The necropolis of Meir (Arabic: مقابر مير, romanized: Maqābir Mayr, lit. ’cemetery of Mayr/Meir’) is an archaeological site that dates back to Middle Egypt, in the Asyut Governorate, located on the west bank of the Nile. Here are the tombs of the nomarchs, mayors and priests of Cusae from the ancient Egyptian Old and Middle Kingdom.
The cemetery is named after the village of Meir at 27°27′00″N 30°45′00″E situated some 5 kilometres to the northeast of the cemetery and some 7 kilometres southwest of el-Qusiya (ancient Cusae).
Location of Necropolis of Meir
Necropolis of Meir lies near the Egyptian village of the same name with tombs of the 6th and 12th dynasties, 7 kilometres southwest of el-Qusiya, Asyut governorate.
Overview
Meir was the functioning cemetery for Cusae, located in Egypt, approximately thirty to forty miles north of Asyut. Necropolis of Meir was an Old Kingdom–Middle Kingdom (6th–12th Dynasty) cemetery for the nomarchs of the fourteenth Nome of Upper Egypt. Below the hillside of the rock-cut tombs lies a cemetery specifically for the more common folk. The rock-cut tombs only functioned for nomarchs of Cusae, a cult centre for the Egyptian deity Hathor.
Proof of Hathor worshipping was found on inscriptions on the walls of the rock-cut tombs, which included numerous mentionings of the priestesses of Hathor and innumerable depictions of cows. Aylward Blackman was the primary excavator of the site, and as a result, he published six volumes of work about his findings. The tombs are laid out North to South along a hillside, and Blackman labelled the chapel tombs A-E. Meir is known to have one of the richest sources of Middle Kingdom tombs. It is also known for the tombs’ extremely detailed reliefs illustrating daily life scenes. Examples of well-excavated tombs on this site include the tombs of Ukh-Hotep and Pepyankh the Middle.
Excavations at Necropolis of Meir
Before archaeologists could excavate the Necropolis of Meir, many tombs were pillaged for timber. Later, fragments and incomplete tombs were burned in giant bonfires after being deemed ‘worthless and in the way.’ In 1890, Émile Gaston Chassinat sparked interest in the archaeologist community by visiting the Meir site. A short time later, several archaeologists such as Georges Émile Jules Daressy (1900), Alessandro Barsanti, Georges Legrain (1900), Jean Clédat (1901–1902), and Sha’ban (1903), spent a decent amount of time excavating the Meir site. The reports from these excavations strictly focus on the great tombs but are still poorly published with little detail.
Finally, between 1912–1950 Aylward Blackman spent time excavating Meir and released six volumes describing the various rock-cut tombs at the site. Unfortunately, Blackman focused on the more elaborate and complete tombs, leaving the less extravagant to stay unexcavated and unpublished. This is where Ahmed Bey Kamal took over the gauntlet of excavating the site during 1910–1914 to excavate the less prestigious (incomplete) tombs.
Tombs
The tombs at Necropolis of Meir date back to the 6th–12th Dynasty and were a vital burial place for the rulers of the fourteenth Nome. When Aylward Blackman excavated it, the letters A-E were given to signify the various rock-cut tombs. The tombs were cut into a hillside and laid out from North to South. This site holds approximately seventy-five burials with interior decoration and countless others that have been pillaged or damaged through the years. Below the leading rock-cut tomb site is a cemetery dedicated to the members of the city who were not nomarchs. Not much excavation was accomplished on this particular ‘commoner’ cemetery. There is essentially no information regarding that site in any of the volumes of work done by any of the leading excavators of Meir.
Ukhhotep II (B2)
Ukhhotep II is mainly known because of his tomb (B2), located in the necropolis of Meir, which was excavated in the early 20th century by British Egyptologist Aylward M. Blackman; an excavation report was published in 1915.
Inside the tomb, along the West and South walls, are many inscriptions dedicated to Osiris and Horus. The tomb is separated from that of Ukhhotep’s father, Senebi I (B1), only by a thin partition wall. The tomb stands from floor to ceiling at 270 cm, with a small undecorated doorway leading to the burial chamber. Within the tomb are walls of reliefs depicting various events and displays of everyday life in the city of Cusae. Examples of images include boat-building, papyrus harvesting, war, Ukhhotep sitting with his wife, offerings, etc.
The tomb has been remarked on because of a specific grade of realism of its reliefs: among the depictions, there are several herders in an evident state of starvation, a man who has fallen under the load on his back, and blind harpers. However, many figures are just crudely cut into the walls, revealing a somewhat poor technique. According to Blackman’s description, the reliefs have an “unintentional roughness seems rather add to the spirit of vigour and strenuous activity with which the sculptor has imbued many of his representations of the toiling…”. Few reliefs were interrupted early, and the drawing grid is still visible.
