Beni Hassan

Site of a series of rock tombs of the 12th Dynasty, about 2.600 B.C., cut in the barren hillside overlooking the Nile, ab. half-way between its mouth and Thebes. These tombs are famous for their Proto-Doric columns, anticipating the earliest known Greek Doric ab. 2.000 years, and for their paintings of domestic scenes, daily life, and occupations of ancient Egypt.