Dans le voisinage immédiat de l’inspectorat d’Akhmîm un bâtiment de l’époque ptolémaïque dédié au dieu Atoum a été découvert à une profondeur d’environ 5 mètres sous une maison à l’occasion d‘une fouille clandestine. Il s’agit d’une porte décorée mais non datée, les cartouches étant restés vides. Atoum est quatre fois représenté comme serpent et une fois avec une tête du faucon. Atoum étant caractérisé sur ces montants de porte comme un dieu primordial, il est possible que ce monument ait fait partie de la nécropole des dieux ancêtres.

A doorway recently discovered at the slope of the historic centre of Akhmim may be part of a chapel dedicated to Akhmim in the so-called necropolis of primeval gods and at the same time may also be an oracle site of the snake-shaped god Atum. Two texts inscribed in the temple of Athribis, 15 km to the southwest, likely refer to this district too. If this interpretation is correct, these texts mention the names of two buildings that would be part of that district. The first would be iAt Mnw: “the hill of Min” designating the sacred hill (iAt nTryt) and the second would be TpHt-Axt referring to the tomb of Osiris. The names of the sacred snake would be Atum xns iAwt and anx-HH: “the one with living Heh figure”, as indicated by the text in Athribis. Moreover, this text provides the names of two sacred trees: the kbs (= ksbt)-tree and the arw-tree – neither of which can be securely identified. Nevertheless, the relation between the ksbt-tree and Min of Koptos is attested since the Middle Kingdom. It is desirable to carry out scientific excavations in Akhmim to confirm or reject the assumptions mentioned in this article. However, this will not be an easy task to realize in the near future.