Thebes

Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located along the Nile about 800 kilometers south of the Mediterranean [1]. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor [1]. Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome and was the capital of Egypt for long periods during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom eras [1]. The site of Thebes includes areas on both the eastern bank of the Nile, where the temples of Karnak and Luxor stand and where the city was situated; and the western bank, where a necropolis of large private and royal cemeteries and funerary complexes can be found [1]. Thebes was inhabited from around 3200 BC [1]. Ahmose I founded a new age for a unified Egypt with Thebes as its capital [1]. Thebes was home to several major monuments of ancient Egypt including the temples of Luxor and Karnak, along with the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens [1].