Description : Antinopolis (Antinoöpolis, Antinoopolis, Antinoë); (Ancient Greek: Ἀντινόου πόλις; Coptic: ⲁⲛⲧⲓⲛⲱⲟⲩ Antinow; modern Sheikh 'Ibada) was a city founded at an older Egyptian village by the Roman emperor Hadrian to commemorate his deified young beloved, Antinous, on the east bank of the Nile, not far from the site in Upper Egypt where Antinous drowned in 130 AD. Antinopolis was a little to the south of the Egyptian village of Besa (Βῆσσα), named after the goddess and oracle of Besa, which was consulted occasionally even as late as the age of Constantine I. Antinopolis was built at the foot of the hill upon which Besa was seated. The city is located nearly opposite of Hermopolis Magna, and was connected to Berenice Troglodytica by the Via Hadriana.
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