Through the Eras

Architecture and Designprovincial tombs demonstrates how Egyptologists haveanalyzed this situation: the tomb of Amenemhet at BeniHasan, the tomb of Djeheutyhotep at Bersheh, and thetomb of Hepdjefa I at Asyut—all built in the earlyTwelfth Dynasty.THE TOMB OF AMENEMHET AT BENI HASAN.Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt is 23 miles south of themodern city of Minya on the east bank of the Nile.Eight of the 39 tombs excavated in the mountains belongedto a succession of men who held the title “GreatOverlord of the Oryx Nome,” the ancient name of BeniHasan. Amenemhet was Great Overlord, or nomarch,during the reign of Senwosret I (1919–1875 B.C.E.).The pathway to his tomb led up the mountain from thecultivated plain in the river valley to a court cut directlyinto the bedrock of the mountain. The face of themountain itself was smoothed to form a façade. Thefaçade is supported by two columns, also cut from themountain itself. The columns are octagonal and supportan architrave, the series of beams that columns support.The architrave carries a cornice, a projectingmoulding that imitates the ends of rafters made of wood,though carved in stone. The columns taper to the topand carry an abacus, a plain slab of stone balanced betweenthe top of the columns and the bottom of the architrave,while standing on a wide base. The abacushelps to distribute the weight of the architrave over thecolumn. The base also supports the column and spreadsits weight on the floor. Though built more than 1,500years earlier, the columns and architrave resemble classicalGreek architecture. The visitor would then pass betweenthe columns into a square room cut into themountain. The roof of this room is supported by fourcolumns, each with sixteen sides. The columns supporttwo architraves that run from the front to the back ofthe room. The architraves appear to support threevaults. The vaults spring from the two sidewalls to thearchitraves on the two columns and another vault betweenthe columns. The columns, architraves, andvaults all were carved from the stone of the mountain.Centered in the rear is a niche containing a statue ofAmenemhet, also carved from the mountain itself.Paintings illustrating daily life in the Oryx nome andmilitary training decorate the sidewalls.THE TOMB OF DJEHEUTYHOTEP AT BERSHEH.Bersheh is on the east bank of the Nile opposite Mallawi,a modern town in central Egypt. In ancient times it wasin the Hare Nome. Djeheutyhotep was the Great Overlordof the Hare Nome during the reigns of AmenemhetII through the time of Senwosret III (1844–1818 B.C.E.).His tomb reflects a local tradition of rock-cut tombs thatKHNUMHOTEP BUILDS HIMSELF A TOMBINTRODUCTION: The Twelfth-dynasty monarch of theOryx nome, modern Beni Hasan, Khnumhotep, lefta long biographical inscription on the walls of histomb. In the inscription he described the rebuildingof his father’s tomb as his first act. He also describedhis pride in building a tomb for himself.[On his father’s tomb] I restored it and its richesin everything. I perpetuated the name of my fatherand I restored his ka-temple [i.e., his tomb]. I followedmy statues to the temple. I presented to themtheir offerings of bread, beer, cool water, and wine,and meat offerings which were assigned to the kapriestand I endowed him with fields and workers. Icommanded invocation offerings of beef and fowl atevery festival of the necropolis. … Now as for anyka-priest or anyone who will disturb it, he can nolonger exist! His son does not exist in his place! …My chief dignity was the embellishing for myself of atomb, that a man might imitate what his father did.My father had made for himself a ka-temple in Mernofret,made from stone of Anu, in order to perpetuatehis name forever and that he might bedistinguished forever, his name living in the mouthof the people and enduring in the mouth of the living,upon his tomb of the necropolis and in hissplendid house of eternity and his place of eternity.Translation by Edward Bleiberg.began in the First Intermediate Period. The court of thetomb stood before a façade cut from the mountain. Tworound columns carved at the top to imitate palm leavessupported the entrance to the tomb that is behind thecolumns and leads upward to a rectangular room.Against the middle of the rear wall are three steps leadingup to a shrine that once held a statue. The paintedwalls depict scenes of daily life, including a famous paintingof workmen dragging a colossal statue of Djeheutyhotep.The shape and numbers of columns, shapes ofthe rooms, and arrangement of the shrine differ from thecontemporary tomb of Amenemhet at Beni Hasan, indicatingthat the two traditions of rock-cut tombs developedseparately.THE TOMB OF HEPDJEFA I AT ASYUT. Asyut is locatedon the west bank of the Nile at a bend in the riverthat flows east to west. In ancient times it was the capitalof the Lycopolite Nome. The Great Overlords ofArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 43