Archaeologists from Sohag University in Egypt and Freie Universität Berlin in Germany have uncovered the tomb of a Twelfth Dynasty noblewoman while carrying out excavations at Asyut. The tomb has been identified as that of Edi, the daughter of Jifai-Hapi, who was governor of Asyut during the reign of the Twelfth Dynasty Pharaoh Senusret I. The tomb was connected to that of Jifai-Hapi, which in turn is the largest known non-royal tomb from the Twelfth Dynasty.
The tomb was located to the north of that of Jifai-Hapi and was about fifteen metres deep, containing an ornate, highly decorated wooden sarcophagus with a similar inner coffin. The tomb had been looted in antiquity, with the lid of the outer sarcophagus displaced. The body of the occupant had been removed from her coffin and ripped apart, but was still present within the tomb. Examination of her remains suggests that she died before the age of forty, and had a congenital deformation of one foot. Also present in the tomb were a box of utensils and another of statues.
The Twelfth Dynasty was the second dynasty of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, and was a time of military expansion and relative prosperity. Senusret I was the second Pharaoh of this dynasty, ruling from 1971-1926 BC, during which time he waged two successful wars against Nubia to the south, expanding Egyptian rule to the Second Cataract of the Nile (close to Aswan in modern Egypt), as well as building more peaceful trading relationships with the kingdoms of the near east, such as Canaan and Syria.
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