Holy Family in Egypt - Tour the sites and meet the people at Holy Family sites in Egypt

The Upper Egypt Tour

Tell El-Amarna

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According to tradition, the Holy Family crossed the Nile to Tell El-Amarna, the city created by Pharaoh Akhenaton, the first and only pharaoh who proclaimed there is one God. There, in the plain desert, we find 25 rock-cut pharaonic tombs. Some of these pharaonic tombs have later been used by Christian monks and hermits and probably earlier as a place of refuge and shelter from persecution in the Roman period. In one tomb we find the arch of a Christian altar, clearly indicating this tomb was once used as a church. Amazingly in theses ancient tombs they still have their beautiful colors as a witness of 3,300 year old pharaonic art at Tell El–Amarna.

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Sunrays on a wall of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna. The pharaonic King Akhenaton believed in the existence of one god, which was the sun, therefore we find it frequently engraved on the walls of the tombs during his reign.

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Engravings on a wall of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna, of a farmer catching two oxen by their horns.

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Sunrays engraved on a wall of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna. Each ray ends with a hand providing blessings to the man standing under the sun.

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A sign on the door of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna clarifying that this tomb of King Akhenaton had been later used by Christian monks and hermits as a refuge and shelter from persecution.

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The steps of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna leading to its second story. The pharaonic tombs usually consisted of more than one level.

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A sculpture on a wall of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna of a bird standing over its nest.

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A view of the desert plain of Tell El-Amarna with steps leading to a pharaonic tomb among the 25 rock tombs that still exist at Tell El-Amarna.

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The entrance of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna.

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Engraving on a rock wall of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna of a soldier handling the horse of his carriage.

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The interior of a pharaonic tomb at Tell El-Amarna, with the arch of an altar made by monks and hermits who escaped to this faraway place as a refuge and shelter during the period of persecution against Christians.