Pepyankh the Middle
The tomb of Pepyankh the Middle (D2.), sometimes known as Heny the Middle, dates back to Pepi II. Blackman published his findings on Pepyankh the Middle’s tomb in 1924 in a book called “The Rock Tombs of Meir Vol. IV: The Tomb-Chapel of Pepi’onkh the Middle son of Sebkhotpe and Pekhernefert.” and in 2012 Naguib Kanawati published a follow-up book on the tomb of Pepyankh the middle called, “The Cemetery of Meir: Vol. 1 The tomb of Pepyankh the Middle.”
Upon excavation of the tombs, it was discovered that Pepyankh, the middle, was the son of Sebkhotpe (Hepi) and Pepkhernefert (Bebi) and that his wife was Hewetiaah. Pepyankh, the middle and Hewetiaah had six sons and three daughters. The tomb also noted that titles held by Pepyankh in the middle included: ‘Confidant of the King in his Every Place,’ ‘Overseer of Upper Egypt in Reality,’ ‘Hereditary Prince,’ ‘Superintendent of the Priests of Hathor’ and many more.
Ahmed Bey Kamal’s workers discovered the undisturbed tomb – the largest found at the cemetery of Meir – in March 1913. Like the other tombs at Meir, the tomb of Pepyankh in the middle had beautiful examples of daily life reliefs. There are countless descriptions of the various reliefs; one passage says, “All the walls of room C are covered with painted reliefs, the brilliance of which was greatly enhanced by the dark slate-grey to indigo background… as is usually the case with the productions of the sixth-dynasty provincial craftsmen, the technique of these reliefs is somewhat crude.”
Religion
In all of the decorated tombs in Meir, it is evident that the goddess Hathor was an essential element in the lives of the people of Cusae. In Volumes I-VI of Blackman’s books, it is obvious that almost all the nomarchs and their various family members held positions relating to Hathor. Many of the nomarchs held the title ‘Overseer of prophets of Hathor’ or ‘Priest of Hathor’, and many of the important women had the title ‘Priestess of Hathor.’ In addition to the titles, there are depictions of ceremonies relating to Hathor in the reliefs on the walls. One example of this can be found in the tomb of Senbi’s son Ukh-hotp. In a relief found in his tomb, there is a ceremonial picture of two bulls fighting to the death, and it is believed that this is related to winning the honour of being with the goddess cow, Hathor.
Tombs A-E
- A1. Ni’ankh-Pepy-Kem (Sebkhotp/Hepi-Kem) (During Pepi I): Overseer of Upper Egypt; Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt; Overseer of prophets.
- A2. Pepy-ankh the youngest (Heni-Kem) (During Pepi II): Overseer of the duck pool; Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt; Overseer of prophets; son of Ni’ankh-Pepy-kem.
- A3. Ukh-hotp (During Senusret I): Nomarch; Overseer of Sealers; son of Iam.
- A4. Hepi-kem (During Merenre Nemtyemsaf II): Overseer of Upper Egypt; Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt; Overseer of prophets.
- B1. Senbi (During Amenemhat I): Nomarch; Overseer of prophets; Chancellor of the King of the Lower Egypt; son of Ukh-hotp.
- B2. Ukh-hotp (During Senusret I): Nomarch of the Atef-nome; Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt; Overseer of prophets of Hathor Mistress of Cusae; son of Senbi (B1).
- B3. Senbi (During Senusret I): Hereditary prince; Overseer of prophets; son of Ukh-hotp (B2).
- B4. Ukh-hotp (During Amenemhat II): Nomarch; Overseer of prophets of Hathor Mistress of Cusae; Director of every divine office; Lector of the Great Ennead; son of Ukh-hotp (A3) and Mersi.
- C1. Ukh-hotp (During Senusret II): Nomarch; Overseer of prophets; son of Ukh-hotp and Heny the middle.
- C2. Kha’kheperre-sonb (Iy) (During Senusret II): Nomarch; Overseer of prophets.
- D1. Pepi: Royal scribe; Judge.
- D2. Pepy-‘ankh-hir-ib (Neferka/Heny/Pepyankh the Middle) (During Pepi II): Nomarch; Vizier; Outline-draughtsman; Overseer of prophets of Hathor Mistress of Cusae; Overseer of Upper Egypt in the central nomes.
- E1. Meni (Menia): Inspector of prophets; First under the King; Friend of the house of the royal favourites.
- E2. Nenki: Intimate; Lector.
- E3. Pepy-‘ankh (During Pepi II): Intimate; Lector.
- E4. Thetu: Overseer of the Thentet-cows, First under the King; Inspector of prophets.