Elkab, also spelled El-Kab or El Kab, is an Upper Egyptian site on the east bank of the Nile at the mouth of the Wadi Hillal about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Luxor (ancient Thebes).

With the way the river meandered and eroded the rocks and sand, the Nile River is almost level with the town, but according to Somers Clarke in his journal article “El-Kab and the Great Wall,” “in its early youth the town must have stood well above the flood waters.”[5] The site could be described as a bay between sandstone cliffs to the north and south, and this same sandstone was used to build the temples found in this site.

[7] The walled settlement of Nekheb was one of the first urban centres of the Early Dynastic period, and for a short time in the New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC) it eclipsed the city of Nekhen or Hierakonpolis on the opposite bank, becoming the capital of the third nome of Upper Egypt.

Its massive mudbrick walls, dating to the Late Period (747–332 BC) and thought to have been built by Nectanebo II as a defensive measure, are still largely preserved.

The rock tombs of the provincial governors of Nekheb in the New Kingdom include those of Sobeknakht II an important official whose saved the Theban Sixteenth or Seventeenth Dynasty from near destruction by invading forces from the Kingdom of Kush, Ahmose, son of Ebana, an admiral in the wars of liberation against the Hyksos rulers (c. 1550 BCE), and Setau, a priest during the reign of Ramesses II (1184–1153 BCE).

However, much more research has been done since then, and according to a journal article published by the "British Museum of Ancient Egypt and Sudan", the walls date to about the 30th Dynasty, or about the 4th century BC.

The Egyptians had to construct a new wall, farther from the Nile, so that the people could continue to build their houses and live in an area safe from destruction.

From the cliffs back of the town one may look down upon it, stretched out beneath one's feet, and almost see the majestic temple, surrounded by the beautiful villas of the feudal lords, whose soldiery once manned the now silent walls.