Wojciech Fedoruk

Poland - 26-Feb-23 -

The Egyptian tentative list is a complete mess. Several proposals are placed twice. Among them are the tombs of Middle Egypt, placed as 'Minia' as well as 'The Necropolises of Middle Egypt, from the Middle Empire to the Roman period'. Anyway, of the four places covered by this proposal, me and my family saw two – Beni Hassan and Touna al-Gabal.

In Beni Hassan there are tombs of high dignitaries from the period of the twelfth dynasty, i.e. from the period between the twentieth and nineteenth centuries before Christ. Only four are available to visitors, each of them completely unique, with magnificent paintings and original columns. The whole place is well preserved and not much inferior to the tombs of the pharaohs, at least when it comes to wall decorations (see photo). We left this place delighted.

Getting to Beni Hassan is not difficult, Google Maps shows good coordinates. The end of the route is an unpaved road through the village. We visited the place in the company of two armed guards and a keyman who did not have any weapons – because there is no point, the place is safe, and the guards with pistols are just a testimony to Egyptian paranoia. The whole route takes about an hour.

Right next to Beni Hassan there is a noteworthy archeological site Speos Artemidos, but people in Beni Hassan could not show me the route to this place, and Google Maps led me to a point where there is nothing. A local guide would be necessary to visit this place.

Touna Al-Gabal is located near the main road and getting there is simple. The archaeological site is quite large, and there are two tombs to visit – the one of a high official Petrosiris (his mummy and coffin are well displayed in the Egyptian Museum) and one of Isidore, a young girl who probably drowned. In the tomb there is her well preserved mummy.

The most interesting moment of sightseeing was a visit to the catacombs. The route is made available about several dozen meters, and the whole catacombs are gigantic, the main alley contains 36 side streets. Inside there are mummified bodies of baboons and birds revered here. The place is really rarely visited by tourists – the guide even asked if I was an egyptologist.

Right next to Touna Al-Gabal is Hermopolis, but we were in a hurry to Wadi Al-Hitan and did not have time to look there. Judging by the photos, we have not lost anything great.

I agree with Nan that the choice of places within this proposal is quite strange. Amarna should be treated separately, as should Beni Hassan. Touna Al-Gabal and Hermopolis are from a different, much later period and do not quite fit Beni Hassan, not to mention Amarna.

By the way – traveling around Middle Egypt by your own car is very burdensome. All because of the police, who were particularly sensitive and wanted to escort us everywhere. The police even escorted us to the hotel and waited in the morning to lead us further. I would not have a problem with it if not for the fact that it slows down sightseeing terribly.  Therefore, at the end, I decided not to give them any documents and escaped them in the first possible place. Thanks to that I arrived in Wadi Al-Hitan on time, undisturbed by anyone and without assistance.