Mustafa Kamel Necropolis Alexandria | The Pharaonic Monuments in Alexandria Egypt | Egyptian history during the Greco -Roman era
Opening Hours, Tours, Tickets, and Information about Mostafa Kamel Necropolis
Alexandria was the capital of Egypt for more than 600 years starting from 323 BC till 300 AD during the Greco-Roman era. So, it is noteworthy that Alexandria includes the largest group of antiquities remaining from the Greco-Roman era in Egypt.
Mustafa Kamel Necropolis address & location
Al Moaaskar Al Romani, Mustafa Kamel WA Bolkli, Sidi Gaber, Alexandria Governorate. The location is in Roushdy (west of Stanley Bridge). As you are heading towards the Corniche from the tram track the entrance is on the left.
When Mostafa Kamel’s necropolis was discovered?
The director of the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria Achile Adriani discovered the necropolis in 1933. He discovered them when they were preparing to make a football field, at that time, four tombs were discovered in two types. Adriani did hard work to reconstruct the necropolis and transform the site into its current state.
Adriani found 6 tombs of which only 4 still preserved now and none of them were intact like most of the Pharaonic tombs get robbed.
Mostafa Kamel’s necropolis is one of the most remarkable examples of Hellenistic funerary architecture in the Mediterranean. The tombs are Ptolemaic tombs that date from the 3rd to the 1st century BC but seem to have remained in use during the Roman era also.
The tombs are all of the similar sizes and each one is unique compared to all the other Hellenistic tombs. Mostafa Kamel’s tombs consist of four tombs carved into the rock. While two of them were carved beneath the surface of the earth and the other two were partially raised above the surface of the earth. The best thing about those tombs is their bright colors and relief inscriptions, which illustrate the everyday life of the dead.
Mostafa Kamel tombs types
There are two types of tombs in Mostafa Kamel’s necropolis, the first type underground and the second one above the ground. Tombs 1 and 2 are of the first type while tombs 3 and 4 are of the second type.
Tomb 1
Tomb 1 is the most important tomb in Mostafa Kamel cemetery, because of its different features; the design of the tomb consists of
Entrance
Stairway
Rectangular courtyard
Altar is in the middle of the courtyard for ritual purposes for a continuous relationship between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Engaged Doric semi-columns surrounded the courtyard
10 rooms surrounded the court from 3 sides north, east, and south sides
The tomb is provided with water facilities between two rooms connecting the basin carved in the floor of one of them and the two tanks in the other room by water pipes.
On the south façade of the court, there are three doorways decorated with six bases supposed to carry Sphinxes.
Above each doorway, there is a rectangular opening, which might have originally been covered with a painted slab-like in the case of the central one. The painting on the slab above the central doorway represents three horsemen pouring libations, with the central rider flanked by two women.
The burial chamber has a rock-cut Kline sarcophagus and on the side walls, there are Loculi where they bury the people.
Tomb 2
The tomb-like tomb 1 starts with
Corridor
Staircase
Underground rectangular court
Altar in the center of the court
Rooms surround the court from the north, west, and south sides
The burial chamber is reachable through a doorway flanked by two Doric semi-columns in the southwest corner
In the center of the chamber, there is a rock-cut sarcophagus in front of which is an offering table. On the lateral walls, there are loculi galleries carved at a later stage.
Tomb 3
This tomb was found in a bad state of preservation but we have a general idea about the design
Stairs
Square open court
The altar is supposed to be in the center
A Setting area to the south side with colored walls
On the north side, the platform at its back there is three doorways.
Behind this façade is an anteroom with a large altar in the center, and behind it, a small funerary chamber with a remarkably preserved sarcophagus.
Tomb 4
Like tomb 3, This tomb is in a bad state of condition, 2 sarcophagi were discovered inside this tomb. There are also loculi galleries and a square altar.
Opening hours of Mustafa Kamel Necropolis Alexandria
From 08:00 AM to 17:00 PM
Entrance ticket prices of Mustafa Kamel Necropolis Alexandria
Adult: EGP 40 (1.6 $)
Students with valid cards: EGP 20(0.8$)
Children aged 6-12 years: EGP 20 (0.8 $)
Conclusion
Thank you for following our blog! I hope you had a great time exploring all that the Mostafa Kamel tombs in Alexandria have to offer. If you have any extra time, I recommend visiting some of the other great attractions that Alexandria has to offer, such as
- The Catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa
- Fort Qaitbay
- Kom el-Dikka – Roman Amphitheatre
- Pompey’s Pillar
- Alexandria National Museum
- Shatby necropolis
- Anfushi Tombs
- Bibliotheca Alexandrina
- Serapeum
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