After another early start (just after sunrise) we visited the large Egyptian cemetery site at Beni Hassan upriver from Minya on the East Bank. This is a superb location as the fertile plain abruptly ends at the steep desert slope leading to towering escarpment. It is just below the summit where there are 39 tombs belonging to monarchs and local governors of the 11th and 12th Dynasties (2125 -1795 BC). Many are unfinished but the four open to visitors contain amazingly colourful paintings which illustrate daily life – fishing, hunting, glass blowing and gold smelting. The necropolis reflects the political differences between provincial rulers and the Pharaoh kings. Their layout and complex decorations mark a transition stage between the Old and New Kingdoms. Just after 11:00 a.m. we continued sailing to Beni Suef.
