Al-Kab (Nekheb)
๐ Location: East bank of the Nile, 80 km south of Luxor ย ยท ย ๐บ Period: Predynastic โ Greco-Roman ย ยท ย ๐๏ธ Tickets: ~200 EGP foreign adults
Al-Kab is the modern name for Nekheb, the ancient cult-city of the vulture goddess Nekhbet and one of the holiest places of Upper Egypt โ she was the patroness of the southern kingdom and her image appears on every royal crown for 3,000 years. The town faces its sister city Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) across the Nile, where the falcon god Horus was worshipped.
Two features dominate. First, the vast mud-brick enclosure walls, still 11 m thick in places, forming a near-perfect square around the ancient settlement โ among the largest surviving Predynastic enclosures in Egypt. Inside lie the foundations of the Temple of Nekhbet and a small Ptolemaic-period chapel. Second, on the desert cliff just outside the walls, a cluster of rock-cut tombs of New Kingdom officials carries some of the most important historical inscriptions in all of Egyptian archaeology โ the autobiography of Ahmose, son of Abana, the naval officer who fought the Hyksos out of Egypt c. 1550 BC, is here, together with the tombs of Paheri and Ahmose-Pennekhbet.
Further into the desert wadi stand small rock-cut chapels of Amenhotep III and Ramses II.
Highlights
- Massive mud-brick walls of the ancient town
- Tomb of Ahmose, son of Abana โ the Hyksos-expulsion biography
- Tomb of Paheri โ vivid agricultural scenes
- Rock chapels of Amenhotep III and Setau in the desert wadi
- View across the Nile to Hierakonpolis
Visiting
- Opening hours: 7 am โ 5 pm
- Tickets: ~200 EGP foreign adults
- Best time: day trip from Luxor or as a felucca / cruise stop
- Nearby: Edfu Temple, Gebel el-Silsila, Esna