HIERAKONPOLIS

also called Nekhen, modern Kawm al-Ahmar prehistoric royal residence of the kings of Upper Egypt and most important site of the beginning of Egypt's historical period, located in Aswan muhafazah (governorate). Hierakonpolis, then called Nekhen, enjoyed its period of greatest importance from about 3400 BC to the beginning of the Old Kingdom (about 2575). It took part in the wars between Nubia and Upper and Lower Egypt that resulted in the final unification of Egypt in 3200. Excavations by J.E. Quibell in 1898 found monuments of the unification of Egypt: a ceremonial slate palette of King Narmer and a decorated limestone mace-head of King Scorpion, now in the Cairo Museum. A large town with nearby cemeteries stretched 1.9 miles (3 km) along the desert margin. The late predynastic and early dynastic kings built an oval mud-brick and stone temple and a large niched mud-brick enclosure. Later dedications included a pair of large copper statues of Pepi I and Merenre (6th dynasty). Thutmose III completely rebuilt the archaic temple. During the period of the New Kingdom, el-Kab, across the river, became economically more important, but Nekhen retained its place as a religious and historic centre.