Tuna el-Gebel served as the cemetery of ancient Hermopolis, the city of the god Thoth, and the site combines several distinct elements. The most famous monument is the Tomb of Petosiris, a small free-standing chapel from around 300 BC built for a high priest of Thoth. Its reliefs are a striking fusion of Egyptian and Greek styles, with figures shown in traditional Egyptian pose but wearing Hellenistic clothing.
Below ground lies a vast catacomb system of ibis and baboon burials, both species sacred to Thoth. Pilgrims would buy and offer mummified animals at the temple above, which were then interred in galleries cut into the limestone bedrock. The catacombs extend for kilometres and contain perhaps four million ibis mummies. A small section is open to visitors. The site also includes the Tomb of Isadora, a Roman-period burial of a young woman who drowned in the Nile.