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Facts about ancient Heliopolis, Egypt Heliopolis, Egypt Fact Sheet Fact 1: Significance - The ancient city of Heliopolis, Egypt was considered to be the mound of creation from which the world arose. Fact 2: Date Established - The 4,500-year-old city of Heliopolis, Egypt was established during the pre-dynastic: 5550 BC - 3050 BC. The ancient Egyptian name of the city was 'Lunu' meaning “place of pillars”, which was corrupted in Hebrew translation as 'On', but was later renamed Heliopolis by the Greeks. Fact 3: Location - The location of the ancient city of Heliopolis, Egypt was at the apex of the Nile Delta, 8 km east of the river Nile, and about 10 km (6 miles) north of modern Cairo Fact 4: Birthplace of the Gods - The site of the ancient city of Heliopolis, Egypt was chosen as, according to the Egyptian creation myth, it was believed to be the point of creation and birthplace of the company of gods. Fact 5: Company of Gods - Nine gods formed the "great company" of gods of the city of Heliopolis, Egypt. Groups of nine gods, are now commonly called "enneads" Fact 6: The Ennead of Heliopolis, the divine family - The Ennead of Heliopolis consisted of nine gods, the divine family consisting of Atum - Later subsumed as the Sun God Ra, Geb, Isis, Nephthys, Nut, Osiris, Set, Shu and Tefnut Fact 7: Sun God Atum-Ra - The chief deity in the Egyptian pantheon of Ennead of Heliopolis was the god Atum, who was worshipped in the primary temple. Atum was later subsumed as the Sun God Ra Fact 8: The Sun Temple of Heliopolis - The sun temple of Heliopolis was amongst the most important cult centres of Egypt. It was one of five great temples built at Heliopolis, Egypt and were famous for their size and beauty. Over 10,000 priests and slaves served in the massive temple, which also served as a library. The interior plan of the temple involved an open court in which there was a Ben-Ben Stone that was believed to catch the sun rays every morning, to highlight that the god Ra was in his temple Fact 9: Obelisks - The ancient city was renowned for its large number of obelisks, a symbol of sun-worship. Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of temples. Obelisks ranged in height from 9 metres to 32 metres and the tips, or capstones, were covered in shining gold or silver to catch the rays of the sun Fact 10: The Benben Stone - The interior plan of the Sun temple of Heliopolis, Egypt involved an open court yard in which there was an obelisk topped by a capstone which was a pyramid-shaped Ben-Ben Stone. It was believed to catch the sun rays every morning, to highlight that the god Ra was in his temple. According to mythology the Ben-Ben Stone (also called the Stone of Destiny) enlightened the person who was in its surroundings and was capable of producing an awful power. It was impossible to be close to the Ben-Ben Stone without the protection of magical rituals performed by the Priests. The Ben-Ben Stone was said to have been put into the Arc of the Covenant and helped the Hebrews to destroy Jericho. continued... Heliopolis, Egypt Fact Sheet Facts about ancient Heliopolis, Egypt Heliopolis, Egypt Fact Sheet Fact 11: The Seat of the Tree of Life and the Bennu Bird (phoenix) - An important artefact of Heliopolis, Egypt was the sacred Ished Tree, the Tree of Life, the Seat of the Bennu Bird (phoenix). The name of the phoenix in Egyptian is 'bennu'. The Tree was protected by the Great Cat, a Symbol of Ra. During the Ancient Egyptian coronation ceremony the names of each pharaoh were required to be inscribed on the leaves of this tree. The fruit of the Tree of Life gave Eternal Life and the Knowledge of the Cycles. The Bennu Bird was believed to represent the soul of the Sun-God Ra and synonymous with the city of Heliopolis, Egypt. Fact 12: Center of Knowledge - The city of ancient Heliopolis, Egypt was considered to be one of the principle seats of learning in the ancient world, with schools of theology, science, history, astronomy and philosophy and were attended by famous writers such as Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, Herodotus and Solon. Moses was educated at Heliopolis Fact 13: Sun Worship - The theology of Heliopolis was based upon sun worship, whereas that of Memphis was based upon earth worship of Ptah. Fact 14: Biblical References - Heliopolis was the capital of the Province of Goshen, the bread basket of Egypt. Jeremiah prophesied the fate of the city was that the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, would shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis and burn the temple of the sun in fire. Fact 15: Decline of Heliopolis - Much of the city of Heliopolis, Egypt was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 525 BC and the Library and its Priests were moved to Alexandria, the new capital and heralded the decline of ancient Heliopolis Fact 16: Roman Conquest - In 30 BC Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire. Most of the obelisks of Heliopolis were removed to Alexandria and Rome and the walls of the city were used for the construction of other cities. At one time Rome possessed forty-eight obelisks pillaged from Egypt Fact 17: The Obelisk of Senusret I - The only surviving remains of Heliopolis, Egypt is the red granite obelisk from the Temple of Atum-Ra. The red granite obelisk stands 68 ft (20.73 m) high and weighs 120 tons. The obelisk was erected by Senusret I of the 12th dynasty and still stands in its original position. Fact 18: Cleopatra's Needle - Two of its obelisks, both known as Cleopatra's Needle, from of Heliopolis, Egypt now stand on the Thames embankment in London, United Kingdom, and another in Central Park, New York, USA. Fact 19: Modern city of Heliopolis Egypt - The modern city of Heliopolis Egypt was established in 1907 by the Belgian Baron Empain, with a mixture of architecture combining oriental with European styles Fact 20: Open-air museum - The site of Heliopolis Egypt is being developed to house an open-air museum featuring a colossus head of Ramses II and the obelisk of Senusret I. Heliopolis, Egypt Fact Sheet |
