Samannud#Ancient history

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Samannud

| other_name = Sebennytos

| native_name = {{lang|ar|سمنود}}

| nickname =

| settlement_type = City

| motto =

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| image_caption = Nile bank in Samannud

| image_flag =

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| map_caption = Location in Gharbia Governorate

| pushpin_map = Egypt Nile Delta#Egypt|

| pushpin_label = Samannud

| pushpin_label_position = bottom

| pushpin_mapsize = thumb

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Egypt

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = {{flag|Egypt}}

| subdivision_type1 = Governorate

| subdivision_name1 = Gharbia

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| unit_pref = Imperial

| area_footnotes =

| area_total_km2 = 147

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| population_as_of = 2019 (estimated)

| population_footnotes = {{cite web |title=Samannūd (Markaz, Egypt) |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/egypt/admin/al_gharbiyah/1606__samannūd/|website=Citypopulation.de |access-date=20 June 2020}}

| population_note =

| population_total = 410,388

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| population_blank1_title = Ethnicities

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| timezone = EGY

| utc_offset = +2

| timezone_DST = EEST

| utc_offset_DST = +3

| coordinates = {{coord|30|58|00.0|N|31|15|00.0|E|display=inline}}

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| image_skyline = SamannudNileBank.jpg

}}

{{Hiero | ṯb-nṯr{{cite book |last1=Wallis Budge |first1=E. A. |title=An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. Vol II |date=1920 |publisher=John Murray |page=[https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft/page/1059 1059] |url=https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft}}{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol .6 |date=1929 |page=74 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1929/page/n39}} | {{center|nTr-T-b-niwt or nTr-E9-t:niwt}} | align=right | era=lp}}

Samannud ({{langx|ar|سمنود}} {{Transliteration|ar|Samannūd}}) is a city (markaz) located in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. Known in classical antiquity as Sebennytos ({{langx|grc|Σεβέννυτος}}), Samannud is a historic city that has been inhabited since the Ancient Egyptian period. As of 2019, the population of the markaz of Samannud was estimated to be 410,388, with 83,417 people living in urban areas and 326,971 in rural areas.

Etymology

The place known in {{langx|arz|سمنود}} {{IPA|arz|sæmænˈnuːd|}}, was historically called Sebennytos or Sebennytus.

{{langx|cop|ϫⲉⲙⲛⲟⲩϯ}}, and {{lang|cop|ϫⲉⲃⲉⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ}},{{Cite web|url=https://st-takla.org/books/pauline-todary/coptic-language/egyptian.html|title=أسماء بعض البلاد المصرية بالقبطية - كتاب لغتنا القبطية المصرية | St-Takla.org|website=st-takla.org}} {{IPA|cop|ʃæmˈnudi, ʃæβæˈnudæ|Late Coptic}}
Late {{langx|cop|ⲥⲉⲃⲉⲛⲛⲏⲧⲟⲩ|links=no}} and {{lang|cop|ⲥⲉⲃⲉⲛⲛⲉⲧⲟⲩ}}, {{IPA|cop|sæβænˈnidu, sæβænˈnædu|}}
{{langx|grc|Σεβέννυτος}} and {{lang|grc|Σεβέννυς}}Ptolemy iv. 5. § 50, Stephanus of Byzantium or {{lang|grc|ἡ Σεβεννυτικὴ πόλις}}Strabo xvii. p. 802
Egyptian: ṯb-(n)-nṯr)

The name Samannud ultimately derives from the Ancient Egyptian name ṯb-(n)-nṯr, meaning "city of the sacred calf".{{cite book |last1=Sterling |first1=Gregory E. |title=Historiography and Self-Definition: Josephos, Luke-Acts, and Apologetic Historiography |date=1992 |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=9004095012 |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzQ26kOY0VUC |access-date=22 June 2020}} The name was probably pronounced *{{IPA|/ˌcabˈnaːcar/}} in Old Egyptian and *{{IPA|/ˌcəbˈnuːtə/}} or *{{IPA|/ˌcəbənˈnuːtə/}} in Late Egyptian.Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-44384-9}}, p. 34

