC

List of nomes

NumberAncient NameCapitalModern CapitalTranslation
1Ta-khentitAbu / Yebu AswanThe Frontier/Land of the Bow
2Wetjes-HorDjeba EdfuThrone of Horus
3NekhenNekhen al-KabShrine
4WasetNiwt-rst / Waset KarnakSceptre
5HarawîGebtu QiftTwo Falcons
6Aa-taIunet / Tantere DenderaCrocodile
7SesheshSeshesh HuSistrum
8AbdjuAbdju al-BirbaGreat Land
9MinApu / Khen-min AkhmimMin
10WadjetDjew-qa / Tjebu EdfuCobra
11SetShashotep ShutbSet animal
12Tu-phHut-Sekhem-Senusret Qaw al-KebirViper Mountain
13Atef-KhentZawty AsyutUpper Sycamore and Viper
14Atef-PehuQesy al-QusiyaLower Sycamore and Viper
15WenetKhemenu HermopolisHare
16Ma-hedjHerwer?Hur?Oryx
17AnpuSaka al-KaisAnubis
18SepTeudjoi / Hutnesut el-HibaSet
19UabPer-Medjed el-BahnasaTwo Sceptres
20Atef-KhentHenen-nesut Ihnasiyyah al-MadinahSouthern Sycamore
21Atef-PehuShenakhen / Semenuhor FaiyumNorthern Sycamore
22MatenTepihu AtfihKnife