Menia

To get there, most travel agents drive to Menia via Sohag to visit Abydos then Menia, or coming from Cairo to stay in Menia then visit Bani Hassan and Ashmoneen.

- Amarna

The city of Akhenaton at 'AMARNA was erected by AKHENATEN (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.) in honor of the god ATEN, and it became the source of an artistic revolution that challenged many of the old conventions. The rigid grandeur of the earlier periods was abandoned in favor of a more naturalistic style. Royal personages were no longer made to appear remote or godlike. In many scenes, in fact, Akhenaton and his queen, NEFERTITI, are depicted as a loving couple surrounded by their offspring. Physical deformities are frankly portrayed, or possibly imposed upon the figures, and the royal household is painted with protruding bellies, enlarged heads, and peculiar limbs. The famed painted bust of Nefertiti, however, demonstrates a mastery that was also reflected in the magnificent pastoral scenes adorning the palace. Only fragments remain, but they provide a wondrous range of animals, plants, and water scenes that stand unrivaled for anatomical sureness, color, and vitality. The palaces and temples of 'Amarna were destroyed in later reigns, by pharaohs such as HOREMHAB (r. 1319-1307 B.C.E.), who razed the site in order to use the materials for personal projects of reign.

- Beni Hasan

(Menat-Khufu) A site north of HERMOPOLIS, MAGNA which was a NOME stronghold in the First Intermediate Period (2134-2040 B.C.E.) and in the Twelfth Dynasty (1991-1783 B.C.E.), the tombs of the monarchs of the Middle Kingdom (2040-1640 B.C.E.) were discovered in the upper range of the Oryx nome necropolis area there, all having elaborate chambers, columns, and offering chapels, with elegant vestibules. Some 39 tombs were found. Almost 900 burials from the Sixth Dynasty (2323-2150 B.C.E.) to the First Intermediate Period (2134-2040 B.C.E.) are in the lower cemetery, now stripped of decorations. Thirty-nine Middle Kingdom TOMBS were also erected on a bluff at Beni Hasan, but only 12 were decorated. The style of this age employed a false door and lotus bud columns. Some burial shafts were also used, as well as columned antechambers. Paintings depict the gods ANUBIS and OSIRIS in the tombs, as well as military events, mythical animals, and daily routines. Noted tombs include those of Kheti, BAKHT, KHNUMHOTEP (1), and others. These are famous for paintings of historical events in the area and provide biographical details of these Middle Kingdom officials. HATSHEPSUT (r. 1473-1458 B.C.E.) started the unique shrine located just to the south of Beni Hasan. The Greeks named it the
SPEOS ARTEMIDOS and it is now called stabl antar, the Stable of Antar. The temple on the site was completed by SETI I (r. 1306-1290 B.C.E.), and it was dedicated to PAKHET, the lion goddess. The modern name of the site, Beni Hasan al-Shurruq, is derived from an Arabic tribe that settled in the region in the 18th century. Quality limestone is plentiful in the cliffs of the area.

- Ashmunein:

Ashmunein village is a part of Malawi in Minya, near the ruins of the city of Khmun in the Paranoiac period, the Greeks called it: or: Herrmobolis Magna, the Ashmunein in the ancient history where the "Khmun God" City also has been based for the worship of Thoth, the god of wisdom