Meir is a village in Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...

. It is located on the west bank of the Nile

Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...

, in the Asyut Governorate

Asyut Governorate

Asyut Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It stretches for about 120 km along the banks of the Nile. The capital of the governorate is the city of Asyut.-Etymology:...

, some 7 kilometers west of el-Qusiya. The modern village is situated at coordinates 27°27′00"N 30°45′00"E, while the necropolis

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...

 is located at 27°25′00"N 30°43′00"E.

Overview

Several ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

ian tombs were discovered west of Meir, in a low slope leading on to the desert plateau. The most important of these rock-cut tombs belong to the men who were in charge of the 14th Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...

ian nome

Nome (Egypt)

A nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country...

 during the 6th

Sixth dynasty of Egypt

The sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and V under the group title the Old Kingdom.-Pharaohs:...

 and the 12th dynasties

Twelfth dynasty of Egypt

The twelfth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XIII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom.-Rulers:Known rulers of the twelfth dynasty are as follows :...

. For both these periods, the sequence of tombs is unbroken, and the hereditary office passed from one man to his son or younger brother. Most of the tombs were decorated in relief. Some of their scenes are astonishingly lively, such as the desert-hunt scene in tomb B.1 of Senbi, dating to the reign of Amenemhat I

Amenemhat I

Amenemhat I, also Amenemhet I, was the first ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty . He ruled from 1991 BC to 1962 BC...

. In the latest of the tombs, that of Wekhhotep (tomb C.1), the walls were only painted.

In the past, Meir suffered much from illicit digging. One of the most prominent archeologists who worked there was Aylward M. Blackman

Aylward M. Blackman

Aylward Manley Blackman was a British Egyptologist. Born in Dawlish, Devon, he was the leader of an excavation in Sesebi, Sudan under the Egypt Exploration Society in the mid-1930s. He was also the tutor of the Crown Prince of Ethiopia from 1937 to 1939. Blackman died in 1956 in...

.