Heliopolis

Heliopolis (Greek: Ἡλίου πόλις or Ἡλίουπόλις), was one of the most ancient cities of Egypt, and capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian nome. Its name also refers to an unrelated modern suburb of Cairo, also known as مصر الجديدة, Masr al-gidīdah (literally "New Egypt"). The ancient city stood five miles east of the Nile north of the apex of the Delta at عين شمس ˁAyn Šams near the Cairene suburb of al-Maṭariyyah; the modern city of Heliopolis is some distance away. In ancient times it was the principal seat of sun-worship, thus its name, which means town of the sun in Greek.

The city's Egyptian name (shown in hieroglyphs, right, transliterated ỉwnw), is often transcribed as IunuὊν On, and in biblical Hebrew as אן ˀÔn and און ˀĀwen. (literally "[place of] pillars"), and was often written in Greek as