Deir el-Bersha Quarry and Nomarch Tombs
Bersha Quarries · El Bersha · Deir el Bersha Zone 2
Old to Middle Kingdom (2600–1650 BCE)·Egyptian (Hare Nome)·🇪🇬 Minya Governorate, Deir el-Bersha, east desert wadi, Egypt
About
About Deir el-Bersha Quarry and Nomarch Tombs
Middle Kingdom nomarch tombs and limestone quarry road at Deir el-Bersha (Zone 2). Flanking wadi's alabaster quarry of Hatnub (4 km) supplied Chephren and Pepi. Famous colossus-on-sledge painting in Djehutihotep tomb (1900 BCE) shows pourer's water. Quarry road with sledge ruts.
Why it mattersColossus-on-sledge demonstrates friction physics and Hatnub provenance.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Sledge water-pourer's efficacy experiment (Fowler 2014)
- 02Quarry road gradient
Theories
- 01Friction reduction by wet sand (Fall et al.)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Quarries Old Kingdom; tombs 2050–1650 BCE (11th-12th dyn)
- Period
- Old to Middle Kingdom (2600–1650 BCE)
- Culture
- Egyptian (Hare Nome)
- Purpose
- Limestone-alabaster quarry and nomarch cemetery
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
2600 BCE
Hatnub alabaster quarrying
2050 BCE
Nomarch tombs cut (Ahanakht)
1900 BCE
Djehutihotep colossus painting deposited
2010
Leuven expedition quarry road mapping
On the ground
Structures & features
27.7500° N · 30.8800° E · 180 m · 2 mapped features
Tomb of Djehutihotep
rock cut tombRock-cut tomb with colossus sledge painting 1900 BCE
27.7510° N · 30.8810° EBersha Quarry Drag Road
quarrySledge road 5 km with paired ruts 10 cm deep to Hatnub
27.7490° N · 30.8790° E