Ancient history

Samannud (Sebennytos) was an ancient city of Lower Egypt, located on the now-silted up Sebennytic branch of the Nile in the Delta. Sebennytos was the capital of Lower Egypt's twelfth nome—the Sebennyte nome (district). Sebennytos was also the seat of the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt (380–343 BCE).{{cite book|last1=Gray|first1=Leon|title=The New Cultural Atlas of Egypt|date=2010|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=9780761478775|page=143}}{{cite book|last1=Peck|first1=Harry Thurston|title=Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)|date=1898|publisher=Harper and Brothers}}{{cite book|last=Smith|first=William|author-link=William Smith (lexicographer)|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography|date=1858|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=nilus-geo&highlight=sebennytus|access-date=29 March 2020}}{{cite book|last=Cooper|first=William Ricketts|title=An Archaic Dictionary: Biographical, Historical, and Mythological: From the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Etruscan Monuments and Papyri|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yhwGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA496|year=1876|publisher=S. Bagster and Sons|page=496}}

Sebennytos is perhaps best known as the hometown of Manetho, a historian and chronicler from the Ptolemaic era, c. 3rd century BC. Sebennytos was also the hometown of Nectanebo II; he was its last ruler.Bill Manley, The Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt" Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2003. p.101

A temple dedicated to the local god Anhur, or Anhur-Shu, and his lioness goddess mate Mehit, once existed at this location but is now reduced to ruins. A fragment from the location where kings would have made offerings to Anhur and his wife, is on display at the Walters Art Museum.{{cite book|last=Watterson|first=Barbara|title=Gods of Ancient Egypt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9wTDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT41|year=2003|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7524-9502-6|page=41}}

Modern history

Samannud violently resisted the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 639, and remained rebellious for some time thereafter; the city revolted four times in the first half of the eighth century. Three Coptic Patriarchs came from Samannud: John III, Cosmas II, and John V. The 12th-century Coptic philologist Yuhanna al-Samannudi also came from Samannud, and served as its bishop.{{cite book |last1=Sidarus |first1=Adel |editor1-last=Gabra |editor1-first=Gawdat |editor2-last=Takla |editor2-first=Hany N. |title=Christianity and Monasticism in Northern Egypt: Beni Suef, Giza, Cairo, and the Nile Delta |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-1617977800 |pages=139–140 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LNSDwAAQBAJ |access-date=22 June 2020 |chapter=Yuhanna al-Samannudi, the Founder of National Coptic Philology in the Middle Ages}}

{{historical populations| align = left| source = Citypopulation.de| 1996 | 249672 | 2006 | 298166| 2019 | 410388}}

Samannud's bishopric remained active through the late thirteenth century, indicating the presence of a large Christian population at the time.{{cite book |last1=Tsuji |first1=Asuka |editor1-last=Gabra |editor1-first=Gawdat |editor2-last=Takla |editor2-first=Hany N. |title=Christianity and Monasticism in Northern Egypt: Beni Suef, Giza, Cairo, and the Nile Delta |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-1617977800 |pages=190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LNSDwAAQBAJ |access-date=24 June 2020 |chapter=The Veneration of Anba Hadid and the Nile Delta in the Thirteenth Century}}

In 1843, John Gardner Wilkinson described it as a place of some size, with the usual bazaars of the large towns of Egypt, and famous for its pottery, which was sent to Cairo.{{cite book|last=Wilkinson|first=John Gardner|author-link=John Gardner Wilkinson|title=Modern Egypt and Thebes: Being a Description of Egypt, Including the Information Required for Travellers in that Country|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4QOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA432|year=1843|publisher=John Murray|page=432}}

The 1885 Census of Egypt recorded Samannud as a city in its own district in Gharbia Governorate; at that time, the population of the city was 11,550 (5,686 men and 5,864 women).{{cite book |last1=Egypt min. of finance, census dept |title=Recensement général de l'Égypte |date=1885 |page=288 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpQNAAAAQAAJ |access-date=21 June 2020}}

Notable people

Pope John III of Alexandria (7th century)
Pope Cosmas II of Alexandria (9th century)
Pope Shenouda I of Alexandria (9th century)
Ahmed Abu Ismail (1915–2013), Minister of Finance
Mohamed Nagui (1947–2014), writer
Ahmed Mansour (born 1962), journalist

In religious traditions

In a Coptic tradition, Sebennytos was part of the route of the Holy Family during the flight into Egypt narrated in the Gospel of Matthew (2:13–23).{{cite web|title=The Holy Family at Meniet Samanoud|url=http://www.touregypt.net/holyfamily.htm|website=Tour Egypt|access-date=6 November 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912231331/http://www.touregypt.net/holyfamily.htm|archive-date=12 September 2016}}