Hurbayt (Arabic: هربيط) is a town in Sharqia Governorate of Egypt.

Hurbayt
هربيط
ⲫⲁⲣⲃⲁⲓⲧ
Hurbayt is located in Egypt
Hurbayt
Hurbayt
Location in Egypt
Coordinates: 30°44′4.79″N 31°37′14.87″E / 30.7346639°N 31.6207972°E / 30.7346639; 31.6207972
Country Egypt
GovernorateSharqia
Time zoneUTC+2 (EST)

It's an ancient town referred to in a stele of the 7th century BC,[1] and described by Herodotus,[2] Strabo,[3] and Pliny.[4]

It served as the capital of the nome of Pharbaethites/Lapt in Lower Egypt.[5][1]

Etymology

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The town's Arabic name comes from Coptic Pharbait (Coptic: ⲫⲁⲣⲃⲁⲓⲧ), which in turn is derived from Ancient Egyptian: Pr-Ḥrw-mr.ty, lit.'house of the two eyed Horus'.[6] It was also known as Sheten (Ancient Egyptian: Štꜣn).[7]

In Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt it was known as Pharbaithos (Ancient Greek: Φάρβαιθος) or Pharbaethus. This name is reproduced under the form Karbeuthos in George of Cyprus.[8]

Ecclesiastical history

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The original diocese was a suffragan of Leontopolis, in Augustamnica Secunda, Egypt.

There is a record of Bishop Arbetion at Nicæa in 325,[9] and Bishop Theodorus in 1086,[10] but it is possible that the latter was bishop of another Pharbætus situated further to the west, and which according to Vansleb was equally a Coptic see. John of Nikiu[11] relates that under the Emperor Phocas (602–10) the clerics of the province killed the Greek governor Theophilus.

It remains a Roman Catholic titular see under the name Pharbaetus.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Eugène Revillout, "Acte de fondation d'une chapelle à Hor-Merti dans la ville de Pharbaetus", Revue Égyptologique, 2:1:32 (1881) full text
  2. ^ II, 166.
  3. ^ XVII, i, 20.
  4. ^ Natural History V, 9, 11.
  5. ^ Karl Baedeker, Egypt: handbook for travellers : part first, lower Egypt..., 1885 (2nd edition), p. 33. full text
  6. ^ Peust, Carsten. "Die Toponyme vorarabischen Ursprungs im modernen Ägypten" (PDF). pp. 48–49.
  7. ^ Johnson, Janet H., ed. (2001). The Demotic dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Chicago: The Oriental Institute. p. 233.
  8. ^ "Descriptio orbis romani", ed. Gelzer, 706.
  9. ^ Gelzer, "Patrum nicænorum nomina", LX.
  10. ^ Renaudot, "Historia patriarcharum alexandrinorum", 458.
  11. ^ Chronicle, CV.

Sources

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Attribution
  •   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainHerbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pharbætus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:
    • Heinrich Gelzer, Georgii Cyprii Descriptio orbis romani, 114–16;
    • ROUGÉ, Géographie ancienne de la Basse Egypte (Paris, 1891), 66–74;
    • Émile Amélineau, La Géographie de l'Egypte à l' époque copte (Paris, 1893), 330.