Qubbet el-Hawa Necropolis

Qubbet el-Hawa, meaning ‘Dome of the Wind,’ is a necropolis of ancient Egyptian officials on the west bank of the Nile opposite Aswan. Its tombs were cut into the rock on artificial terraces beneath an Islamic shrine. By 2022, around 100 tombs had been identified. Most date from the Sixth to the Twenty-Second Dynasties, although burials range from the Old Kingdom to the Greco-Roman period. The tombs typically have a central columned hall with smaller subsidiary chambers. Some are decorated with paintings and ornamental plaster, while cracks were repaired with lime-and-sand mortar mixed with gypsum. Notable examples include the tomb of Sarenput II, with six pilasters and a burial chamber, and the tomb of Mekhu, which has 16 columns and dates to the reign of Pepi II.

The tombs of Mekhu and Sabni at Qubbet el-Hawa belong to a father and son from the reign of Pepi II of the Sixth Dynasty. The family was extremely wealthy, and both men served as nomarchs of Elephantine. According to legend, Mekhu, described as ‘overseer of foreign lands’ and ‘hereditary prince,’ died in the desert during his final expedition to Wawat. Sabni then set out with one hundred donkeys, priests, oils, honey, and cloth to recover and mummify his father. Another unusual burial is Tomb 33, where the half-brothers Heqaib III and Heqaib-ankh may have been interred around 1830 BC during the Twelfth Dynasty. Unlike the other tombs, its orientation aligns with the winter and summer solstices, which archaeologists interpret as a symbol of the soul’s cycle of rebirth.