Minya

The province

Get to know Minya

Minya is in Middle Egypt, about 250 km south of Cairo, on the banks of the Nile. The provincial capital, Minya, has a riverside avenue and is the starting point for archaeological sites on both banks.

At Beni Hasan, on the east bank, rock-cut cliff tombs from the Middle Kingdom feature paintings of daily life: wrestlers, hunters, craftsmen and animals. Further south, at Tell el-Amarna, lie the remains of Akhetaten, the capital founded by Pharaoh Akhenaten for the worship of the solar disk Aton, with tombs cut into the hills and the layouts of palaces and temples.

On the west bank, Tuna el-Gebel was the cemetery of the city of Hermopolis, with the tomb of Petosiris, decorated in both Egyptian and Greek styles, and underground galleries containing mummies of ibises and baboons, animals associated with the god Thoth. At El Ashmunein, the site of Hermopolis, there are colossal statues of baboons.

Minya receives fewer visitors than Luxor and Aswan and has sites with few people. Long Nile cruises between Cairo and Luxor call in the governorate at some times of the year.