Summary

• Heliopolis, meaning “City of the Sun,” was one of ancient Egypt’s most revered and sacred cities, deeply rooted in solar worship and mythological heritage.
• Located in modern-day Ain Shams, Cairo, it served as a spiritual hub for the cults of Ra and Atum and became a global center of astronomy, philosophy, and theology.
• Its grandeur influenced Greek and Roman culture, notably through its colossal obelisks, including the famed Bennu bird myth symbolizing rebirth.
• From its monumental Temple of Ra-Atum to its role in early religious monotheism and connections to biblical prophecies, Heliopolis profoundly shaped ancient belief systems.
• Though much of its splendor has vanished, discoveries like Senusret I’s standing obelisk and the massive statue of Psamtik I continue to illuminate its unmatched historical, religious, and cultural legacy.

Heliopolis was one of the most sacred cities in the history of Egypt, which holds the power to showcase the ethereal and powerful force of the gods who provided the city with an unlimited supply of grace and beauty. The City of Two Tales has had a significant influence on the cultural and intellectual spectrum of Egypt for many ages. The heritage of the city of Heliopolis extends from the days of the Old Kingdom to the Hellenistic period.

The city of the sun had deep roots in the religious atmosphere of Egypt as it held the worship cult center for the gods of Ra and Atum, who were mainly connected to the sun. Heliopolis is a place of origin for many creatures and stories in the ancient Egyptian mythos. It was one of the biggest and most famous centers for theology and learning in the world, with priests transforming the city into a place dedicated to the study of ancient Egyptian astronomy and philosophy.

The art of this golden city has lived on as Greek and Roman cultures were influenced by the beauty and the hidden meaning behind its colossal obelisks that resembled the creation mound where the world was created and the bennu or phoenix was reborn from its ashe,s which would explain why it was called the city of pillars.

Location of the Golden Sun City of Heliopolis

The ancient city of the sun, “Heliopolis,” rests beneath the streets of middle- and lower-class suburbs in northern Cairo, specifically in Al-Matariyyah, Ain Shams, and Tel Al-Hisn, lying approximately 15-20 meters below the surface. It’s situated about 1.5 kilometers to the west of the modern-day suburb that bears its name.

Names of the Celestial Golden City of Heliopolis

The name Heliopolis was derived from the Greek “Hēlioúpolis” which means “City of the Sun,” It was a place where the Greeks associated their sun god “Helios” with the ancient Egyptian gods Ra and Atum. This city had its native name as “iwnw” meaning “The Pillars,” although its precise pronunciation remains uncertain due to the limited consonantal information provided in ancient Egyptian records.

In Egyptology, it’s typically transcribed as Iunu. Variations in transcriptions include Awnu and Annu, and the name has persisted in the Coptic language as ŌN. Furthermore, this city is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts as the “House of Ra.”

The Magnificent History of the Mythical Cities of Heliopolis

Heliopolis held significant regional importance dating back to predynastic times. It was primarily recognized as the center of worship for the sun god “Atum” who later became associated with Ra and Horus. The main temple in the city was titled the Great House or the Golden House of Atum, and was a place where priests revered Atum or Ra as the first original being who rose as a self-created celestial entity from the primordial waters of BEN-BEN.

While Ra’s cult diminished in importance in Dynasty V, which led to the creation of the Ennead, which was headed by Ra and Atum. High priests of Ra during Dynasty VI have been located through excavations.

Pharaoh Akhenaten in the Amarna Period called for a form of religious revolution in the shape of henotheistic “Monotheistic” worship, which centered around Aten “the sacred solar disc”. He constructed a magnificent Heliopolitan temple called the “Elevating Aten,” some remnants of which can be witnessed today at the wall gates of medieval Cairo. Heliopolis also hosted the cult of the magnificent Mnevis bull, which is known to be another representation of the Sun, with its formal burial grounds located in the northern part of the city.

During the Hellenistic period, Alexander the Great made a stop in Heliopolis on his journey from the great city of Pelusium to the ancient capitals of Memphis. The Temple of Ra served as a repository for many important royal documents & records and was known for having the most knowledgeable priests in Egyptian history, according to Herodotus. Heliopolis thrived as a center of learning and theology during the Greek period, with philosophers like Orpheus, Homer, Plato, Pythagoras, Solon, and others reportedly attending its schools of astronomy and philosophy.

In 308 BC, the great scholar Ichonuphys was studying and lecturing there, and Eudoxus the Greek mathematician was taught by him about the correct length of both the year and month, which he used to develop his octaeterid. Ptolemy II tasked the chief priest of Heliopolis with compiling a history of Egypt’s ancient kings from the city’s archives. However, as Greek rulers favored the Serapis cult and Alexandria overshadowed Heliopolis in terms of learning, the city’s importance declined, and it eventually became deserted by the first century BC, as observed and documented by Strabo.

In Roman times in Egypt, it was part of the Augustamnica province and was known as Heliopolis in Augustamnica to distinguish it from Roman Heliopolis. It was well-documented by ancient geographers, including Ptolemy, Herodotus, and others. The population likely had a significant Arabian presence. Various of the city’s obelisks were transported to adorn cities in the Delta region and especially Rome, with two of them eventually becoming Cleopatra’s Needle in London and its twin found in New York’s Central Park.

During the Islamic Rule in the Middle Ages, the honorable cities of Fustat the city of tents and Cairo the city of minarets & wonder grew nearby as the dominant cities and the future capitals, Heliopolis’s ruins were extensively scavenged and transported for the building and the construction of the many city walls that we can see today. The current location of the city has earned the names “Eye of the Sun” (Ain Shams) and “Arab al-Ḥiṣn”.

