Mountain of The Dead (Gebel el-Mawta)

Signboard

This is the first place you'll see if you come straight from Mersa Matruh. Located at the entrance of Sīwa.

Mountain of The Dead as seen from Shali

It is a large ancient graveyard on a hill. Many tombs here can be dated back to Ptolemaic and Roman period (3^rd -2^nd century BC). Some say, the graveyard has existed since Paleolithic and Neolithic era. Whatever.

Necropolis of Mountain of The Dead

Last year, Malaysian students were needed to pay entrance fee for only LE 1. Now, it’s LE 15 per head.

Some of the artefacts scattered on the hill

The graveyard can be divided into two areas: one area for commoner’s burial (south) and one for elite’s burial (north). Many skeletons are scattered on the hill but it would be insolent to take them home. It’s not yours!

Burial area for commoners

Head of femur (left); oblique fracture. Condyles of femur (right).

Burial area for elites

A tomb built for commoner

A tomb built for elites

Some of the ancient paintings inside a tomb. Vandalized.

The hill hosts the Tomb of Siamun (6^th pharaoh of 21^st Dynasty during Third Intermediate Period), the Tomb of Mesu-Isis, the Tomb of Niperpathot, the Tomb of the Crocodile and a 1,500-year-old tomb containing Graeco-Roman mummies. Most of them are chained/locked. Asked the guardians to open if you want to get inside and don’t forget to offer them some baksheesh. Some people said, there is an ancient painting inside one of these tombs telling the love story of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. I don’t know whether this is true or just a bullcrap. Better read Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra texts.