Ihnasya (Ehnasia) or Herakleopolis is one of the cities of
Beni Suef
Governorate . Lying on Bahr- Youssef , it was the capital of the 21st Nome of Lower
Egypt
. In the ancient Egyptian texts , it was known as Hwl-nn-nsw ('the House of the Royal Child') , then it acquired an Arabic name of 'Ihnasya' . It was also known as Ihnas , Ihnas el-Medineh and Umm-Kiman , due to the many hills it contains . It was known in the Greek texts as Herakleopolis ('the City of Heracles') , whom the Egyptians associated with the Egyptian deity of the city 'Her' or 'Herishef' .
Since multiple building and agricultural projects have been carried out in it over the times , the city lost many of its old features .
Ihnasya was the capital of Egypt during the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties , in the wake of the struggle between the Herakleopolitans and the
Thebans
over the unification of the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt during the First Intermediate Period . As a consequence , the region suffered damage in ancient Egyptian eras and over the following times . Finally , the Thebans met with success and victory in this clash .
Since the city has always enjoyed great importance ,
the Egyptian Kings attended to its development throughout the history of Ancient Egypt in general and in the Twenty-second Dynasty in particular .
Ihnasya was of a great religious importance . According to the Egyptian mythology , the sun appeared , for the first time , in Ihnasya , on the day of the creation of heaven and earth . In that city , god
Osiris
was crowned . And after Osiris' death , the very city witnessed his son being declared King of Egypt . According to the legend of the 'Destruction of Mankind' , Ihnasya also witnessed goddess
Sekhmet
starting to destroy people yielding to Re's orders . Based on these legends and myths , the site continued to enjoy a religious reputation , even after its political importance faded away . Constructing a temple for god Herishef , the deity of the city , the Ancient Egyptian Kings were interested in him . It is most likely that the oldest date known for that temple was in the Twelfth Dynasty , which implies that the temple of the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties was destroyed .
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