Newly renovated Roman-era tomb of Two Brothers opens
The tomb is known as the Tomb of the Two Brothers. It is located in the ancient city of Athribis, in present-day Naga al-Sheikh Hamad, west of Sohag some 460km south of Cairo.
Muhammad Khaled Ismail, Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities which was in charge of the restoration work, expressed his pride at the meticulous efforts exerted by the restorers and the professional manner in which they executed the work.
The tomb belonged to the two brothers Ip Pamani and Pa Mehyt, sons of Hor Nefer and Tashret Hor Segem. It is composed of a square-shaped antechamber leading to a triangular burial chamber that features an oblong burial niche in its western wall. The tomb is famous for its vivid astronomical scenes and richly ornamented funerary imagery, but especially for its rare ceiling that depicting two zodiac signs, each concerning one of the brothers.
The tomb was discovered more than 150 years ago; it was first documented by British archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie in 1906–1907.
Athribis was part of the ninth Upper (southern) Egyptian nome, and is a key archaeological site that played a significant role in the late Greek and early Roman eras in Egypt, also in the Christian centuries during the the early development of monasticism. The sprawling site includes temples, cemeteries, quarries, industrial workshops, and 6th-century hermit cells, convent, and church.
Watani International
14 July 2025 Comments
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