Akhmim

Akhmim, ancient Ipu and Greek Panopolis, has been a textile town for a very long time: Coptic-era weavings from its cemeteries are in museums across the world, and hand-loom weaving of cotton and silk still goes on in workshops in the town, with a tradition of loose bright cloth that is sold locally and in Cairo. In 1981 foundation work uncovered a colossal standing statue of Meritamun, a daughter and wife of Ramesses II, around eleven metres tall in limestone and remarkably well preserved, and the excavation around it has been left open in the middle of the modern town with a second colossus of Ramesses beside it. The site sits several metres below street level, so you look down into the ancient ground from the surrounding buildings.

What you actually see

• The colossus of Meritamun - eleven metres of limestone, well preserved.
• An excavation below street level - ancient ground in the middle of the town.
• Hand-loom weaving workshops - the town's continuing textile trade.
• A second Ramesses colossus - standing in the same enclosure.

When to go

October to April. Half a day for the statue site and a weaving workshop. Mornings for the light down into the excavation. Akhmim sees very few foreign visitors.

Honest expectations

The excavation is a single enclosure and takes twenty minutes; the rest of the visit depends on finding a workshop that will let you in. There is little signage. The town is congested. Regional travel may involve escort arrangements that limit stops.

Nearby

Sohag and its national museum are across the river; Athribis lies south-west.