The story of this site is that Aba Hunwas a ‘oracksmith’s son who was tortured for his C I’riuiian faith But by showing great strength he managed to convert the Roman governor of Pelsium to Christianity. The interior contains locked parts relating to Aba Hur but you can still get a view in if you stand on your toes. The only unique feature to the church is that the sacred anea is not elevated from the rest of the church. it is also always fascinating to realize how large parts of the inner structure that has been cut directly out of the rock.

Tell El amarna was the city of Akhetaten (The Horizon of the Aten). It was created by Egypt's heretic king, Akhenaten for his revolutionary religion that worshiped Aten during the Amarna Period.

The Temples Here, we find the Great Aten Temple as well the Small Aten Temple. Temples at Amarna are considerably different then most cult temples of ancient Egypt. They were, of course, solar temples, with the essential elements consisting of a small obelisk on a high base and an altar. Though solar temples had been built during the Old Kingdom, the worship of the Aten did not require the equipment and architectural elements found in these older establishments, with the exception of the altar. There was no need for a naos because there is no deity to be sheltered.

The Great Aten Temple is on the northern edge of the Central City. It is partly covered over by the modern cemetery of el-Till. The enclosure wall for this temple extended back from the modern road for some 750 meters, and is now represented by a low, straight ridge. Within, the sanctuary was very similar to that in the Small Aten Temple and is marked by a group of isolated rubble heaps near the back.

Bakeries

At the end of this bridge is the massive foundations for a bridge that crossed the so called Royal Road in front of the King's House by means of brick piers. There remains some ancient timbers that once bound the brickwork together. On the far side of the road was the Great Palace, consisting of a complex of courts and halls of which only foundations remain.

In recent years, some consolidation and restoration has been carried out at the Small Aten Temple. This included the erection of a replica column. A prominent brick enclosure wall also remains, which was once strengthened by towers on the outside. There are brick pylons at the entrance, and others which subdivided the interior of this building. In the back of the temple stood the sanctuary originally built of limestone and sandstone.

A circular walk beginning at the middle of the north side of this small temple's enclosure wall reveals other parts of the Central City. There is a tall ridge of sand and some rubble that runs northward from across the street through the middle of a small palace built of mud brick. Known as the King's House, it probably accommodated the Royal Family on their visits from their North Palace.

Behind the King's House and the Small Aten Temple (further from the Nile River) were a group of government buildings built of mud brick. This is actually where the famous Amarna Letters were discovered by a peasant lady in 1888.

Southwards from the Small Aten Temple is The Main City, which was the principal residential area of the ancient city that ran south to the vicinity of the modern village of el-Hagg Qandil. It was the part of the city occupied by the most important people (other than the king), including the vizier Nakht, the high priest Panehsy, the priest Pawah, General Ramose, the architect Manekhtawitf and the sculptor Tuthmosis (Thutmose). Probably connected to this quarter was a river temple, still in use under Ramesses III and even later through perhaps the 26th Dynasty.

Further south, roughly half way between el-Hagg Qandil and the desert edge of the site on the edge of the Main City, the famous bust of Nefertiti was discovered in Thutmose's workshop.

Elsewhere the city has grown up, as cities will, in an irregular haphazard way, as citizens erected buildings where they felt it was convenient. Some suggest Akhenaten lacked the resources to control the rapid growth of his new city and regulate its plan (other Egyptian cities are much more carefully laid out).

Still further north is the North Palace that the locals call "The Palace of Nefertiti" (Kasr Nefertiti). This was a self contained residence built along three sides of a long open space, which itself was divided by a wall and pylon. The residential part had gardens and reception rooms with columns along its rear. In the northeast corner is the most famous part of this residence, consisting of a garden court. A central chamber on the north side, known as the "Green Room", was painted with a continuous frieze representing the natural life of the marshes. Each room has a window from which the sunk central garden could be viewed. In recent years, the walls have been somewhat restored and some of the missing column bases have been replaced with modern replicas. There were animal pens further to the west on the north side and also a court containing three solar altars, of which nothing now exits but their foundations. This palace was probably originally built for one of Akhenaten's major queens, but was later converted for use by Princess Meritaten.

Farther to the north where the cultivation ends at the cliffs there is also a North City, which was a separate residential area that served a major palace known as the North Riverside Palace. The palace itself is located just north of the residential area. This was probably the main residence for Akhenaten's family. Most of this is now gone, but there is a length of a massive brick enclosure wall pierced by a huge gateway at the palace.

