Al-Minja i Mailawi
It's ok. 150 m to the north of Cheti's tomb is the tomb of Amenemhat (BH2). The tomb has a courtyard and a two-column portico of octagonal columns in front of the entrance to the chapel. In the west you can see shoemakers, carpet weavers, blacksmiths and agricultural work scenes. The north wall is covered with desert hunting scenes, funeral scenes and ritual dances are shown below. Next to Amenemhat, she collects taxes, and writers deal harshly with reluctants. Wrestling and battle scenes are shown on the eastern wall, above, the deceased travels to Abydos, and in the niche stand broken statues of Amenemhat, his wife Hetpet and mother. On the southern wall, the deceased and his wife are presented sitting at the sacrificial table, before which the priests and servants stand. There are blind gates on the western wall.
Tomb of Chnumhotep (BH3) is one of the last graves of the Middle Kingdom of Bani Hasan. The object resembles the tomb of Amenemhat.
In the vestibule open to the courtyard, two 16-sided columns (the so-called. protodoryckie) they support the rock cornice. The ceiling of the three-nave chapel is supported by four columns – at the entrance to it you can see the so-called. Inscription Chnumhotepa II (75 cm in height, 222 columns), reminiscent of the events of Amenemhat III. Upon entering the tomb, you can see the dancers in the procession. Next to it, the servants collect grain for the granaries. It is shown on the western wall, how Chnumhotep travels to Abydos, and next to it, farm work. Below is a famous tribute scene from the Anu wandering tribe of Palestine (village machines). On the eastern wall, next to the niche with the remains of the statue is a portrait of Chnumhotep and his family. There are also wetland scenes: boomerang fishing and boat harpoon fishing. The southern wall shows the office of the nomarch receiving the gifts. Carried in a litter, it controls the timber for shipbuilding.
Hermopolis and Tunat al-Dżabal
Northwest of Mallawi, two monuments important for the culture of Ancient Egypt deserve attention, his history and religion: ruins of the city of Hermopolis, the great center of the god Thoth and the place of origin of one of the concepts of the birth of the universe, and the necropolis of Tunat al-Jabal, where the mummies of the holy animals of Thoth were buried – baboons and ibis.
Ancient Hermopolis
Hermopolis (currently Al-Ashmunayn, al-Ashmunayn) it is a large field of ruins near the village of Al-Ashmunayn, 8 km northwest of Mallawi. Great HERMOPOLIS, Egyptian Khnumu (Chemenu, Szmuni – "City of Eight") existing from the Old Kingdom, was the center of the Ogdoada cult (eight deities personifying the elements of the world during creation) and the god of wisdom Thoth. When the Greeks identified Thoth with Hermes, the city was renamed Hermopolis.
The entrance is guarded by a pair of huge ones (4,5 m in height), baboons carved in sandstone from the time of Amenhotep III, formerly part of the temple of Tota, which Ramses II erected (ok. 650 m2; partially usurped earlier buildings). Stones from the ruins of the nearby Akhetaton were used for the construction. In the southwest, you can see the remains of the sanctuary of Amon Ramesses II and his son, Merenptaha, and Seti II.
Tunat al-Dżabal
Name of the necropolis (Tuna el-Gebel) comes from a nearby town.
You have to pay for the taxi 150 EGP (there and back) or 220 EGP, if you want to go back to al-Minji or Asyut. Remember to bring food and drinks from the Graveyard, situated on the former border of the city of Akhetaton (Tell el-Amarna), extends approx. 3 km to the south. It houses tombs from the Late Era to the Roman era. The part open to visitors consists of several main corridors, accessed by side chambers with mummies of baboons and ibis.
Thousands of mummified animals and Aramaic papyri from the times of King Darius were placed in the carved galleries. W 1969 r. a great fire ravaged the catacombs.
The oldest and most interesting is the unique tomb of Petozyrys, high priest of the temple of Thoth in Hermopolis, living approx. 300 r. p.n.e. It was built in an Egyptian style with a columned entrance hall and an iconic chapel with a burial chamber carved into the rock.
The pharaohs' power insignia
Royal power was a pillar of ancient Egyptian culture. Even Roman emperors followed this tradition. King of Egypt, ascending the throne, he was becoming a god-man and a guarantor of Chaos control. Egypt arose from the union of two countries: Lower Egypt (Delta Nile) and Upper Egypt (Nile Valley).
The king's title consists of five names. The name of Horus characterizes the king in relation to Horus. Then there is the Name nebti or Both Ladies, referring to the patronesses of Egypt: the vulture goddess Nekhbet and the serpent goddess Wadett. The third part is called the Golden Name. The fourth and fifth part of the title appearing in the cartouche are most commonly known: the throne name and the proper name of the king, preceded by the title King of Upper and Lower Egypt (nesut-biti) literally The One from Reed and the Bee. The proper name is preceded by the Son of Re (in-Re). The cartouche is an oval frame, an elongated version of the hieroglyph shen ("surround”), symbolizing the path of the sun and infinity.
The king's head was usually decorated with the tall White Crown of Upper Egypt (hedżet) and the low Red Crown of Lower Egypt (deszeret). During the New Kingdom, the king wore pesh (or pa-sechemti - "Two Powers”) The Double Crown of the United Kingdom or the Blue Crown (chepre, the so-called. warrior's helmet).
There were also crowns with complex symbolism – atef, shuti, hemhem with feathers, horns, ureus and solar disks. Caps, striped scarf – noble, a hut shawl or a wig was worn with a gold headband with a ureus over the forehead, attacking cobra (Incarnation of Wadget), a symbol of protecting the king and the country from enemies. Pharaoh wore a small one at the ceremony, braided fake goatee. In his hands he held the insignia of secular and spiritual power: heka scepter-crosier and nechacha whip.
Hermes Trismegistos and Egyptian Magic
Hermes Trismegistos, in Greek "Hermes thrice great”, he is a deity from the syncretic Hellenistic religion. It arose after identifying the Greek Hermes with the Egyptian god of magic, Totem from Chemen (Hermopolis), where in the 4th century. p.n.e. Alexander the Great built a temple for him. Hermes Trismegistos was a prophet, familiar with the knowledge of the Egyptian priests, which he passed on to the chosen ones. He was credited with the authorship of a number of astrological writings in the so-called. Corpus Hermeticum. This is how the so-called hermetic writings were created (hermetica).
It was literature on the occult, specific theology and philosophy. It was written in the form of the Platonic dialogues in Greek and Latin between the first half of the first century. and the end of the 3rd century. It was divided into two currents: Popular Hermeticism (astrology and other occult sciences) and scholarly hermetism (theology and philosophy). It grew out of a wave of Hellenistic distrust of Greek rationalism in science and religion. Religion was merged with science, and the only source of true knowledge was revelation. In later years, medical treaties were added to the canon, alchemiczne (Emerald plates) and magical. W II and III w. theosophical-occult writings presented the achievements of Egyptian gnosis, Greek and Jewish. The Arabs took it over, thanks to which Western Europe could become acquainted with them (late medieval and renaissance).