On the east bank of the Nile River lies El Kab , an archaeological site situated 90 km to the south of
Luxor
and 32 km to the south of Esna . In ancient times , its name was Nekheb , while the
Greeks
named it Eileithyiapolis . Just in front of El Kab , in the west bank , lies
Kom El Ahmar
or Ancient Nekhen or Hierakonpolis .
Dating back to the
Predynastic
Period , both cities (El Kab and Kom El Ahmar) were religious centers of great importance in the Kingdom of Upper
Egypt
, before the unification of the country and the establishment of Memphis .
In El-Kab , there is also a cemetery dating to the Civilization of
Naqada
III (toward 3300 BC) , with many objects of the epoch as well as cemeteries from the Middle and New Kingdoms . The old city of El Kab was square-shaped , with a mud-bricks wall . In the center were erected two temples , one of which was dedicated to the vulture goddess Nekbet and hosted the crowning of ancient kings of Upper Egypt and the other was devoted to Sobek and Thoth . Here ,
there are also chapels of Amenophis III ,
Ramses II
and Nectanebo . The major part of this archaeological site is now ruined , since the stones of the ancient building were reused as quarries .
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