El-Qusiya Attractions

Nazali Ganub (west bank of the Nile). Beyond the railroad and the lbrahimiya Canal is the town of El-Qusiya, the ancient Cussae, in which, according to Aelian, Aphrodite Urania (i.e. Hathor), mistress of the heavens, and a cow were worshiped. The ancient Egyptian name of the town was Kis. It was the capital of the Lower Sycamore nome of Upper Egypt. 3mi/5km west of Nazali Ganub is Meir, and some 4.5mi/7km beyond this is the necropolis of Kis, with rock tombs belonging to dignitaries of the sixth and 12th Dynasties and their relatives. Of particular interest are the tombs of Senbi, son of Ukhhotep (reign of Amenemhet I) and his son Ukh-hotep (reign of Sesostris I), with reliefs (some of them in naturalistic style) which are among the best of their kind in the Middle Kingdom. Southwest of Nazali Ganub, on the fringes of the desert, is the large Coptic Monastery of Deir el-Maharraq, traditionally the most southerly point at which the Holy Family rested on their flight into Egypt.