Atfih
Atfih (' pron, Tpeh or Tpēh) is a town in Middle Egypt. It was part of the now defunct Helwan Governorate from April 2008 to April 2011, after which it was reincorporated into the Giza Governorate. It speaks Saʽidi Arabic
Atfih
- Name
- Atfih أطفيح
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Atfih. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Atfih أطفيح • Settlement Type — Town • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Egypt • Subdivision Type1 — Governorate • Subdivision Name1 — Giza • Unit Pref — Imperial • Population As Of — 2001 • Population Total — 106300 • Population Blank1 Title — Ethnicities • Timezone — EET • Utc Offset — +2 • Timezone Dst — EEST • Utc Offset Dst — +3
Etymology
Etymology
D1:Z1-E1-X1*Z2:O49 The name is derived from Ancient Egyptian Tp-jhw, meaning the first of the cows, referring to Hathor. The name became Petpeh in Coptic, from which the Arabic version Atfih (أطفيح) is derived. The city was also known in Greco-Roman Egypt as Aphroditopolis.
Location
Location
Atfih is located in the area of ancient Maten, Upper Egypt's northernmost nome.
Ancient history
Ancient history
Atfih was known as Per-nebet tep-ihu in antiquity and Busiris (Aphroditopolis) to the Romans. Some of the Ancient Egyptian monuments discovered in the town include an animal necropolis, Greco-Roman tombs, and sepulchers of cows in huge limestone tombs. About 17 km North was found the Tomb of 'Ip, who lived around 2000 BC. in Atfih.
Hesateum
Hesateum
"Hesateum" (in analogy of the "Serapeaum" at Saqqara") was a necropolis of sacred cows of the goddess Hesat. Sixteen animal tombs of the Ptolemaic Period have survived.
Modern history
Modern history
On 1 March 2011, the town's core in Atfih saw skirmishes between some Muslim and Christian people because of an alleged affair between a young Coptic Christian and a Muslim girl. When some people tried to blame the girl's father, a brawl started and ended by killing the girl's father and one of his relatives. An outrage arose on March 4 and Muslims of the town went to the church of the two martyrs and set it on fire. Hence on March 8, the Christians demonstrated in front of Maspiro television building demanding that the church should be built in the same place and Christians should be returned to their homes in the town safely. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf visited them to calm the situation and the priest Mtawos Wahba has been released. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces pledged to rebuild the church. Some of religious, political and public figures have intervened to calm the situation, including the Islamic scholar Sheikh Mohamed Hassan, and the Islamic preacher Amr Khaled.
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Atfih, revision 1335638631 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 September 2026.
Elsewhere in General
22,760 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- AtchamPlace
- AtchisonPlace
- Atelier 17Organisation
- Ateneo de Manila UniversityOrganisation
- AthabascaPlace
- AthagadPlace
- Athénée de LuxembourgOrganisation
- Athénée Robert CatteauOrganisation
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Atfih?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.