# Buto

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Archaeological site in Egypt

This article is about the Egyptian city Buto. For other uses, see [Buto (disambiguation)](/source/Buto_(disambiguation)).

"Per-Wadjet" redirects here. For the village in Upper Egypt, see [Per-Wadjet (Upper Egypt)](/source/Per-Wadjet_(Upper_Egypt)).

Buto Βουτώ (Ancient Greek) View of Buto Interactive map of Buto 31°11′47″N 30°44′41″E / 31.19639°N 30.74472°E / 31.19639; 30.74472 Type Settlement Location Desouk,Egypt Region Lower Egypt Site notes Condition In ruins

**Buto** ([Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language): Βουτώ, [Arabic](/source/Arabic_language): بوتو, *Butu*),[1] **Bouto**, **Butus** (Ancient Greek: Βοῦτος, *Boutos*)[2] or **Butosus** was a city that the Ancient Egyptians called **Per-Wadjet**. It was located 95 km east of [Alexandria](/source/Alexandria) in the [Nile Delta](/source/Nile_Delta) of [Egypt](/source/Egypt). What in classical times the Greeks called Buto, stood about midway between the Taly ([Bolbitine](/source/Nile_Delta)) and Thermuthiac ([Sebennytic](/source/Sebennytic)) branches of the Nile, a few kilometers north of the east-west Butic River and on the southern shore of the Butic Lake ([Greek](/source/Greek_language): Βουτικὴ λίμνη, *Boutikē limnē*).[3][4]

Today, it is called **Tell El Fara'in** ("Hill of the Pharaohs"), near the villages of **Ibtu** (or **Abtu**), **Kom Butu**, and the city of **[Desouk](/source/Desouk)** ([Arabic](/source/Arabic_language): دسوق).[5]

## History

Buto was a sacred site in dedication to the goddess [Wadjet](/source/Wadjet).[6] It was an important cultural site during [prehistoric Egypt](/source/Prehistoric_Egypt) (before 3100 BCE).

The [Buto-Maadi culture](/source/Buto-Maadi_culture) was the most important [Lower Egyptian](/source/Lower_Egypt) prehistoric culture, dating from 4000–3500 BC,[7] and contemporary with [Naqada I and II](/source/Naqada_culture) phases in [Upper Egypt](/source/Upper_Egypt). The culture was best known from the site [Maadi](/source/Maadi) near Cairo,[8] but was also attested in many other places in the Delta to the Faiyum region. This culture was marked by development in architecture and technology.

The culture of Buto was strongly marked by Levantine influences, in particular in the area of ceramics.[9] [Decorative fired clay cones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vorderasiatisches_Museum_Berlin_-_Habuba_Kabira_01.jpg) from Buto, used to make mosaics, were similar to those found in Mesopotamia at [Uruk](/source/Uruk).[9]

Archaeological evidence shows that the Upper Egyptian Naqada culture replaced the Buto-Maadi culture (also known as the "Lower Egyptian Cultural Complex"), perhaps after a conquest. More recently, scholars have expressed reservations about this; they pointed out that, in the Delta, there was a considerable transitional phase.[10]

The unification of [Lower Egypt](/source/Lower_Egypt) and Upper Egypt into one entity is now considered to be a more complex process than previously thought.[11]

### Earliest texts

An illustration of [Wadjet](/source/Wadjet) based on depictions in tombs.

In the earliest records about the region, it contained two cities, **Pe** and **Dep**.[12] Eventually, they merged into one city that the Ancient Egyptians named **Per-Wadjet**.[13]

The goddess [Wadjet](/source/Wadjet) was the patron deity of Lower Egypt and her [oracle](/source/Oracle) was located in her renowned temple in this area. An annual festival was held there that celebrated Wadjet. The area also contained sanctuaries of [Horus](/source/Horus) and [Bast](/source/Bastet), and much later, the city became associated with [Isis](/source/Isis).

