Architecture
Senusret III’s tomb, at Dashur, is a mud-brick pyramid, but the most
characteristic funerary monuments of the Middle Kingdom are rock-
cut tombs. These tombs, which also existed during the Old Kingdom,
became especially popular during the Middle Kingdom and largely
replaced the mastaba as the standard Egyptian tomb type.
BENI HASANSome of the best-preserved Middle Kingdom
tombs are at Beni Hasan. Hollowed out of the cliffs, these tombs
(FIG. 3-18) often have a shallow columnar porch, which led into a
columned hall and then into a burial chamber. In the 12th Dynasty
tomb of Amenemhet, the columns in the hall (FIG. 3-19) serve no
supporting function because, like the porch columns, they are con-
tinuous parts of the rock fabric. (Note the broken column in the rear
suspended from the ceiling like a stalactite.) The column shafts are
fluted with vertical channels in a manner similar to later Greek
columns, and there is no doubt that the Greeks knew about and em-
ulated many aspects of Egyptian architecture (see Chapter 5). Ar-
chaeologists believe fluting derived from the dressing of softwood
trunks with the rounded cutting edge of the adze. Fluted stone66 Chapter 3 EGYPT UNDER THE PHARAOHS
3-19Interior hall of the rock-cut
tomb of Amenemhet (tomb BH 2),
Beni Hasan, Egypt, 12th Dynasty,
ca. 1950–1900 bce.
The columnar hall of Amenemhet’s
tomb was carved out of the living rock,
which explains the suspended broken
column at the rear. The shafts are
fluted in a manner Greek architects
later emulated.
3-18Rock-cut tombs BH 3–5,
Beni Hasan, Egypt, 12th Dynasty,
ca. 1950–1900 bce.
The tombs of Beni Hasan are charac-
teristic of the Middle Kingdom. Hol-
lowed out of the cliffs, these tombs
often have a shallow columnar porch,
which leads into a columned hall and
burial chamber.