<P> While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle Kingdom, spanning the 21st to 17th centuries BCE (Middle Bronze Age). </P> <P> To the south of the cemetery is a temple constructed by Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, dedicated to the local goddess Pakhet . It is known as the Cave of Artemis, because the Greeks identified Pakhet with Artemis, and the temple is subterranean . </P> <P> Provincial governors in the Middle Kingdom continued to be buried in decorated rock - cut tombs in their local cemeteries, carried over from the First Intermediate Period, at sites such as Beni Hasan . There is evidence of a re-organization of the system of government during the 12th Dynasty . During the First Intermediate Period and for some of the Middle Kingdom period it was common for Nomarchs (someone who oversees / controls a government specified area) to be hereditary positions; the elite did not depend on the king to legitimize their power as much as they had in the Old Kingdom . In the 12th Dynasty the power of the Nomarchs began to be curtailed, and provincial governors were appointed or at least confirmed by the king . </P> <P> There are 39 ancient tombs here of Middle Kingdom (ca . 21st to 19th centuries BC) nomarchs of the Oryx nome, who governed from Hebenu . Due to the quality of, and distance to the cliffs in the west, these tombs were constructed on the east bank . There is a spatial distribution in this cemetery (there are two cemeteries here: the upper range and the lower necropolis) associated with the different levels of resources available to the deceased; the most important people were buried near the top of the cliff . In the lower cemetery there are 888 shaft tombs, dating to the Middle Kingdom, that were excavated by John Garstang; for the most part these tombs shared a similar general design which included a small chamber or recess at the foot of the shaft (facing south) to receive the coffin and the funeral deposits . </P>

Who was buried in the rock-cut tombs at beni-hasan