Elkab is close to Nekhen but is on the eastern side of the river.
It has been dedicated to Nekhbet since predynastic times.
Sources:
Midant-Reynes, Béatrix. 1992. The Prehistory of Egypt:
From the first Egyptians to the first pharaohs. Malden, Massachusetts:
Blackwell Publishers, Inc.
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Naqada was one of the three main centers in Upper Egypt in predynastic times. The other two were Abydos and Nekhen. It is on the west bank of the river, at the mouth of the Wadi Hammamat; (a wadi can be a dried-up riverbed).
Even before the third dynasty, it was a fortified city of mud brick that was well planned, with regularly planned streets, rectangular houses, and large cemetaries. Some divide the residential areas into the North Town and the South Town. The oldest parts of the South Town are away from the Nile and closer to the desert. In predynastic times, it was eclipsed in influence by Hierakonpolis or Nekhen.
Naqada is a cult center for Set, and people come to honor the people buried at Naqada. Myths about Horus fighting Set may have been references to the fight for influence between Naqada and Nekhen.
Now it is called Nubt, or Town of Gold, because of its ties with gold and copper mines in the Eastern Desert.
Sources:
Kamil, Jill. 1984, 1996. The Ancient Egyptians: Life in the
Old Kingdom. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
Manley, Bill. 1996. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt. London: Penguin Books.
Midant-Reynes, Béatrix. 1992. The Prehistory of Egypt: From the first Egyptians to the first pharaohs. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.
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Nekhen is north of Edfu, and is a large village with large cemetaries on the western side of the Nile. It has become a cult center for Horus. Like Naqada, it has connections to the the Kharga Oasis, and to the gold found in the Eastern Desert.
Sources:
Kamil, Jill. 1984, 1996. The Ancient Egyptians: Life in the
Old Kingdom. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
Midant-Reynes, Béatrix. 1992. The Prehistory of Egypt: From the first Egyptians to the first pharaohs. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.
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Thinis is a cult center for the lionness Matit. Manetho said that Thinis was the capital of the first two dynasties.
Sources:
Kamil, Jill. 1984, 1996. The Ancient Egyptians: Life in the
Old Kingdom. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
Midant-Reynes, Béatrix. 1992. The Prehistory of Egypt: From the first Egyptians to the first pharaohs. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.
Websites:
"The Temple of Abydos." Available at http://perso.infonie.fr/sethy/Abydosa.html
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