El-Sheikh Hamad (Athribis)

📍 Location: Western desert edge near Sohag, Upper Egypt · 🏺 Period: 4th c. BC – 6th c. AD · 🎟️ Tickets: see on-site

Athribis (today the village of El-Sheikh Hamad) is the long-buried temple-city of the goddesses Repyt and Min-Ra, founded in the 4th century BC and active right through the Ptolemaic, Roman and early Christian eras. It is one of the most exciting current excavations in Egypt — a joint Egyptian–German mission has spent the last two decades clearing buildings that had been hidden for fifteen centuries.

The flagship monument is the Temple of Ptolemy XII (Cleopatra's father), an unusual peripteral building ringed by 26 columns and decorated with a procession of the daily gods of the Egyptian calendar — a rare visual almanac. A second Ptolemaic temple is dedicated to Min-Ra, and a remarkable rock-cut temple of Asclepius (the Greek god of healing) is carved into the cliff behind. The latest seasons have uncovered an enormous Greco-Roman zodiac ceiling and inscriptions that include the names of school-children.

Above the pharaonic remains stands a Coptic basilica from the 5th–6th centuries AD, marking the long Christian afterlife of the site. An open-air museum at the entrance displays sculpted facades and architectural fragments.

Highlights

Temple of Ptolemy XII with its calendar procession
Temple of Min-Ra, Ptolemy IX
Rock-cut temple of Asclepius
Coptic basilica church of the 5th–6th century
Open-air museum at the visitor entrance

Visiting

Opening hours: 9 am – 4 pm
Tickets: modest fee on-site
Best time: combine with a visit to nearby Akhmim and El-Hawawish
Nearby: El-Hawawish, Abydos (1 hr south)

This is one of Egypt's most active excavations — new finds make headlines almost every season. Expect to see archaeology happening in real time.