Damanhur Tourist Attractions

Some 13mi/21km southeast of Damanhur, near the village of El-Nebira on the left bank of the old Canopic arm of the Nile, are two mounds, the Kom el-Gief and the Kom el-Nikrash, with the scanty remains of the old Greek trading town of Naucratis. Founded in the time of the 26th Dynasty by Greek settlers from Miletus, it was granted the monopoly of trade with Greece in the reign of Amasis and became capital of the fifth (Saite) nome of Lower Egypt. Until the foundation of Alexandria it was the center of trade between Greece and Egypt, and was also noted for the manufacture of faience. Its temples were mostly dedicated to Greek divinities, but it also had shrines of Amun and Thoth.

14mi/22km farther south from Damanhur, near the village of Tod, is the Kom el-Hisn, a mound of rubble which marks the site of Imu, the "House of the Mistress of the Trees", which under the New Kingdom displaced Hutihit (the site of which has not yet been located) as capital of the third nome of Lower Egypt. Excavations here have brought to light the enclosure wall of a temple complex measuring 125yd/115m by 70yd/64m, probably dedicated to Sakhmet-Hathor, and several tombs of the Middle and New Kingdoms, notable for the number of weapons included in the grave goods.