Due to similarities, many deities had parallel identities and roles and merged into a unified pantheon of deities. That was not the case with patron deities, however. The patron deity of Lower Egypt, [Wadjet](/source/Wadjet), was represented as a [cobra](/source/Cobra). The patron deity of Upper Egypt, [Nekhbet](/source/Nekhbet), was depicted as a [white vulture](/source/White_vulture). Their separate cultural statures were such essential features that they never merged when the two cultures unified. There were so many deities with similar roles or natures from the religious beliefs of the two unified regions. The two goddesses became known euphemistically as the [Two Ladies](/source/Two_Ladies),[14] who together, remained the patrons of unified Egypt throughout the remainder of its ancient history. The image of Nekhbet joined Wadjet on the [uraeus](/source/Uraeus) encircling the crown of the kings who ruled Egypt after that.

### Ptolemaic period

During the [Ptolemaic Kingdom](/source/Ptolemaic_Kingdom), a Greek-speaking dynasty that ruled from 305 to 30 BCE, the Greeks coined the toponym *Buto* for the city. It served as the capital, or according to Herodian, merely the principal village of the Delta. Herodotus styled it the [Chemmite nome](/source/Nome_(Egypt)#Upper_Egypt),[2] [Ptolemy](/source/Ptolemy) knew it as the Phthenothite [nome](/source/Nome_(Egypt)) (Φθενότης),[15] and [Pliny the Elder](/source/Pliny_the_Elder) as Ptenetha.[16]

Greek historians recorded that Buto was celebrated for its monolithic temple and the oracle of the [goddess](/source/Ancient_Egyptian_deities) Wadjet (Buto),[17][18] and a yearly festival was held there in honour of the goddess. While writing about Egyptian culture, the classical Greeks attempted to associate the more ancient Egyptian deities with their own, a process called the [interpretatio graeca](/source/Interpretatio_graeca). They wrote about them as essentially the same deities but with different names in Greek culture. For Wadjet, the parallel identification was made with [Leto](/source/Leto) or [Latona](/source/Latona). They also noted that at Buto, there was a sanctuary of [Horus](/source/Horus), whom the Greeks associated with [Apollo](/source/Apollo), and a sanctuary of [Bastet](/source/Bastet), who the Greeks associated with [Artemis](/source/Artemis).[19]

Writing during that Graeco-Roman period, [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch) reported that Isis had entrusted the baby Horus to "Leto" (Wadjet) to raise at Buto while Isis searched for the body of her murdered husband [Osiris](/source/Osiris).[20] According to these same late sources, the [shrew](/source/Shrew) (sometimes associated with Horus) was worshiped at Buto as well.[21]

## Archeology

A palace building dating to the Second Dynasty is considered one of the most important discoveries within Buto.[22] Archaeological excavations were undertaken at Buto by the [Egypt Exploration Society](/source/Egypt_Exploration_Society) from 1964–1969, under the direction of [Veronica Seton-Williams](/source/Veronica_Seton-Williams)[23] and later, by [Dorothy Charlesworth](/source/Dorothy_Charlesworth).[24] The German Archaeological Institute, Cairo has been excavating at Buto since the early 1980s. Six Greek bathhouses also were excavated by different missions in Buto.[25]

In 2022, excavations over an area of 6.5m x 4.5m uncovered the remains of an ancient hall lined with pillars within the larger temple structure. The hall contained the remains of three surviving columns, aligned on a north-south axis at the southwestern end of the temple. A number of stone fragments decorated with engravings where found, as well as numerous ceramics and pottery associated with ritual activity.[6] In a press release issued by the [Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities](/source/Ministry_of_Tourism_and_Antiquities), archaeologists also found a limestone painting with the representation of a bird’s head wearing a white crown surrounded by feathers.[26]

## See also

- [Egypt portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Egypt)
- [History portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:History)

- [List of ancient Egyptian towns and cities](/source/List_of_ancient_Egyptian_towns_and_cities)

- [Diocese of Buto](/source/Diocese_of_Buto) for ecclesiastical history and current titular sees

- [Kafr El Sheikh Governorate](/source/Kafr_El_Sheikh_Governorate)

