Egypt Guide
The Nile Valley
The tombs of Beni Hassan
Opening time: Daily 8am-5pm
Price: £E20
Most of Beni Hassan's 39 tombs are unfinished. The four shown to visitors evince a stylistic evolution during the XI– XII Dynasties, their variously shaped chambers representing a transitional stage between the lateral mastaba tombs of the Old Kingdom and the deep shafts in the Valley of the Kings, gradually acquiring porched vestibules and sunken corridors to heighten the impact of the funerary effigies at the back. The actual mummies were secreted at the bottom of shafts, accompanied by funerary texts derived from the royal burials of the Old Kingdom. Pharaonic iconography and contemporary reportage are blended in the murals, whose innovative wrestling scenes presaged the battle vistas of the New Kingdom. Though battered and faded in parts, their details reward careful study. To prevent further fading, photography is no longer allowed inside the tombs.
At present, the only way of visiting the tombs is by private taxi from Minya, escorted by a police man or a guide from the tourist office. A new road along the east bank enables cars to get there directly in 25 minutes. Alternatively, you can combine Beni Hassan with Tuna al-Gabel and Hermopolis in a longer excursion, travelling via Abu Qirkus on the west bank and taking a ferry across the Nile. In this case, the taxi will drop you at the ferry stage 3km from Abu Qirkus and wait for your return from Beni Hassan; the ferry (daily 8am-5pm) takes fifteen minutes and costs £E6 for up to six people, or 50pt each for more than six.