Heracleopolis Magna

Heracleopolis Magna is the modern name for an ancient Egyptian city located in the Beni Suef governorate, known in Egyptian as the capital of the 20th nome of Upper Egypt. It became politically important during the First Intermediate Period when local rulers controlled parts of Middle and Upper Egypt.

Archaeological remains at the site include temple foundations, mudbrick structures and tombs that reflect occupation from the Old Kingdom through later periods. The city served as a regional administrative and religious centre in antiquity and features remains associated with local cults and provincial governance.

Heracleopolis lies on the west bank of the Nile in Middle Egypt, within the modern Beni Suef area approximately a few dozen kilometres north of the modern city of Beni Suef and roughly 100 kilometres south of Cairo. The surrounding landscape is Nile floodplain with cultivated fields and desert to the west.