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Group of 40 model
soldiers armed
with spears and
shields, from the
tomb of Mesehti at
Asyut,
probably 12th
Dynasty.
Painted wood,
Cairo Egyptian museum.
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Asyut
Asyut (ancient Egyptian Zawty) was the capital of the 13th nome of Upper Egypt. Its place in Egyptian history was ensured by its strategic position at a point where the Libyan desert encroaches on the cultivated land and narrows the Nile , and where the Darb el-Arba ‘in caravan route departs for El-kharga oasis and further south.
Although the town of Asyut and its shrines (particularly the temple of the local wolf god Wepwawet) are often mentioned in Egyptian texts , the actual remains so far discovered are almost exclusively connected with Asyut necropolis, west of the modern town. The most important tombs date to Dynasties 9/10 and 12, but two Ramessid tombs have also been found (those of Siese and Amenhotpe).
During the 1st Intermediate Period, the “Great Overlords of the Lycopolite Nome, “ Khety I, Itefibi and Khety II, were staunch supporters of the Herakleopolitan kings, and the nome formed the southernmost limit of the Herakleopolitan do-minion. Biographical texts from Asyut provide valuable information on the history of the conflict with “the southern nomes” (i.e. the 11th Dynasty).
The ultimate victory of Thebes adversely affected the status of Djefaiha ‘py I-III, the nome officials of the 12th Dynasty, but of their tombs retained the high artistic standards of earlier period .
Asyut (ancient Egyptian Zawty) was the capital of the 13th nome of Upper Egypt. Its place in Egyptian history was ensured by its strategic position at a point where the Libyan desert encroaches on the cultivated land and narrows the Nile , and where the Darb el-Arba ‘in caravan route departs for El-kharga oasis and further south.
Although the town of Asyut and its shrines (particularly the temple of the local wolf god Wepwawet) are often mentioned in Egyptian texts , the actual remains so far discovered are almost exclusively connected with Asyut necropolis, west of the modern town. The most important tombs date to Dynasties 9/10 and 12, but two Ramessid tombs have also been found (those of Siese and Amenhotpe).
During the 1st Intermediate Period, the “Great Overlords of the Lycopolite Nome, “ Khety I, Itefibi and Khety II, were staunch supporters of the Herakleopolitan kings, and the nome formed the southernmost limit of the Herakleopolitan do-minion. Biographical texts from Asyut provide valuable information on the history of the conflict with “the southern nomes” (i.e. the 11th Dynasty).
The ultimate victory of Thebes adversely affected the status of Djefaiha ‘py I-III, the nome officials of the 12th Dynasty, but of their tombs retained the high artistic standards of earlier period .
Deir el-Gabrawi
During the 6th Dynasty, the powerful nomarchs of the 12th Upper Egyptian nome were buried in two groups of rock – cut tombs near the modern village of Deir el-Gabrawi. Some of these local rulers also held the title of the “Great Overlord of the Abydene Nome. “ and so controlled a large area extending from the 8th nome (abydos) in the south as far north as the 12th ( or 13th ) nome. It is remarkable that some of the scenes in the tomb of one of them, Ibi, were copied a bout 1,600 years later, during the reign of psmmetichus I, in the Theban tomb (No. 36) of a man of the same name .
During the 6th Dynasty, the powerful nomarchs of the 12th Upper Egyptian nome were buried in two groups of rock – cut tombs near the modern village of Deir el-Gabrawi. Some of these local rulers also held the title of the “Great Overlord of the Abydene Nome. “ and so controlled a large area extending from the 8th nome (abydos) in the south as far north as the 12th ( or 13th ) nome. It is remarkable that some of the scenes in the tomb of one of them, Ibi, were copied a bout 1,600 years later, during the reign of psmmetichus I, in the Theban tomb (No. 36) of a man of the same name .
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Blue fiancé hippopotamus
decorated
with aquatic plants,
in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New
York.
It was found at Meir
in tomb B.3
of Senbi, dating to
Snewosert I-Amenemhat II.
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Meir
There is nothing at el-Qusiya, on the west bank of the Nile, to suggest that this is the site of ancient Qis (cusae), once the center of the 14th Upper Egyptian nome. Some 7 km west of el-Qusiya is the village of Meir, which gave its name to several groups of tombs further west, in a low slops leading on to the desert plateau.
The most important of these rock-cut tombs belong to the men who were in charge of the nome during the 6th and 12th Dynasties. It is of the greatest interest that for both these periods the sequence of tombs is unbroken as the hereditary office passed from one man to his or younger brother.
The decoration was, as a rule, executed in relief . Some astonishingly lively scenes were created by the craftsmen of the 12th Dynasty, e.g. the desert-hunt scene in tomb B.1 of Senbi, dating to Amenemhet I. In the latest of the tombs, that of Wekh-hotpe (C.1), the walls were only painted. In the past; Meir suffered much from illicit digging. The most prominent among the archaeologists who worked there in the firs half of this century was Aylward M. Blackman .
Source: Baines and Malek, Atlas of Ancient Egypt
There is nothing at el-Qusiya, on the west bank of the Nile, to suggest that this is the site of ancient Qis (cusae), once the center of the 14th Upper Egyptian nome. Some 7 km west of el-Qusiya is the village of Meir, which gave its name to several groups of tombs further west, in a low slops leading on to the desert plateau.
The most important of these rock-cut tombs belong to the men who were in charge of the nome during the 6th and 12th Dynasties. It is of the greatest interest that for both these periods the sequence of tombs is unbroken as the hereditary office passed from one man to his or younger brother.
The decoration was, as a rule, executed in relief . Some astonishingly lively scenes were created by the craftsmen of the 12th Dynasty, e.g. the desert-hunt scene in tomb B.1 of Senbi, dating to Amenemhet I. In the latest of the tombs, that of Wekh-hotpe (C.1), the walls were only painted. In the past; Meir suffered much from illicit digging. The most prominent among the archaeologists who worked there in the firs half of this century was Aylward M. Blackman .
Source: Baines and Malek, Atlas of Ancient Egypt
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