It is
certain, however, that this temple, which is clearly one of the oldest
in Egypt, goes back at least to his time. Its site is the mound
called Kom es-Sultan, "The Mound of the King," close to the village of
el-Kherba, and on the borders of the cultivation northeast of the royal
tombs at Umm el-Oa'ab.
Of royal palaces we have more definite information. North of the Kom
es-Sultan are two great fortress-enclosures of brick: the one is known
as _Sunet es-Zebib_, "the Storehouse of Dried Orapes;" the other is
occupied by the Coptic monastery of Der Anba Musas. Both are certainly
fortress-palaces of the earliest period of the Egyptian monarchy. We
know from the small record-plaques of this period that the kings were
constantly founding or repairing places of this kind, which were always
great rectangular enclosures with crenelated brick walls like those of
early Babylonian buildings.
We have seen that the Northern Egyptian possessed similar
fortress-cities which were captured by Narmer. These were the seats of
the royal residence in various parts of the country. Behind their walls
was the king's house, and no doubt also a town of nobles and retainers,
while the peasants lived on the arable land without.
[Illustration: 089.jpg THE SHUNET EZ-ZEBIB: THE FORTRESS-TOWN, About
3900 B.C.]
The Shunet ez-Zebib and its companion fortress were evidently the royal
cities of the 1st and IId Dynasties at Abydos.
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