Not much is left of the funerary chapel in front of the tomb, with the tomb long rectangular in shape with further corridors cut down &/or horizontally into the mountain for those of his family – almost all of these are either partly or full of sand and there must be at least 8.
Tags: Noble Nubian Tombs Qubbet el-Hawa tomb Necrópole dos Nobres The Necropolis of Nobles Aswan Assuã Egito Egypt Africa Asia South of Egypt tumbas tombs cemitério cemetery West Bank Margem Oeste Nilo Nile Rio Nilo Nile River Nubian Village Aldeia Nubian colina hill cliffs vista view outlook deserto desert férias vacation doors gates Ancient Egyptian the Guardians of the Southern Gate Tombs of the Nobles Toms in Aswan the high cliffs the keepers of the Gate of the South hoycombed tomb tumba Necropolis of Nobles Império Antigo Império Novo cais da balsa
I’ve put these two together because the two tombs are made into one, Mekhu is the father and Sabni the son; Mekhu’s part of the tomb has round pillars and Sabni’s square.
Tags: The Tomb of Mekhu The tomb of Sabni Necrópole dos Nobres The Necropolis of Nobles Aswan Assuã Egito Egypt Africa Asia South of Egypt tumbas tombs cemitério cemetery West Bank Margem Oeste Nilo Nile Rio Nilo Nile River Nubian Village Aldeia Nubian colina hill cliffs vista view outlook deserto desert férias vacation doors gates Ancient Egyptian the Guardians of the Southern Gate Noble Nubian Tombs Qubbet el-Hawa tomb Tombs of the Nobles Toms in Aswan the high cliffs the keepers of the Gate of the South hoycombed tomb tumba Necropolis of Nobles Império Antigo Império Novo cais da balsa
Tags: Noble Nubian Tombs Qubbet el-Hawa tomb Necrópole dos Nobres The Necropolis of Nobles Aswan Assuã Egito Egypt Africa Asia South of Egypt tumbas tombs cemitério cemetery West Bank Margem Oeste Nilo Nile Rio Nilo Nile River Nubian Village Aldeia Nubian colina hill cliffs vista view outlook deserto desert férias vacation doors gates Ancient Egyptian the Guardians of the Southern Gate Tombs of the Nobles Toms in Aswan the high cliffs the keepers of the Gate of the South hoycombed tomb tumba Necropolis of Nobles Império Antigo Império Novo cais da balsa
From the town site at Elephantine, the most visible marker of the elite cemetery is the double tomb of Mekhu and Sabni (I)
Mekhu and Sabni were father and son, nomarchs during the reign of Pepi II (end of dynasty VI).
To give access to their tombs the workers built two parallel rising causeways permitting the sarcophagi to be hoisted from the Nile. These causeways form an integral part of the architectural entity of the burials.
The forecourt is common to both tombs, cut into the bulk of the cliff.
Originally begun as single monument for Mekhu, the tomb was expanded over a series of building phases to incorporate a separate chapel space for his son Sabni1.
From the entrance to Mekhu's tomb we reach a vast hall whose ceiling is supported by three transverse rows of unfinished columns, some of which have had the lower 1.5m recut. From the entrance we have a perspective view to the stela at the rear in the form of a false door. A small offering table inserted between two pillars can be found at the entrance.
The inscriptions above the false door refer to the offerings (htp di nesu) which the deceased requests by the intervention of Osiris and Anubis for he who is Prince, Chancellor of Lower Egypt, the one friend, justified. Strangely, there are no sacerdotal titles. On a little “placard” we read the list of the “thousands” of offerings of loaves, beer, poultry, cloth… which he desires. The remaining decoration, of which there is little, is represented by small scattered scenes.
Moving north we arrive at the tomb of his son, Sabni, as they share a largely continuous internal space. In Sabni1’s autobiography he writes of his efforts to retrieve his father Mekhu’s body from Nubia, in order to give him a burial in accordance with the rites, but does not indicate Mekhu died in any type of military conflict.
Tags: Noble Nubian Tombs Qubbet el-Hawa tomb Necrópole dos Nobres The Necropolis of Nobles Aswan Assuã Egito Egypt Africa Asia South of Egypt tumbas tombs cemitério cemetery West Bank Margem Oeste Nilo Nile Rio Nilo Nile River Nubian Village Aldeia Nubian colina hill cliffs vista view outlook deserto desert férias vacation doors gates Ancient Egyptian the Guardians of the Southern Gate Tombs of the Nobles Toms in Aswan the high cliffs the keepers of the Gate of the South hoycombed tomb tumba Necropolis of Nobles Império Antigo Império Novo cais da balsa
The tomb of Sarenput I, which is on the hill of Qubbet el-Hawa, in Aswan, is one of the largest and most beautiful tombs of the Middle Kingdom (~ 2055 - 1650 BC) and marks the heyday of Aswan funerary architecture.
Sarenput is a nomarch (governor) who directs the nome of Ta-Séti at the time of Sesostris I (or Senouseret I, ± 1956-1911 BC). He is therefore far from the Royal Residence of Memphis and enjoys an autonomy and income that allows him to consider himself a small sovereign.
Tags: Noble Nubian Tombs Qubbet el-Hawa tomb Necrópole dos Nobres The Necropolis of Nobles Aswan Assuã Egito Egypt Africa Asia South of Egypt tumbas tombs cemitério cemetery West Bank Margem Oeste Nilo Nile Rio Nilo Nile River Nubian Village Aldeia Nubian colina hill cliffs vista view outlook deserto desert férias vacation doors gates Ancient Egyptian the Guardians of the Southern Gate Tombs of the Nobles Toms in Aswan the high cliffs the keepers of the Gate of the South hoycombed tomb tumba Necropolis of Nobles Império Antigo Império Novo cais da balsa