- an ancient city in Upper Egypt, on the Nile, whose ruins are located in the modern towns of Karnak and Luxor: a former capital of Egypt.
- a city of ancient Greece, in Boeotia: a rival of ancient Athens.
- (in ancient Greece) the chief city of Boeotia, destroyed by Alexander the Great (336 bc)
- (in ancient Egypt) a city on the Nile: at various times capital of Upper Egypt or of the entire country
