Damanhur
Egypt · Africa
About Damanhur
Damanhur 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.
Damanhur is a historic city, whose history can be dated back to the Old Kingdom of Egypt. 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).
The city's modern Arabic name comes from Coptic p-Timinhor, 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).
The Greeks called the city Hermopolis Mikra (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμοῦ πόλις μικρά).
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...
Damanhur travel guide
Understand
Damanhur lies in the Nile Delta about 45 km southeast of Alexandria. Back in ancient Egypt, it was the capital of the nome called Ament, and dedicated to the god Horus. Then, in Greek and Roman times, it became Hermopolis Mikra or Hermopolis Parva because of its association with Hermes (whose Egyptian likeness was Thoth). Today, it is a center for agricultural processing in Lower Egypt and could probably take on the best of conservative-minded municipalities.
Getting there
Damanhur is only about 45 km southeast of Alexandria, and is feasibly reached by motorized transport due to its proximity to the Alexandria-Tanta Highway.
1 Damanhur railway station (محطة قطارات دمنهور). (updated Jun 2022)
See
1 Damanhur Opera House (دار أوبرا دمنهور), ☏ +20 45 3292752. This is a nice example of neoclassical architecture. (updated Sep 2020) 2 The Repentance Mosque (مسجد التوبة). This is quite the structure with a minaret and domes dominating its general appearance. And it was the second mosque to be built in Egypt, constructed by Amr ibn al-As. (updated Sep 2020) 3 Nasser Mosque (مسجد ناصر). In case you are mosque-hopping, this one is quite large with a single tall minaret. (updated Sep 2020)
Nearby 4 Rashid branch Nile mouth. Here you can witness an end of the world's longest river as it empties into the Mediterranean Sea, though it's not the famous place at Lesan Area. (updated Sep 2020)
Sleep
Only rubbish hotels: do your best not to stay here.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.