It is famous, above all, for being the place where the tomb of Petosiris is, high priest of Thot who lived at the end of the 4th century BC. C., shortly before the second Persian invasion.
Border stele
The oldest monument in the area is one of the border stelae of Ajenatón, in a steep cut of a mountain, Stela A, which according to the texts, served to mark the northwest limit of Amarna with its agricultural backcountry.
Excavated in the rock, a funerary chapel can be seen and at the top of the stele, there is Ajenatón and his wife worshiping the solar disk.
Catacombs
Subsequently, catacombs (As-Saradeb) were excavated in the necropolis, and along interconnected corridors underground, which some believe could extend to Hermopolis, thousands of sacred mummies of falcons, baboons and ibis are stored that were ritually sacrificed by priests of the Temple of Thot in nearby Hermopolis.
The oldest elements found in the place are aramaic administrative papyri from the 5th century BC. A central chapel contains a statue to the god Thot in the form of a baboon.
Tomb of Petosiris
Near the modern entrance to the catacombs is the Tomb of Petosiris, built like a temple (which looks quite like Dendera), including an entrance portico and a cult chapel. The exterior is decorated in typical Late Period Egyptian style, while the portico is decorated in a mixed Egyptian-Greek style with scenes of daily life and offering bearers, and the chapel contains religious scenes, here respecting the Egyptian canon. The tomb was built around the time of the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great and appears to have been decorated in this way to win the favor of the new rulers.
Isadora's tomb and chapel
Isadora was a rich and beautiful young woman who lived in Hermopolis when the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117 BC-138 BC) ruled over Egypt. In love with a young soldier from Antinopolis (current Sheikh Ibada), they wanted to get married. However, when her father refused, she decided to elope. Unfortunately, Isadora drowned when crossing the Nile, so according to legend, would achieve posthumous sanctity. Her body was mummified, aided by the desert land, and her father built an elaborate tomb, with an elegy inscribed in Greek:
"It has really been the nymphs, oh Isadora, the nymphs daughters of the waters, who have built this chamber for you. Nilo, the first-born of the daughters of the Nile, began the work by shaping a conch shell like the ones at its bottom" .
At some point after her death, a cult developed around her grave. Even today, her mummified remains, encased in glass, can still be seen in her mausoleum.
To the north of the necropolis the Coptic monastery called Deir Nazlet Tuna was established.
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