Suleb
Suleb is on the west bank of the Stygian River, just north of the third cataract on the river. It is the most southern city on the western side of the river and has a strong wall and organized city guard to protect against attacks from the country of Qesh and from the creatures of the Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills. The hills are not just a source of peril, however; they also produce beautiful marble that has been used in buildings throughout Upper Khemit, and valuable iron ore.
During the 23rd and 24th dynasties, the pharaohs of Thybos built a large temple to Amun in Suleb as part of establishing the deity’s superiority throughout Khemit, and several traveled to Suleb for ceremonies. The walkway approaching the temple is paved with patterned marble pieces and guarded by marble ram-headed sphinxes to honor the ram-headed deity of the sun. Inside, the corridor that shows the pharaoh deified, with ram horns, is warded by statues of lionesses — symbols of the goddess Sekhmet who protects the pharaohs. Two pharaohs of the 24th Dynasty are buried in Suleb’s extensive necropolis, as are other members of the royal family, court nobles, priests, officials from the south, and wealthy commoners who could afford to be buried with the nobility. These subterranean tombs are topped by pyramids with those of the pharaohs of course being the largest, although the size still does not come close to the older funerary pyramids in the north.
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