On the road to the North Tombs, one passes a watchmen's house, and a short distance to the west and north of this lie the remains of three large mud-brick solar altars in the form of square platforms with ramps that are known as the Desert Altars. The northernmost of these had four ramps of well-rammed sand and probably an altar in the center.

The necropolis consists of more than twenty-five tombs facing the base of the cliff front that is located on the east side of the desert plain, which reaches a height of about eighty-five meters and south of the Royal Wadi  Six tombs are located at the north side near Darb El-Malik and known as the North Tombs. These were probably tombs owned by fairly high officials, while nineteen more tombs are located in the south and known as the South Tombs. These southern tombs were owned by a mix of officials.

The North Tombs were once encroached upon by an ancient Coptic Christian settlement, and groups of little stone huts on the hillside below the tombs belong to these people, who converted tomb number six into a Church. From these tombs, there is an excellent view of the valley below.

To the east in a little valley on the south side of a low plateau that runs out from the base of the cliffs between the Royal Wadi and the southern tombs there is an interesting settlement dubbed "the workmen's village". It is a walled enclosure of very regular houses along several parallel streets. Archaeologists believed it housed workers working on the rock tombs nearby (which, incidentally, though built for the royalty and courtiers, were mostly never occupied). However, this walled town had a guard house at the only exit, and it seems more likely to have been to keep the workers in than anything out (the main city was protected by no such wall, for the whole site, including the workmen's village, is enclosed by high cliffs).

The Royal Tomb built for Akhenaten  lies in a narrow side valley leading off of the Royal Wadi some six kilometers form its mouth. Its basic design and proportions are not unlike those of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank at Thebes (modern Luxor). However, it was intended for several people, including the king, a princes and probably Queen Tiy so there are additional burial chambers. There is also an unfinished annex that may have been intended for Nefertiti.

Here, the quality of the rock is poor, and so the decorations of the tomb were cut into a thin layer of gypsum plaster. Hence, most of the decorations have not survived and most of what is left is in the chambers of princess Meketaten.

At Kom el-Nana, south of the main city and east of the modern village of el-Hagg Qandil is an enclosure thought to have surrounded another of Akhenaten's sun temples. Recent excavations have revealed brick ceremonial buildings and the foundations of two stone shrines. The northern side was occupied by a Christian monastery during the 5th and 6th centuries, AD.

The City of the Dead, or Zawiyet el-Mayyiteen, was for me one of the greatest sights of all of Egypt Perhaps much because of the surprise. It is has been called the World’s largest burial ground. It must be the place worth most domes Every grave, or mausoleum is topped by a one, all looking shaped the same way. Looking down at the burial ground in southern direction the domes seem to just go on and on until they disappear in the haze The City of the Dead is a short taxi ride out of Minya center crossing the Nile.

Huya was the Superintendent of the Royal Harem and Steward of Queen Try, mother of Akhenaten. His tomb is noted for the life-size statue of the deceased which still stands, The mummy of Huya was found in the deep shaft which now is open and can be looked down into. Most of the wall decorations show Akhenaten and his mother it is really just at one place that Huya appears. It is on the right wall, where he is decorated by Akhenaten.

Being n front of the parade, holding the flag was a great deal in the time of Akhenaten Ahmose was his fan bearer and was one of a few dignitaries who could ~ford build his own tomb in the mountainside over Akhetaten His tomb was never finished perhaps corresponding with the abandonment of the city altogether in 1360. The few wall-decorations that have survived T~ show scenes from the royal palace and the army’s preparations for baffle.

Tuna el-Gebel, as it is known now, was the necropolis of Khmun (Hermopolis) for several centuries. The distance between the city and the necropolis is 5 km. The urban history for this region goes back at least to the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE, and would last a couple of centuries into the Common Era, The oldest monument found evidence that, It is made up of six stelae which indicated the boundary between Hermopolis and Akhetateri (Tell el-Amarna), the ancient capital of Akhenaten, Few people make it out here. This part of Egypt offers few amenities for travellers, even if Minya (65 km north) has one of Egypt’s best 3 star hotel deals, Getting out here involves hiring a taxi for the day and being accompanied by a police officer. The good thing is that you will have the place to yourself, but most visitors to Egypt will have problem putting Tuna el-Gebel’s attractions into a historical framework. The sights here are not part of the golden ages of Egypt, and do not give light to

