The Theban Necropolis is a necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes (Luxor) in Upper Egypt. It was used for ritual burials for much of the Pharaonic period, especially during the New Kingdom.
Location of Theban Necropolis
The Theban Necropolis is located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Luxor, in Egypt. As well as the more famous royal tombs located in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, there are numerous other tombs, more commonly referred to as Tombs of the Nobles (Luxor), the burial places of some of the powerful courtiers and persons of the ancient city.
Mortuary temples
Deir el Bahari Complex
Deir el-Bahari is essentially a complex of mortuary temples and tombs. The first monument built here is the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II from the eleventh Dynasty. The construction of this temple started in the 21st century BC. Later, during the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep I and Hatshepsut also constructed monuments at this site. The Arabic word Deir el-Bahari translates to the northern monastery in English. Historically, this name refers to the monastery built there in the 7th century CE.
Medinet Habu
Medinet Habu is an archaeological locality near the foot of the Theban Hills on the West Bank of the Nile River opposite the modern city of Luxor, Egypt. Although other structures are located within the area, the location is today associated almost exclusively (and indeed, most synonymously) with the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III.
- Mortuary temple and palace of Ramesses III
- Mortuary Temple of Ay & Horemheb
- Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III
- Colossi of Memnon
- Mortuary Temple of Merneptah
- Mortuary Temple of Ramesses IV
- Mortuary Temple of Thutmose IV
- Mortuary Temple of Thutmose III
- Mortuary Temple of Twosret
- Temple of Nebwenenef
Qurna
Qurna (also Gourna, Gurna, Kurna, Qurnah or Qurneh; Arabic: القرنة) are various spellings for a group of three closely related villages (New Qurna, Qurna and Sheikh Abd el-Qurna) located on the West Bank of the Nile River opposite the modern city of Luxor in Egypt near the Theban Hills.
- Mortuary Temple of Seti I
- Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep II
- Ramesseum (Mortuary Temple of Ramesses II)
Royal Necropolis
- Valley of the Kings, Modern: Wadi el-Muluk.”
- Valley of the Queens, Modern: “Biban el-Harim.”
- Royal Cache
- Bab el-Gasus
Deir el-Medina
Deir el-Medina is an ancient Egyptian workmen’s village home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BCE). The settlement’s ancient name was Set maat, “Place of Truth”; the workmen who lived there were called “Servants in Place of Truth”. During the Christian era, the temple of Hathor was converted into a church from which the Egyptian Arabic name Deir el-Medina (“Monastery of the City”) is derived.
When the world’s press concentrated on Howard Carter’s discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, a team led by Bernard Bruyère began to excavate the site. This work has resulted in one of the most thoroughly documented accounts of community life in the ancient world that spans almost four hundred years. There is no similar site where a community’s organisation, social interactions, and working and living conditions can be studied in such detail.
Workers’ Tombs
Shrine to Meretseger & Ptah
Tombs of the Nobles
El Assasif
El-Assasif is a necropolis that contains burials from ancient Egypt’s 18th, 22nd, 25th and 26th dynasties, covering the period c. 1550 to 525 BC across all three dynasties.
Khokha Necropolis
The necropolis of El-Khokha is located on the west bank of the Nile River at Thebes, Egypt. The necropolis surrounds a hill and has five Old Kingdom tombs, over 50 tombs from the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties, and some from the First Intermediate Period and the Late Period.
El Tarif necropolis
Situated north of the Theban necropolis area, El-Tarif contains tombs of the 11th Dynasty kings. It also houses tombs from the First Intermediate, Second Intermediate, and early Middle Kingdom eras. These tombs are fascinating places to visit based on low mounds with carved entrances.
It is the oldest of West Thebes’ necropolises. It is a small mortuary temple, the farthest north of the Nobles’ Tombs, and contains tombs of the late First Intermediate Period, Second Intermediate Period and the early Middle Kingdom. Old Kingdom mastabas are possibly attributed to local rulers of the Fourth or Fifth Dynasty. Eleventh Dynasty (2040–1991 B.C.E.) tombs of local rulers have also been noted in the form of a series of rock-cut tombs dated to 2061-2010 B.C.E, the largest of which are Intef I to Intef III, who were kings of this Dynasty.
Dra Abu el-Naga
The necropolis of Draʻ Abu el-Naga’ is located on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes, Egypt, just by the dry bay entrance leading up to Deir el-Bahari and north of the necropolis of el-Assasif. The cemetery is located near the Valley of the Kings.
Qurnet Murai
Qurnet Murai is a necropolis located on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes, Egypt, just to the south of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. It was also used as a cemetery for the New Kingdom administration officials in Thebes.
Sheikh Abd el Qurna
The necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna is located on the West Bank at Thebes in Upper Egypt. It is part of the archaeological area of Deir el-Bahari and is named after the domed tomb of a local Sheikh. This site is the most frequently visited cemetery on the Theban West Bank, with the largest private tombs.
