Heliopolis (Güneş Kenti, Annu)

Heliopolis (Güneş Kenti, Annu)

Türkçe

Eski Mısır'ın, tanrısı Ra olan "güneş kenti" [1] Heliopolis (Grekçe: "Hλίου πόλις" ya da "Hλίουπόλις"), aynı zamanda 13 Aşağı Mısır Şehir Devletinin başkentliğini de yapmış Mısır'ın en eski şehirlerinden biridir[2]
Heliopolis'in Eski Mısır'daki adı, "Annu/on" idi ve bu adı, Grekçe "Güneş'in kenti" anlamına geldiği için almıştır [1] Kent, Kahire'nin 10 kilometre kadar kuzey doğusundadır



Romalılar, buradaki dikilitaşları Roma'ya getirmişlerdir Bugün, eski Mısır şehrinden yalnız bir dikilitaş kalmıştır[3]

İsmi aynı zamanda Kahire'de bulunan bir günümüz mahallesi ne de işaret etmektedir Bilindik ismiyle مصر الجديدة Masr al-gidīdah (literatürde "Yeni Mısır") Antik Şehir Nil'in 5 mil kadar güneyinde, عين شمس Ayn Şems deltasının kuzey ucunda bulunmaktaydı Antik zamanda güneşe tapınmanın bir anlamda başkenti idi Bu nedenle Grekçe de "Güneşin Şehri" olarak geçmektedir[2] Hermopolis gibi Yunanca adıyla bütünleşen bu yer, Mısır dilinde "ise iunu, per aat" (büyük ev), ve "per atum" (Atum'un evi) gibi isimlerle anılır[4] Zamanının en zengin şehirlerinden biri olan Heliopolisin diğer bir adi da konaklar şehridir Zamanında cerrah ve mumyacıları yetiştiren okulları ile ünlü olan kent, Amon Ra tapınağı'yla da tanınır



Heliopolis, Kahire yakınlarındadır ve tanrı Helios tarafından kurulmuştur Bu kentin bir özelliği de zeytin ağaçları ile dolu olup, antik cağlardan beri zeytinyağı üretilmesi,Abraham (Hz İbrahim)'ın da bu şehirde yaşamış olması ve Hz Musa'nın bu şehirde eğitim görmüş olmasıdır Yaradılış efsanelerinde -Heliopolis için- tek tanrı olan Ra'nın dünyayı ve tanrıları yaratması anlatılır [1]
Heliopolis, ayrıca önemli bir dinî merkezdir ve antik Mısır'daki en önemli mitlerin kökeninin geldiği yerlerden biridir "Ennead"; yani "dokuzlu" diye bilinen Mısır panteonunun en önemli isimleri de burada hüküm sürer Dokuzlu, bir aile olarak karşımıza çıkar: Baş Tanrı; Yaratıcı Atum, çocukları Shu ve Tefnout, torunları Geb, Nut ve onların çocukları Osiris, İsis, Seth, ve Nephthys

Bu figürlerden yaratılış destanları, kutsal üçlü mitleri, iyi ve kötünün savaşını anlatan Osiris-Seth hikayeleri ortaya çıkmıştır Bu mitler, halkın inanışında daima önemli bir yer tutmuş ve çevresindeki kültürleri de etkilemiştir

Zamanla Osiris - Seth savaşı ve Kutsal Üçlü'yü (Horus - İsis - Osiris) anlatan mitler, değişikliğe uğradı ve şahin başlı Horus, daha ön plana çıktı Öncelikle politik, sonra da dini bütünleşme düşünceleriyle antik Mısır'ın en önemli figürlerinden Ra ile Horus birleştirilerek "Ra-Harakhiti" diye karma bir kült yaratıldı

Güneş'le özdeşleştirilen Ra ile bütünleşen bu kent, Yunan etkisinin başlamasıyla Güneş Tanrısı Helios ile denk tutuldu ve kentin adı da Güneşin (Helios'un) şehri manasına gelen Heliopolis oldu Tek tanrı inancına sahip firavun Akhenaton zamanında ise şehir, Aton'a adandı Aton'un da sembolü, tıpkı Ra gibi güneş kursuydu [4]



Heliopolis (Ancient)

English Language

Heliopolis (or On) (Greek: Hλίου πόλις or Hλιούπολις), meaning sun-city, was one of the most ancient cities of Egypt, and capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian nome Its name also refers to an unrelated modern suburb of Cairo, also known as مصر الجديدة, Masr al-gidedah (literally "New Egypt" in Egyptian Arabic [masr al-jadīdah in Modern Standard Arabic]) The ancient city stood five miles (8 km) east of the Nile north of the apex of the Delta Heliopolis originally refers to an area that covers the areas of Ain Shams, Al-Matariyyah and Tel Al-Hisn In ancient times it was the principal seat of sun-worship, thus its name, which means city of the sun in Greek

Now Heliopolis contain the earliest temple obelisk still in its original position The 207 m / 68 ft high red granite Obelisk of Senusret I of the XIIth Dynasty is at Al-Matariyyah part of Heliopolis It is now in Al-Masalla area of Al-Matariyyah district near Ain Shams district (Heliopolis) It is 67 feet (20 m) tall and weighs 120 tons or 240,000 pounds