It lies on the western bank of the Nile, about 8 km, away form Mallawi. It was the capital of the region at that time and was called “Hermopolis”. It contains the relics of the Greek city where there are a number of basilica pillars. It is similar to the Acropolis temple in Greece. According to tradition, after going to Bir al—Sahaba, the Holy Family crossed the Nile from east to west and continued to Al—Ashmunayn, 9 km north of Mallawi, There, we visit the ruins of the colossal Corinthian columns of the basilica at Al—Ashmunayn that was once the famous Hermopolis Magna which probably dates back to the first half of the fifth century. In the church you see the location of the sanctuary and the baptismal font. The church is built on the location of a late pharaonic or perhaps Ptolemaic temple. Near the church is an agora, a market dating back to the Greek period of Egypt. On the stones of the agora are some ancient Greek writings. This indicates that this basilica was in the center of the is ancient Greek city. Western scholars believe the tradition of the Holy Family probably started in al¬ Ashmunayn. Since ‘A history of the Monks in Egypt’ a book dating to around A D 400 and the first reference to this tradition, only mentions Hermopolis or al-Ashmunayn (See Stepher Davis in ‘Be Thou There’, Cairo, 2001). In the nearby village of Al—Ashmunyan, we can visit the Orthodox Church of Saint Wadanion, and a small Plymouth Brethren church.

Tomb 15 belongs to Baqet Ill, and is the earliest of the tombs that are open. Baqet was the Governor of the Oryxnome there are a number of murals in the tomb, including papyrus gathering and a desert hunt. The rear wall shows 200 wresting positions in many registers, and the south wall shows the officials of Baqet punishing people who have evaded taxes. The quality of the scenes is very high, much better than those of his son, Kheti. The most lifelike of the wrestling scenes are shown here; they are very detailed and accurate. There are many burial shafts in the tomb, along each wall, It is likely that many family members were eventually buried in the tomb with him.

Kheti buried in tomb 17, is the son of Baqet and the governor of Oryx name. The open chamber originally had six slender papyrus columns, only two remain. Its is obvious that they were only decorative, as they hang freely from the ceiling. His tomb is decorated with scenes of hippos, hunting scenes, dancer and senet players, musicians, and offering scenes, The rear wall has scenes of wine-making and vineyards. It is very similar to the tomb of Baqet Ill, with many of the same scenes painted inside. A fine scene of Kheti’s boats, near the entrance, is well-preserved.

Otherwise, the artistic level of decoration in this tomb is inferior to the ethers on the ridge. There are scenes of copulating animals, a particularly Old Kingdom motif, and the first of the elaborate wrestling scenes. Some believe the scenes are painted there because Kheti was an afficianado of the sport, others apply more symbolic meaning to them -- the black vs white wrestlers represent struggles of life and darkness.

Amenemhat lived during the first half of the 18th Dynasty and prepared his tomb under the reign of Thutmosis Ill, in the Theban necropolis, on the hill currently occupied by the village of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. Judging initially by his main functions, “steward of the vizier” and “scribe accountant of grain in the granary for the divine offering of Amon”, he appears to have been a simple scribe within an immense institution which amounted to hundreds. However, Amenemhat was a rich and educated dignitary Indeed, he dug a large sized tomb, catalogued today as IT 82, and whose decoration seems have been finished. This includes the texts and the necessary images for his survival in the beyond according to the different models of rebirth available in Egyptian thought. In it, Amenemhat follows the tradition of his social class. But IT 82 includes a certain number of characteristics which make it all the more interesting. Thus, Amenemhat has re¬employed the great funerary maxims of the Old Kingdom, the Pyramid Texts, like a few other rich characters of his time. Moreover, the tomb is especially rich in information about the Egyptian concept of death and rebirth, about divine beliefs in general. Therefore, even if it corresponds well enough to the norm for the contemporary Theban burial, by its architecture and its iconography, it also includes much originality. Each tomb is the reflection of the choices of its owner and the expense which he could devote to his burial, tomb 82 is quite unique within the creations of the 18th Dynasty.

Khnum-hotep Tomb

The latest tomb that is open on the ridge, the tomb of Khnumhotep (3) is very similar to that of Amenemhet, his predecessor. There is an imposing portal outside this tomb, with doric columns and a large doorway, befitting the importance of the Governor of the Eastern Desert. This tomb dates form almost I a century later than those of Baqet and Kheti. At least one scene in the tomb shows Syrian’s paying tribute to Khnumhotep. Their clothing and hairstyles, very different from the Egyptians, is shown in detail. A number of insights into Egyptian feudal life were found in the inscriptions in this tomb, giving Egyptologists a good picture of life in the 12th Dynasty. An elaborate inscription “h of 222 vertical registers details the duties, lineage, marriage and other details of Khnumhotep’s life. There are only a few pieces of the statues in the sanctuary niche, but the niche itself is decorated with colorful scenes of fishing an netting birds.