- [Sais, Egypt](/source/Sais%2C_Egypt)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Stephanus of Byzantium](/source/Stephanus_of_Byzantium).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-her_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-her_2-1) [Herodotus](/source/Herodotus) ii. 59, 63, 155.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Strabo](/source/Strabo) xvii. p. 802.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Wilson, John A. (October 1955). "Buto and Hierakonpolis in the Geography of Egypt". *Journal of Near Eastern Studies*. **14** (4). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press: 209–236. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1086/371289](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F371289). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [543019](https://www.jstor.org/stable/543019). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [129238547](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:129238547).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Wilkinson, R. H. (2000). [*The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt*](https://archive.org/details/completetemplesa00wilk_507). Thames & Hudson. p. [104](https://archive.org/details/completetemplesa00wilk_507/page/n104). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780500051009](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780500051009).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-None_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-None_6-1) ["Ancient temple remains uncovered on "Hill of the Pharaohs""](https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/11/ancient-temple-remains-uncovered-on-hill-of-the-pharaohs/145242). *Heritage Daily*. November 16, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Buto – Maadi Culture.](https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/maadi/) ancientegyptonline.co.uk

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Maadi_8-0)** [Maadi.](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/neolithic/maadi.html) University College London

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-YT_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-YT_9-1) Tristant, Yann; Midant-Reynes, Béatrix (2011). "The Predynastic Cultures of the Nile Delta". [*Before the pyramids: the origins of Egyptian civilization; \[publ. in conjunction with the Exhibition Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization, March 28 - December 31, 2011\]*](https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/oimp33.pdf) (PDF). Chicago, Ill: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. p. 50. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-885923-82-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-885923-82-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [Buto – Maadi Culture.](https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/maadi/) ancientegyptonline.co.uk

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Carol A. Redmount, [Lower Egypt.](http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com/article/opr/t176/e0420) The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Strabo, XVII., i., 18

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [Webpage for Buto](http://www.dainst.org/index_511801f4bb1f14a187010017f0000011_en.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110215085458/http://www.dainst.org/index_511801f4bb1f14a187010017f0000011_en.html#) 2011-02-15 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), modern Tell El Fara'in at the website of the [German Archaeological Institute](/source/German_Archaeological_Institute).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (1999). *Early Dynastic Egypt*. Routledge. p. 292.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** [Ptolemy](/source/Ptolemy), iv. 5. § 48.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [Pliny the Elder](/source/Pliny_the_Elder) v. 9. s. 11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Herodotus ii. 155

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Aelian. *V. Hist.* ii. 41

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [Champollion](/source/Champollion), *l'Egypte*, vol. ii. p. 227.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch), [*de Iside et Osiride*](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Isis_and_Osiris*/home.html) 18, 38, in the *[Moralia](/source/Moralia)* V:26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Herod. ii. 67.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["Projekt - Dainst"](https://www.dainst.org/projekt/-/project-display/63537). *www.dainst.org*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Seton-Williams, M.V. (1988). *The Road to El-Aguzein*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["1969 Tell el-Fara'in | Artefacts of Excavation"](http://egyptartefacts.griffith.ox.ac.uk/excavations/1969-tell-el-fara). *egyptartefacts.griffith.ox.ac.uk*. Retrieved 2019-05-21.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Hossam Mohamd Ghonim (2020): Bathing like a Greek, in: Egyptian Archaeology, 56, Spring 2020, pp. 16-20

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** ["Unearthing the remains of the Column Hall of the Temple of Bot in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate"](https://mota.gov.eg/ar/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88-%D8%A8%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B8%D8%A9-%D9%83%D9%81%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%AE/). *Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities*. November 16, 2022.

## External links

- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): [Smith, William](/source/William_Smith_(lexicographer)), ed. (1854–1857). "Butos". *[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography](/source/Dictionary_of_Greek_and_Roman_Geography)*. London: John Murray.

- Media related to [Buto](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Buto) at Wikimedia Commons

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Buto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buto) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buto?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.