Antinopolis (
Antinoöpolis,
Antinoopolis,
Antinoë) (
Greek: ,
Coptic ⲁⲛⲧⲓⲛⲱⲟⲩ
Antinow) modern
Sheikh 'Ibada) was a city founded at an older Egyptian village by the
Roman emperor
Hadrian to commemorate his deified young
beloved,
Antinous, on the east bank of the
Nile, not far from the site in
Upper Egypt where Antinous drowned in 130 AD. Antinopolis was a little to the south of the
Egyptian village of
Besa , named after the goddess and oracle of Besa, which was consulted occasionally even as late as the age of
Constantine I. Antinopolis was built at the foot of the hill upon which Besa was seated. The city is located nearly opposite of
Hermopolis Magna.