Deir El Bersha

Deir El Bersha is a Coptic village in Middle Egypt. It is located on the east bank of the Nile in the Minya Governorate, to the south of Antinopolis and almost opposite the city of Mallawi.OverviewDuring the Middle Kingdom it was the chief cemetery of the governors ("nomarchs") of the 15th Upper Egyptian Nome, dating back to the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties. The most spectacular of the tombs is that of the Great Overlord of the Hare (15th) Nome called Djehutihotep. He lived during the reigns of Amenemhat II, Senusret II and Senusret III. In the spring of 1915, the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, expedition dug at Bersha. They excavated a tomb (designated number 10A) that belonged to an early Middle Kingdom nomarch named Djehutynakht. The tomb had been looted, but an enormous collection of wooden models representing scenes of daily life and boats remained. The tomb also contained the extraordinary painted coffins of Djehutynakht and his wife. The grave goods are now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.