Menouthis

Map of Nile Delta showing ancient Canopus, Heracleion, and Menouthis

Menouthis was a sacred city in ancient Egypt, devoted to the Egyptian goddess Isis and god Serapis. The city was submerged under water in the 8th century as a result of earthquakes or a Nile flood. Its exact location remained uncertain until 2000 when an archaeological team led by Franck Goddio reported rediscovery of Menouthis underwater a little northeast of Alexandria.

Religious significance

In Roman Egypt, Menouthis was widely renowned as an oracular and healing cult centre of the goddess Isis[1] which drew devotees from a fairly wide region.[2] The Isis shrine was demolished in 484[2] and by the end of the 5th century a Christian shrine dedicated to the martyrs Cyrus and John had replaced it.[3] This shrine was one of the two principal pilgrimage centres of Christian Egypt, reaching its height in the 6th and 7th centuries.[4]

"Menouthis" is also the name of a song by E.S. Posthumus, inspired by the ancient city.

References

  1. ↑ Frankfurter 1998, p. 258.
  2. 1 2 Frankfurter 1998, p. 10.
  3. ↑ Frankfurter 1998, p. 422.
  4. ↑ Frankfurter 1998, p. 257.

Further reading

  • Frankfurter, David, ed. (1998). Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt. BRILL. ISBN 9789004111271.


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