Discover the Epic Mythology of the Immortal City of Heliopolis

Atum was the primordial god and the main deity of the city, along with the sun god Ra. Atum took on the appearance of an elderly man, signifying the setting sun. Heliopolis was home to numerous sanctuaries, each dedicated to the primary deities of the Egyptian pantheon, and some even honored lesser-known gods like Sepa, the centipede god responsible for the flooding. It’s quite fascinating to observe how the passage of time has eroded much of this site’s historical riches over the centuries.

Much like how people worshiped Atum and Ra, it’s likely that the Bennu bird or the Phoenix held a special place in their hearts at the cult center in Heliopolis. This divine bird also made appearances on amulets shaped like scarab beetles that served as a symbol of rebirth. The grand sun god, revered in various forms such as Kephri, who symbolized the rising sun, and the hawk-headed Horakhty, who was a fusion of the midday sun with Horus of the Horizon, was a central figure in this worship.

Cast Your Eyes on the Majestic Ruins of Heliopolis

The area surrounding the Atum-Ra doesn’t hold many grand ancient relics at the current moment, as most were taken away by the Greeks and the Romans, but archaeological excavations and new discoveries have uncovered tombs, particularly those of priests of Re. Near Senusrets monument, there’s a small open-air museum, displaying a quartzite obelisk from Egypt’s 6th Dynasty and the base of another obelisk dating to the 18th Dynasty.

Various objects like inscribed blocks and statues from different periods have been found in the area. To the north at Arab al-Tawil, there are the burial places of Mnevis bulls that have been excavated, though they are less grand than the Serapeeum, where Apis bulls were buried. To the south and east, numerous Saite period tombs have been uncovered. Inside the western section of the perimeter wall running alongside the Tawfiqiya canal, systematic excavations have revealed ruins of workshops, dwellings, and a temple complex that date back to the New Kingdom.

A number of amazing architectural elements have been discovered that include the temples of Ramesses II and Ramesses IV, as well as a significant granite column of King Meneptah. Although Heliopolis may not match the grandeur of sites like Karnak, ongoing work and advancements in technology may reveal more of its ancient history in the future. The site is gradually becoming a tourist destination as it is filled with marvelous statues and the “Tree of the Virgin” associated with the Virgin Mary’s legend during her time in Egypt.

The Epic Legacy of the Shining City of Heliopolis

The fascinating legacy of Heliopolis, with its strong devotion to the sun, has left a profound impact on both ancient Egyptian traditions and modern monotheistic religions. In the realm of classical mythology, there was a belief that the bennu bird or as known in the western world as the phoenix, would transport the remains and ruins of its previous predecessor to the great sun god of Atum-Ra sacred altar in Heliopolis during each rebirth from its ashes. Heliopolis finds its presence in the Hebrew Bible as well, often associated with its significant pagan worship.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied that the “City of the Sun” would be among the Egyptian cities to turn towards the Lord of Heaven’s forces. The prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah made mention of the Temple or House of the Sun, foretelling that Nebuchadnezzar II of the empire of Neo-Babylonian would lay waste to its gigantic obelisks and set its temple ablaze, with its misguided young men meeting a tragic fate. The popular “Syrian Heliopolis” in Baalbek is believed to have embraced its grand solar cult from a tribe of priests who migrated from Egypt.

The Incredible Current State of Heliopolis

In the present day, the city acts as onw of the most magical open air museum on the face of the earth as it is filled with some fragments of ancient great city walls, constructed from basic bricks which still endure in the vast open fields, and a small number of granite blocks inscribed with the name of Pharaoh Ramesses the great which have also stood the test of time.

The location of the magnificent Temple of Ra-Atum is recognized by the majestic obelisk of Al-Masalla. In 2004, archaeologists embarked on excavations of a number of its priceless tombs, and in 2017, they made an exciting discovery as they unearthed and explored parts of a gigantic statue that belonged to Pharaoh Psamtik I.

Explore All the Amazing Facts about Heliopolis

• Heliopolis has always been known to be a shining golden city that acted as a powerful capital of the 13th Nome or district of Lower Egypt.
• It held great religious significance as a center for the ancient Egyptian gods and some mythical creatures. It is situated in present-day Ain Shams, which is found in the northeastern section of Cairo.
• This city’s roots date back to the times of prehistoric Egypt, where it flourished greatly during the Old Kingdom (2700 – 2200) and Middle Kingdom (2040 – 1782 BC).
• But in the current moment, much of Heliopolis has been lost across the waves of time, with its temples and structures repurposed for the construction of most of the buildings during medieval Cairo.
• Our entire tales and full understanding of this ancient city mostly rely on surviving historical records from the Old and Middle Kingdoms.
• The most remarkable relic found in Heliopolis is the major obelisk from the Grand Temple of Ra-Atum, which was created during the reign of Senusret I of the Twelfth Dynasty.
• This gigantic 21-meter (69-foot) tall obelisk was crafted from red granite and weighed a staggering 120 tons (240,000 lbs), which is still found standing in its original location within an area which is now known as Al-Masalla in El Matareya.
• This obelisk is known to be the world’s oldest surviving one. It is known that the Romans transported another obelisk known as “the Obelisk of Montecitorio or Solare” from Heliopolis to Rome during that the roman at the time of Augustus.
• Also, two smaller obelisks known as Cleopatra’s Needles can be found in London in 1877 on the banks of the Thames and in New York in Central Park in 1879, both originally hailing from the shining city of Heliopolis.