Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan is a cemetery site located in the region known as Middle Egypt, which is the area between Asyut and Memphis.While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle Kingdom period which spanned from 2040 to 1640 BCE.To the south of the cemetery is Speos Artemidos (also known as Istabl Antar) a rock cut temple, built by Hatshepsut, dedicated to the local goddess Pakhet.Provincial governors in the Middle Kingdom continued to be buried in decorated rock-cut tombs in their local cemeteries, carried over from the First Intermediate Period, at sites such as Beni Hasan.There is evidence of a re-organization of the system of government during the 12th Dynasty. During the First Intermediate Period and for some of the Middle Kingdom period it was common for Nomarchs (someone who oversees/controls a government specified area) to be hereditary positions; the elite did not depend on the king to legitimize their power as much as they had in the Old Kingdom. In the 12th Dynasty the power of the Nomarchs began to be curtailed, provincial governors were appointed or at least confirmed by the king.
There are 39 ancient tombs here of Middle Kingdom (ca. 21st to 19th centuries BC) nomarchs of the Oryx nome, who governed from Hebenu. Due to the quality of, and distance to the cliffs in the west, these tombs were constructed on the east bank.There is a spatial distribution in this cemetery (there are two cemeteries here: the upper range and the lower necropolis) associated with the different levels of resources available to the deceased; the most important people were buried near the top of the cliff.In the lower cemetery there are 888 shaft tombs, dating to the Middle Kingdom, that were excavated by John Garstang; for the most part these tombs shared a similar general design which included a small chamber or recess at the foot of the shaft (facing south) to receive the coffin and the funeral deposits.In the upper cemetery members of the elite class built striking tombs to represent their social and political positions as the rulers and officials of the Oryx Nome, which is the 16th Nome of Upper Egypt. At this site, the provincial high elite were buried in large and elaborately decorated tombs carved into the limestone cliffs near the provincial capital, located in the upper cemetery area. These tombs lie in a row on a north-south axis. There is a slight break in the natural rock terrace, on to which they open, that divides the thirty-nine high status tombs into two groups.The basic design of these elite tombs was an outer court and a rock-cut pillared room (sometimes referred to as the chapel) in which there was a shaft that led to the burial chamber. Some of the larger tombs have biographical inscriptions and were painted with scenes of daily life and warfare. Today, many of these scenes are in poor condition; luckily, in the 19th century copies were made of several of them.
Kom Ombo
is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for the Temple of Kom Ombo. It was originally an Egyptian city called Nubt, meaning City of Gold (not to be confused with the city north of Naqada that was also called Nubt/Ombos). It became a Greek settlement during the Greco-Roman Period. The town's location on the Nile 50 km north of Aswan (Syene) gave it some control over trade routes from Nubia to the Nile Valley, but its main rise to prominence came with the erection of the temple in the 2nd century BC.
Badari
The Badarian culture provides the earliest direct evidence of agriculture in Upper Egypt. It flourished between 4500 to 3250 BCE, and might have already existed as far back as 5000 BCE. It was first identified in El-Badari, Asyut.
About forty settlements and six hundred graves have been located. Social stratification has been inferred from the burying of more prosperous members of the community in a different part of the cemetery. The Badarian economy was mostly based on agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry. Tools included end-scrapers, perforators, axes, bifacial sickles and concave-base arrowheads. Remains of cattle, dogs and sheep were found in the cemeteries. Wheat, barley, lentils and tubers were consumed.
The culture is known largely from cemeteries in the low desert. The deceased were placed on mats and buried in pits with their heads usually laid to the south, looking west. The pottery that was buried with them is the most characteristic element of the Badarian culture. It had been given a distinctive, decorative rippled surface.
Avaris
Avaris was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta.As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward and the delta sedimented up and moved with the river its position at the hub of Egypt's delta emporia made it a major administrative capital of the Hyksos "Phoenician kings" and other traders. From c 1783-1550 BC or from the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt through the second intermediate until its destruction by Kamose brought to a close the Seventeenth dynasty Avaris brought a little bit of Canaan home to Egypt. After being abandoned for most of the Eighteenth dynasty a royal summer residence for Ramesses II was built nearby during the Nineteenth dynasty.
The site at Tell el-Dab'a, covering an area of about 2 square kilometers, is in ruins today but excavations have shown that at one point it was a well-developed center of trade with a busy harbour catering to over 300 ships during a trading season. Artifacts excavated at a temple erected in the Hyksos period have produced goods from all over the Aegean world. The temple even has Minoan-like wall paintings that are similar to those found on Crete at the Palace of Knossos. A large mudbrick tomb has also been excavated to the west of the temple where grave-goods, such as copper swords, have been found.
Towards the end of the Seventeenth dynasty, Kamose, the last king of theSeventeenth dynasty, captured Avaris just before the Hyksos were finally expelled from Egypt, by Ahmose the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt after a water-borne siege. The Hyksos capital was razed to the ground in the aftermath of the Egyptian triumph. Avaris was abandoned after the Hyksos expulsion throughout most of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. In the Nineteenth dynasty, Ramesses built a palace nearby. Evidence has also been unearthed in Avaris that shows contact between early Mediterranean civilizations.
Thebes
The Egyptian Middle and New Kingdom capital of Thebes, in the modern town of Luxor Egypt, was first occupied during the Old Kingdom. It first grew to prominence in the Middle Kingdom, between 2025-1700 BC as the home city of ruling pharaohs such as Mentuhotep I.
The oldest standing building remains are pieces of the temple at Karnak, built in the Middle Kingdom; most of the remaining structures were built during the 18th Dynasty New Kingdom, during its heyday.
