Atet (Itet)(fl. 26th century B.C.E.) Royal woman of the
Fourth Dynasty
She was a wife of Prince NEFERMA’AT, son of SNEFRU
(2575–2551 B.C.E.) and Princess NEFERKAU. She was pos-
sibly related to Neferma’at by birth. Their son, HEMIUNU,
was vizier for KHUFU(Cheops, r. 2551–2528 B.C.E.). She
was buried with Prince Neferma’at in MEIDUM. The
famous beautiful reliefs depicting geese were discovered
in Atet’s tomb. Other paintings portrayed pets, sacred
birds, and children. In some lists she is called Itet.
Athenaeus(fl. fourth century B.C.E.)General in the
army of Antigonus I Monophthalmus who opposed Egypt
He was a rival of PTOLEMY I SOTER(304–284 B.C.E.) and
competed with him for domination after the death of
ALEXANDER III THE GREAT. In 312 B.C.E., Athenaeus led
4,600 men into the region of the Nabataeans to impose
an economic blockade against Egypt and to halt their
flow of bitumen, used in mummification. Athenaeus
raided Nabataea during a festival in which the men gath-
ered at a place called “the Rock,” believed to be Petra. He
captured or killed many attending the festival and made
off with hundreds of camels, silver, frankincense, and
myrrh. The Greeks, however, were attacked by the
Nabataeans soon after, and Athenaeus lost his infantry
and several cavalry units. When the Nabataeans wrote
ANTIGONUS I MONOPHTHALMUSto protest the Greek inva-
sion, he declared that General Athenaeus had acted on
his own.
Athribis (Sohag, Tell Atrib) Asite in the western
Delta, northeast of BENHAon the Damietta branch of the
Nile, now Tell Atrib, the Egyptians called the city Hut-
hery-ib, the cult center of Kem-wer, “the Great Black
One,” a BULLdeity. Khenti-kheti, or Horus-Khentikheti,
was worshiped at Athribis. The city was probably
founded in the Fourth Dynasty (2575–2465 B.C.E.) and
maintained by later royal lines. Monuments from the
Twelfth Dynasty (1991–1783 B.C.E.) are at Athribis, as
well as a temple erected by AMENHOTEP III(r. 1391–1353
B.C.E.) and another by AMASIS (r. 570–526 B.C.E.). The
tomb of Queen TAKHAT(3), consort of PSAMMETICHUS II(r.
595–589 B.C.E.), was also discovered at the site. One of
the city’s priests, AMENHOTEP,SON OF HAPU, achieved last-
ing fame in Egypt.
Athribis Stela Amonument erected in the reign of
MERENPTAH (1224–1214 B.C.E.), the son and heir of
RAMESSES II, this stela, along with the Cairo Column and
an inscription discovered in KARNAK, recounts the mili-
tary challenges facing Merenptah when he took the
throne of Egypt. The Libyans and their allies, who hoped
to invade Egypt, were defeated by Merenptah at Per-yer
in the Delta.
Atika This was a region in the SINAIPeninsula, possibly
a people as well, mentioned in the Great HARRIS PAPYRUS.
The copper mines in the area were exploited by Egyp-
tians, and in the reign of RAMESSES III(1194–1163 B.C.E.)
bars of copper in “the tens of thousands” were loaded
onto a royal galley for delivery to Egypt.
See also EGYPTIAN NATURAL RESOURCES.Atum (Tem, Tum) One of the earliest deities in
Egypt, an earth god also called Tem and Tum, Atum
existed alone in the beginning of time, floating inert in
the watery chaos of NUNor Nu. A self-generating deity,
capable also of self-impregnation, his name meant “Com-
pleted One.” Atum rose alone on the site of his temple at
HELIOPOLIS.
A Twentieth Dynasty (1196–1070 B.C.E.) papyrus
that was copied in the Ptolemaic Period (332–30 B.C.E.)
states that Atum evolved alone, coming out of the chaos
of Nun. He sired the deities SHUand TEFNUT. They cre-
ated GEBand NUT, who begat OSIRIS,ISIS,SET, and NEPH-
THYS. These gods formed the ENNEAD of Heliopolis,
joined by HORUSor RÉ. For this reason Atum was called
“the plural of the plural.”
During the Old Kingdom (2575–2134 B.C.E.), Atum
was associated with the cult of Ré, worshiped as Atum-
Ré. He was depicted as a man wearing the double crown
of Egypt and carrying a royal scepter and the ANKH.Atum
was a form of the god Ré as the setting sun, and he also
appeared as a mongoose. The creator of all of the Nile
deities, Atum was later associated with cults of PTAHand
then Osiris.Augustus (Octavian)(d. 14 C.E.) First emperor of the
Roman Empire and the first to rule over Egypt
He held Egypt as a special province from 30 B.C.E. until
his death. He was born Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in
63 B.C.E. and was the great nephew and adopted son and
heir of Julius CAESAR. When Caesar was assassinated in
44 B.C.E., Octavian, as he was called then, allied himself
with Marc ANTONYand Lepidus in the ensuing civil war
against his uncle’s murderers, Brutus, Cassius, and the so-
called Liberators.
The political alliance between Octavian and Antony
collapsed in 31 B.C.E., and Octavian, aided by Marcus
AGRIPPAand others, set out to destroy Marc Antony and
CLEOPATRA VII (51–30 B.C.E.). Winning the battle of
ACTIUM, Octavian occupied ALEXANDRIAand watched the
suicides of Egypt’s last queen-pharaoh, Cleopatra VII, and
Marc Antony. He refused to honor the APIS BULL in
SAQQARAand the mummies of ancient pharaohs. Report-
edly he did touch the body of ALEXANDER III THE GREAT,
causing a piece of the preserved nose to fall off the body.
Augustus did tour the Nile Valley, and he started pro-
grams of repair on the irrigation system, using Roman
troops to make the necessary changes.Augustus 59