El-Tod

El-Tod (Arabic: طود‎ aṭ-Ṭūd, Egyptian: Djerty or Ḏrty, Ancient Greek: Touphion, Latin: Tuphium, Coptic: Thouôt or Tuot) was the site of an Ancient Egyptian town and a temple to the Egyptian god Monthu. It is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Luxor, Egypt, near the settlement of Hermonthis. A modern village now surrounds the site.

History

The history of the site can be traced to the Old Kingdom period of Egyptian history. A granite pillar of the Fifth dynasty pharaoh, Userkaf, is the oldest object found at El-Tod. It was this same pharaoh who ordered that the temple to Monthu be enlarged. Evidence of Eleventh dynasty building is shown in the discovery of blocks bearing the names of Mentuhotep II and Mentuhotep III. Under Senusret I, these buildings were replaced with a new temple. Further additions to this temple were made under Ptolemy VIII.

Culture

Aside from Monthu, to whom a temple was dedicated, the Egyptian goddess Junit was of local importance. According to Flinders Petrie, the god of Tuphium was Hemen. As part of the Thebaid, the area also saw the worship of Sebak (Sobek), the Egyptian crocodile god.