Meir (Mir)
Meir · Mir · Qaryet Meir · Quseir
Old to Middle Kingdom (2700–1750 BCE peak Twelfth Dynasty)·Ancient Egyptian·🇪🇬 Asyut Governorate, Egypt
About
About Meir (Mir)
14th Upper Egypt nome cemetery 3000 BCE–500 CE, Meir rock tombs on 60-m desert ridge flanking Nile hold Old Kingdom (Ukh-hotep's early 6th dynasty) and Middle Kingdom decorated 12 tombs pinnacle: Senbi I B1 (Sesostris I, 1970 BCE) and son Ukh-hotep B2 (Sesostris I–Amenemhat II) with world's earliest detailed daily life scenes — marsh fowling, glass blowing (?), scribal; tomb B4 long 7.5 m hall with pilgrimage to Abydos frieze. Quantity 30+ tombs. Blackman 1914–15 record still primary. Unprotected hill public.
Why it mattersOnly sequential Old-to-Middle Kingdom nome cemetery preserving genre daily-life precursors to Beni Hasan style 1 generation earlier.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether B4 pilgrimage frieze records actual Abydos travel or myth
- 02Old Kingdom to Middle Kingdom cemetery continuity model
Theories
- 01Nile ridge siting as frontier marker (Willems)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Early Old Kingdom shaft tombs 6th dynasty; decorated Middle Kingdom tombs 2040–1760 BCE
- Period
- Old to Middle Kingdom (2700–1750 BCE peak Twelfth Dynasty)
- Culture
- Ancient Egyptian
- Builders
- 14th nome (Cusae) nomarchs (Ukh-hotep, Senbi families)
- Purpose
- Nome elite necropolis facing Hermopolis across Nile
- Rediscovered
- 1900s Sayce; 1914 Blackman
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
Early Old Kingdom shaft tombs 6th dynasty; decorated Middle Kingdom tombs 2040–1760 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1324 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
27.4083° N · 30.5750° E · 65 m · 2 mapped features
Tomb B1 Senbi
tombMiddle Kingdom pillared hall Sesostris I
27.4085° N · 30.5760° ETomb B2 Ukh-hotep son of Senbi
tombSon successor with daily-life marsh scenes
27.4083° N · 30.5755° E