|Peguat — Canopus Canopus (also: Canobus) was an Ancient
Egyptian coastal town, located in the Nile Delta. Its site is in
the eastern outskirts of modern-day Alexandria, around 25
kilometres from the centre of that city. Canopus stood in the
seventh nome (Menelaites, later Canopites after it), on the
western bank at the mouth of the westernmost branch of the River
Nile – known as the Canopic or Heracleotic branch or -mouth. It
was the principal port in Egypt for Greek trade before the
foundation of Alexandria. Pre-hellenistic history  Early
Egyptological excavations some 2 or 3 km from the area known
today as Abu Qir have revealed extensive traces of the city with
its quays, and granite monuments with the name of Ramesses II,
but they may have been brought in for the adornment of the place
at a later date. The exact date of the foundation of Canopus is
unknown, but Herodotus refers to it as an ancient port. Homeric
myth claims that it was founded by Menelaus, and named after
Canopus, the pilot of his ship, wh