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.
Location of El Tarif necropolis
El-Tarif is a necropolis on the West Bank of the Nile, at the site of ancient Thebes (Luxor), Egypt. It is located in the northwestern outskirts of Luxor and southeast of the Valley of the Kings, opposite Karnak, just to the southwest of the modern village of At-Tarif.
Background
The El-Tarif tombs are located north on the West Bank of Luxor. More than 30 known archaeological sites of temples have been discovered here. This site is between Dendera and Gebelein on the flood plains of the Nile River, beyond Malqata in the south up to El-Tarif in the north. One access to the West Bank is across the new Nile Bridge, and the other is to cross the Nile by ferry from Luxor Corniche to El-Gezira.
The Theban dynasty ruled from Thebes, the capital of Upper Egypt. Intef I was a local Egyptian ruler at Thebes. He was a member of the 11th Dynasty during the First Intermediate Period. Also, he was the first ruler to adopt the title of Pharaoh. He was an influential nomarch, and his name was mentioned in Thutmose III‘s chapel. Intef II, also called a Pharaoh, was his brother who ruled for 50 years from 2112 to 2063 B.C.E. This Dynasty developed a particular type of burial tomb called the saff-tomb or portico-tomb; saff in Arabic means “row.” The rulers of the New Kingdom built these, and they buried their dead in saff-tombs at the cemetery at El-Tarif. All of their tombs are in dilapidated condition, given their age.
Features
The tombs of local rulers from the Eleventh Dynasty have also been noted. Saff tombs, formed of rock, are local to the area but particularly noted at El-Tarif, where the largest belongs to Intef I-III (Eleventh Dynasty). The forecourts, cut 4–5 metres (13–16 ft) into the desert floor, were as large as 300 by 75 metres (984 ft × 246 ft), for example, in the case of Intef I’s tomb. Private tombs of white plaster and decorated with stelae, numbering at least 250, are situated as those belonging to kings.
Intef I, Intef II and Intef III were all buried in a saff (row) tomb in El Tarif, a row close to the Deir el-Bahri, which is the location of the Mentuhotep II’s Mortuary Temple.
