Meir Monumental Tombs Asyut

Meir Monumental Tombs Asyut Meir Monumental Tombs Meir Monumental Tombs The necropolis of Meir (Arabic: مقابر مير, romanized: Maqābir Mayr, lit. ’cemetery of Mayr/Meir’) is an archaeological site in Middle Egypt in the Asyut Governorate located on the west bank of the Nile. Here are the graves of the nomarchs, mayors and priests of Cusae from the ancient Egyptian Old and Middle Kingdom. Meir Monumental Tombs, Asyut The cemetery is named after the village of Meir at 27°27′N 30°45′E situated some 5 kilometers to the northeast of the cemetery and some 7 kilometers southwest of el-Qusiya (ancient Cusae). Meir Monumental Tombs, Asyut Meir was the functioning cemetery for Cusae, located in Egypt, approximately thirty to forty miles north of the city of Asyut. Meir functioned as an Old Kingdom–Middle Kingdom (6th–12th Dynasty) cemetery for the nomarchs of the fourteenth Nome of Upper Egypt. Meir Monumental Tombs, Asyut Below the hillside of the rock-cut tombs lies a cemetery that is specifically for the more common folk. The rock-cut tombs only functioned for nomarchs of the city of Cusae, which was a cult center for the Egyptian deity Hathor. Meir Monumental Tombs, Asyut Proof of Hathor worshiping was found on inscriptions on the walls of the rock-cut tombs, which included numerous mentioning of the priestesses of Hathor as well as numerous depictions of cows. Aylward Blackman was the primary excavator of the site and as a result he published six volumes of work pertaining to his findings. The tombs are laid out North to South along a hillside and Blackman labeled the chapel-tombs A–E. Meir is known to have one of the richest sources of Middle Kingdom is also known for the tombs having extremely detailed reliefs illustrating daily life scenes. Examples of well excavated tombs of this site include the tombs of Ukh-Hotep and Pepyankh the Middle. Meir Monumental Tombs, Asyut The tombs at Meir date back to the 6th–12th Dynasty, and they were an important burial place for the rulers of the fourteenth Nome. When it was excavated by Aylward Blackman, it was given the letters A–E in order to signify the various rock-cut tombs. The tombs were cut out into a hillside and laid out from North to South. This site holds approximately seventy five tombs with interior decoration and countless others that have been pillaged or damaged through the years. Below the main rock-cut tomb site is a cemetery dedicated to the members of the city who were not nomarchs. Not much excavation was accomplished on this particular ‘commoner’ cemetery, there is essential no information regarding that site in any of the volumes of work done by any of the main excavators of Meir. Meir Monumental Tombs