ABSTRACT
Luxor, 450 miles from Cairo, on the east bank of the river, is a small town with a few thousand inhabitants, and owes its importance to the fact that it is situated close to the ruins of the temples of the ancient city of Thebes. The name Luxor is a corruption of the Arabic name of the place, EI-Ulp;;ur, which means "the palaces." Ancient Thebes stood on both sides of the Nile, and was generally called in hieroglyphics 1:, Uast; that part of the city which was situated on the east bank of the river, and included the temples of Karnak and Luxor, appears to have been called n 0 ca ~ I Q Apet, * whence the Coptic T l,.. 11€ ~\\ .ul~ and the name Thebes have been derived. The cuneiform inscriptions and Hebrew Scriptures call it No (Ezek. xxx. 14) and No-Amon t (Nahum iii. 8), and the Greek and Roman writers Diospolis Magna. When or by whom Thebes was founded it is impossible to say. Diodorus says that it is the most ancient city of Egypt; some say that, like Memphis, it was founded by Menes, and others, that it was a colony from Memphis. It is certain, however, that it did not become a city of the first importance until after the decay of Memphis, and as the progress of Egyptian civilization was from north to south, this is only what was to be expected. During the early dynasties no mention is made of Thebes, but we know that as early as the XIIth dynasty some kings were buried there.
