Tuna el-Gebel

Tuna el-Gebel served Hermopolis, the city of Thoth, and its most extraordinary feature is underground: kilometres of galleries cut into the rock holding the mummified ibises and baboons sacred to that god, buried in pottery jars and coffins in enormous numbers over centuries, with painted chambers and shrines among them. Above ground stands the tomb of Petosiris, a high priest of the late fourth century BC, built as a small temple and decorated in a striking hybrid style where Egyptian funerary scenes are rendered with Greek modelling and dress. Around it is a cemetery of tomb-houses from the Roman period, including one with the well-preserved painted decoration of Isadora. A boundary stele of Akhenaten stands nearby, marking the western limit of Amarna.

History

Tuna el-Gebel was the necropolis of Hermopolis, and although most of its tombs date from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, at least one temple goes back to Amenhotep III and there are a few New Kingdom tombs. In the Late Period it was mainly an animal cemetery, with ibises and baboons sacred to Thoth, and many other birds, mummified and laid in underground galleries, probably from nearby breeding grounds. In at least the late fourth century BC two brothers who were priests of Thoth, Petosiris and Djed-Thoth-iu-ef-ankh, built the first large tombs, Petosiris placing his 200 metres south of the animal necropolis near a temple of Thoth. Early Ptolemaic tombs were built of large smooth stones with reliefs, later ones of smaller rough stones, and mud brick tombs and narrow pillar tombs with niches for urns followed; in Roman times tombs became cheaper, rose to several storeys, were reused for further burials or even as mass graves, and the burial style grew steadily more Greek even though most of the dead were Egyptian (Wikipedia, Tuna el-Gebel).

Highlights

• Ibis and baboon catacombs - galleries of mummified sacred animals.
• The tomb of Petosiris - Egyptian scenes drawn in Greek style.
• Roman tomb-houses - a street of small funerary buildings.
• An Amarna boundary stele - the western limit of Akhenaten's city.

When to go

October to April. Two to three hours. The catacombs are cool underground at any season. Mornings for the tomb-house painting. It is almost always empty.

Good to know

The catacombs are low, dusty and poorly lit, and only a short section is open. Some tombs are locked and need a guard with keys. Groundwater has damaged parts of the underground galleries. There are no facilities and travel in the region may involve escort arrangements.

Nearby

Hermopolis is a short drive east; Tell el-Amarna lies across the river.

Key facts