El Minya City

El Minya is famouse with  the ‘Bride of Upper Egypt’ because  its location between the border of Upper and Lower Egypt. With more than four million people living in that city. Located approximately halfway between Cairo and Luxor.It is located roughly 245 km (152 mi) south of Cairo.

During the New kingdom El Menya was the capital of Egypt in (1373 – 1390) BC when Ikhnaton and the beautiful queen, Nefertiti, transferred the capital from Thebes(Luxor) to El Minya  in the small village of Tel El Amarna   the  the worship center of the God Aten. This was the first time in the Egyptian history when the Egyptians worshiped one god (Aten), changing the religion that encouraged worshiping many gods specially the famous god of Amun.

The monuments and ancient sites in Al Menya

El Minya Governorate rich of archaeological sites worth visiting. From these sites are Beni Hassan,Tell Amarna are  the two most famous sites located in El Minya, though, there are many others as well. Among El Minya Tuna El Gabal & El Ashmunein, the Monastery of the Virgin Mary, El Bahnassa, and others, as well as some more modern sites like the Palace of Abdul-Mejid Basha Seif El-Nasr Mallawi, built in the 1930 A.D About four miles outside town is a Muslim and Christian cemetery called Zawiyyet al-Mayyiteen (Place of the Dead) which is said to be one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Other sights to see include the El-Umra Mosque, which is the town’s oldest and the El-Lamati Mosque.

Tel Al Amarana

Tel Al marana is the capital during the New kingdom that Akhenaton established. Its location 45 kilometers away from another ancient site which is the tombs of Beni Hassan are the two most famous sites located in El Minya, though, as mentioned, there are many others as well.so it is always a good idea to visit both sites in the same trip. Tel Al Amarana was called “Okht Aten”. The ruins of the ancient capital Al Amarana are sill there in the an isolated valley in the Eastern bank of the Nile

Tel Al marana has two groups of tombs: The first is located to the north of the town and the other is located to the south of the city. These tombs are famous for their wall drawings and inscriptions that represented the life at the time of Ikhnaton and the religious revolution he led during the new kingdom.

The royal tomb of Akhenaton is located in a small narrow valley six kilometers away from the wide valley that separates the northern and southern parts of the city.

The most of the tombs of Tel Al Amarna were not completed and a very small number of tombs were actually used as a burial place for the bodies of the royal family and their acquaints. There are 25 tombs that are numbered 1 to 6 in the north and 6 to 25 in the south

The tombs that are worth visiting are:

The tomb of Hoya

Hoya was the watcher of the Harem, or ladies section in for the king Akhenaton. There is an attractive portrait of the king and his family to the right side  located in the entrance of the tomb.

The tomb of Ahmos
He was one of the servants who held the fans for the king and there is statue for him inside his tomb

The tomb of Meriri
He was the grand priest of  Aten god and drawings of the king, Akhenaton visiting the city and the temple of the city are present richly all over the tomb.

The tomb of Maho
He was the leader of the police in the period of Akhenaton. It is the best preserved tombs in Tell Al Amarna

The tomb of Ay
It is the best tomb and  beautiful tomb in Tell Al Amarana and it includes drawings of the royal life and the common street life of the city as well. There is also a remarkable drawing of the king Akhenaton and his wife Nefertiti presenting gold bracelets to Ay and his wife.

The tombs of Beni Hassan

These groub of tombs is located 20 kilometers to the south of the city of Al Menya and it has around 300 tombs that belongs to the middle kingdom. The tombs were made out of limestone and some of them are opened for the visitors

The Tomb of Kheity
He was the ruler of the town of Orikes in the era of the 11th dynasty around 2000 years BC. The drawings on the walls of the tomb demonstrate the life of the middle kingdom.

The Tomb of Baqete
He was t Kheity father and its walls have decoration with strange drawings of wrestlers and dears. There are also drawings of men hunting wild animals.

Tomb of khenomoheteb
He was a ruler in the period of Amenmehat 1820  BC. It is one of the best tomb in Beni Hassan.the tomb decoration represent the khenomoheteb life.

Malawi Museum

The museum Malawi was opened in 1963 and it has a collection of artifact which were found in Tuna El Jebel and Hermopolis. The museum has a variety of mummies, Pharonic coffins, Pharonic statues like statues belong to god Thoth, many items that the Egyptians used in their daily lives.

Tuna Al Gebel

Tuna Al Gebel is located to the west side of the ancient town of Ashmonin and it was a very important area in the Roman period and it served as a burial site for the town. That area has burial homes with wall paintings that are very unique because it was created as a mixture between the roman and ancient Egyptian art. Excavation work is still going on in this area and the archeologists discover new excavations. The area has many worth visiting tombs like the tomb of Petozeris, the tomb of Azadora, and the tomb of the god Thot.

Monuments of Ashmoneen

Ashmoneen  located 8 kilometers to the west side of the site of Malawi and it was the center of the worship of the god Thot, or the monkey god. The important monuments of this area contains the ruins of a basilica church with its granite columns, the temple of Philip Arhides, a statue of the Thot god as a baboon monkey, and the ruins of the temple of the god Thott which was built by Ramses ll in the modern era.

The monastery of Abu Al Barsha

  Abu Al Barsha monastery

it is Located on the east side of the Nile opposite of the town of Malawi and it can be reached by car. The monastery has many drawings and portraits of the Christian life.

 Abu Hamas monastery

It is located 2 kilometers to the north of the Abu Al Barsha Monastery. It has a mixture of the byzantine and basilica art. The church was built in the fifth century AD. It also contains a church which was curved in the mountain for the saint Yohanas and it has many portraits and icons of the Christ and the Virgin Mary.

The monuments of Sheikh Abada

the Roman emperor, Hardian was built this city  130 BC which was also an important city in the Pharonic time where the ruins of a huge temple of Ramses ll was discovered. In the Islamic era, Sheikh Abada Ibn Al Samet chose this area to build his mosque that was named after him. Maria, the wife of the prophet Mohamed also used to live in this area.

New discovery in El Minya 2018

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient necropolis north of Tuna El Gebel holding the mummified remains of a high priest of the Egyptian god Thoth.

One tomb contained more than 1,000 statues and four alabaster jars designed to hold the internal organs of a high priest of Thoth, the ancient god of  wisdom who was depicted as a man with the head of an ibis.

The priest’s mummy, decorated with blue and red beads and bronze gilded sheets, was also recovered.

It is the latest find to be announced by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and excavation work is expected to take at least five years.