Editing Mendes (section)

==History==
[[File:TellRubaShrine.jpg|thumb|''[[Shrine|Naos]]'' of [[Amasis II]] at Tell El-Ruba (ancient Mendes)]]
{{Hiero | Djedet (ḏd.t) | <hiero>Dd-d:t-niwt</hiero> | align=left | era=egypt}}
In ancient times, Mendes was a famous city that attracted the notice of most ancient geographers and historians, including [[Herodotus]] (ii. 42, 46. 166), [[Diodorus]] (i. 84), [[Strabo]] (xvii. p.&nbsp;802), [[Mela]] (i. 9 § 9), [[Pliny the Elder]] (v. 10. s. 12), [[Ptolemy]] (iv. 5. § 51), and [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] (''s. v.''). The city was the capital of the [[Mendesian nome]], situated at the point where the Mendesian arm of the Nile ({{lang|grc|Μενδήσιον στόμα}}, [[Scylax]], p.&nbsp;43; Ptol. iv, 5. § 10; ''Mendesium ostium'', Pliny, Mela, ''ll. cc.'') flows into the lake of [[Tanis]]. Archaeological evidence attests to the existence of the [[town]] at least as far back as the [[Naqada II]] period (4th millennium BCE). Under the first [[Pharaoh]]s, Mendes quickly became a strong seat of [[provincial government]] and remained so throughout the [[Ancient Egypt|Ancient Egyptian]] period. In [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] times, the nome it governed was one of the nomes assigned to that division of the native army which was called the ''[[Calasiris|Calasires]]'', and the city was celebrated for the manufacture of a [[perfume]] designated as the Mendesium [[unguentum]]. (Plin. xiii. 1. s. 2.) Mendes, however, declined early, and disappears in the first century AD; since both Ptolemy (''l. c.'') and [[P. Aelius Aristides]] (iii. p.&nbsp;160) mention [[Thmuis]] as the only town of note in the Mendesian nome. From its position at the junction of the river and the lake, it was probably encroached upon by their waters, after the [[canal]]s fell into neglect under the [[Ptolemies|Macedonian kings]], and when they were repaired by [[Augustus]] ([[Suetonius|Sueton]]. ''Aug.'' 18, 63) Thmuis had attracted its [[trade]] and population.