The city's Egyptian name (shown in hieroglyphs, right,[3] transliterated ỉwnw), is often transcribed as Iunu (literally "[place of] pillars"), and was often written in Greek as ν On, and in biblical Hebrew as אן Ôn and און Āwen



Ancient Heliopolis

Heliopolis has been occupied since the Predynastic Period, with extensive building campaigns during the Old and Middle Kingdoms Today, unfortunately, it is mostly destroyed, its temples and other buildings having been used for the construction of mediæval Cairo; most information about it comes from textual sources

According to Diodorus Siculus Heliopolis was built by Actis, one of the sons of Helios and Rhode, who named the city after his father[4] While all Greek cities were destroyed during the flood, the Egyptian cities including Heliopolis survived The chief deity of Heliopolis was the god Atum, who was worshipped in the primary temple, which was known by the names Per-Aat (pr-ˁ3t; "Great House") and Per-Atum (pr-ỉtmw; "Temple [lit "House"] of Atum") The city was also the original source of the worship of the Ennead pantheon, although in later times, as Horus gained in prominence, worship focused on the synchrentistic solar deity Ra-harakhty (literally Ra, (who is) Horus of the Two Horizons) During the Amarna Period, king Akhenaten introduced monotheistic or perhaps henotheistic worship of Aten, the deified solar disc, built here a temple named Wetjes Aten (wṯs ỉtn "Elevating the Sun-disc") Blocks from this temple were later used to build the city walls of mediaeval Cairo and can be seen in some of the city gates The cult of the Mnevis bull, an embodiment of the god Ra, had its centre here, and possessed a formal burial ground north of the city

As the capital of Egypt for a period of time, grain was stored in Heliopolis for the winter months, when many people would descend on the town to be fed, leading to it gaining the title place of bread The Book of the Dead goes further and describes how Heliopolis was the place of multiplying bread, recounting a myth in which Horus feeds the masses there with only 7 loaves



Greco-Roman Heliopolis

Heliopolis was well known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, being noted by most major geographers of the period, including: Ptolemy, iv 5 § 54; Herodotus, ii 3, 7, 59; Strabo, xvii p 805; Diodorus, i 84, v 57; Arrian, Exp Alex iii 1; Aelian, H A vi 58, xii 7; Plutarch, Solon 26, Is et Osir 33; Diogenes Laertius, xviii 8 § 6; Josephus, Ant Jud xiii 3, C Apion i 26; Cicero, De Natura Deorum iii 21; Pliny the Elder, v 9 § 11; Tacitus, Ann vi 28; Pomponius Mela, iii 8 The city also merits attention by the Byzantine geographer Stephanus of Byzantium, s v Ἡλίουπόλις

Alexander the Great, on his march from Pelusium to Memphis, halted at this city (Arrian, iii 1); and, according to Macrobius (Saturn i 23), Baalbek, or the Syrian Heliopolis, was a priest-colony from its Egyptian namesake

The temple of Ra was said to have been, to a special degree, a depository for royal records, and Herodotus states that the priests of Heliopolis were the best informed in matters of history of all the Egyptians Heliopolis flourished as a seat of learning during the Greek period; the schools of philosophy and astronomy are claimed to have been frequented by Orpheus, Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, Solon, and other Greek philosophers From Ichonuphys, who was lecturing there in 308 BC, and who numbered Eudoxus among his pupils, the Greek mathematician learned the true length of the year and month, upon which he formed his octaeterid, or period of eight years or ninety-nine months Ptolemy II had Manethon, the chief priest of Heliopolis, collect his history of the ancient kings of Egypt from its archives The later Ptolemies probably took little interest in their "father" Ra, and Alexandria had eclipsed the learning of Heliopolis; thus with the withdrawal of royal favour Heliopolis quickly dwindled, and the students of native lore deserted it for other temples supported by a wealthy population of pious citizens By the 1st century BC, however, Strabo found them deserted, and the town itself almost uninhabited, although priests were still there

In Roman times Heliopolis belonged to the Augustamnica province Its population probably contained a considerable Arabic element (Plin vi 34) In Roman times obelisks were taken from its temples to adorn the northern cities of the Delta, and even across the Mediterranean to Rome, including the famed Cleopatra's Needle that now resides on the Thames embankment, London (this obelisk was part of a pair, the other being located in Central Park, New York) Finally the growth of Fustat and Cairo, only 6 miles (97 km) to the southwest, caused the ruins to be ransacked for building materials The site was known to the Arabs as ˁAyn Šams ("the well of the sun"), more recently as ˁArab al-Ḥiṣn It has now been brought for the most part under cultivation, but the ancient city walls of crude brick are to be seen in the fields on all sides, and the position of the great temple is marked by an obelisk still standing (the earliest known, being one of a pair set up by Senusret I, the second king of the Twelfth Dynasty) and a few granite blocks bearing the name of Ramesses II

Egyptian and Greco-Roman mythology said that the phoenix, after rising from the ashes of its predecessor, would bring the ashes to the altar of the sun god in Heliopolis[5]