Damanhur

Etymology

The city's modern Arabic name comes from Coptic p-Timinhor (, ), which in turn is derived from , also attested in Aramaic ().

The Greeks called the city Hermopolis Mikra ().

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.

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 which connected the lake Mareotis with the Canopic or most westerly arm of the Nile.

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). It 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.

Notable people

• Cyril VI
• Ahmed H. Zewail

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.

| access-date = 14 October 2024 | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072830/http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf | url-status = dead

References

References

1. "Damanhūr (Kism (fully urban), Egypt) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".
2. "Egypt: Administrative Division (Governorates and Districts) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map".
3. Peust, Carsten. "Die Toponyme vorarabischen Ursprungs im modernen Ägypten".
4. (1818). "Carte geographique de l'Egypte et des pays environnans by Pierre Jacotin".
5. Stefan, Timm. (1988). "Das christlich-koptische Agypten in arabischer Zeit".
6. "TM Places".
7. (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 (publishing house).
8. Bernand, A.. (2021-12-13). "Hermopolis Mikra: a Pleiades place resource".
9. {{Cite EB1911
10. [[Champollion]], ''L'Egypte'', vol. ii. p. 249
11. Hendawi, Hamza. (2023-02-10). "Three boys among six killed in building collapse north of Cairo".