New Discovery, Sakkara "3": Egypt discovers 13 mummies believed to be 2,500 years old.

Egyptian authorities have discovered a collection of more than a dozen coffins believe to hold human mummies that are more than two millennia old.

The 13 chambers were uncovered piled up in a well in Saqqara, an ancient site located around 20 miles south of Cairo, Egypt's capital, according to Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

After being found almost 40 feet deep underground, archaeologists said the chambers were protected from weathering, leaving original details visible on the coffins' exteriors.

Khaled El-Enany, Egypt's minister of tourism and antiques, said it was "an indescribable feeling when you witness a new archeological discovery" in a Twitter post.

In a Facebook video, one of the archaeologists says it is a unique find. "I have never seen this before," he says.

Egypt only last week opened its archaeological sites and museums after months of closures because of the coronavirus pandemic. Such finds are not only crucial to Egypt's heritage but also its economy.

Archaeologists also found four caskets holding mummies in Saqqara earlier this year.

Source:thenational

New Discovery in Saqqara "2": Egyptian Authorities Have Discovered 13 Completely Sealed 2,500-Year-Old Coffins.

An unusual cache of at least 13 wooden coffins dating back to 2,500 years ago has been discovered in the desert necropolis of Saqqara in Egypt.

What makes these coffins so special among the thousands interred in the tomb complex is the fact they have remained intact for millennia, and are still completely sealed - hundreds of years after their inhabitants died.

According to Egypt's recently minted Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the coffins were found in a burial shaft 11 metres (36 feet) below the ground, stacked on top of each other. They're so well preserved, even some of the colours painted on the wood are still intact. An initial analysis has found that the coffins have likely been sealed since they were buried.

Inside the burial shaft, three sealed niches were also found. Minister Khaled Al-Anani said that it's likely there are more coffins in the shaft yet to be discovered.

Saqqara is believed to have served as the necropolis for Memphis, once the capital of ancient Egypt. For 3,000 years, the Egyptians interred their dead there; as such, it's become a site of much archaeological interest.

It's not just the high-ranking nobility and officials buried there, with their grave goods, their cartouches, their mummified animals, and their richly appointed tombs. Those are more likely to be found, since their interment was more elaborate - but recent excavations have turned up simpler burials, likely of people from the middle or working class.

Even the rich burials are not immune to outside influences. Over the millennia, many such tombs have been looted. So finding a cache of coffins that have been undisturbed and unopened for all that time means the possibility of untouched grave goods inside.

Given that the coffins are made of wood, and were buried in a dry location, the possibility of any eerie liquid preserved within is probably quite low.

The potential grave goods, however, could not only tell us who was buried, but how important they were. The discovery is likely to add to our ever-growing understanding of ancient Egyptian funerary customs.

The names and identities of the people buried in the coffins are yet to be discovered. But, as excavation work at the site continues, this information is expected to be found soon, as well as the total number of coffins buried in the shaft.

Meanwhile, the Ministry is set to release a series of promotional videos on the discovery - the first adventure-themed promo you can watch above features Indiana Jones-esque music, complete with a cliffhanger about a future announcement.

Egypt reopened cultural tourism to museums and archaeological sites on 1 September, so we can probably expect more announcements from the Ministry in the coming days and weeks, as the government works to renew tourist interest in visiting Egypt's antiquities.

Source: Sciencealert

New Discovery, Sakkara"1": Egypt discovers 2,500-year-old intact coffins

Egypt announced on Sunday the discovery of a collection of more than 13 intact sealed coffins dating back to 2,500 years ago.

According to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the coffins were found at an archeological site in Saqqara necropolis in Giza

The coffins, along with three sealed niches, were unearthed inside an 11-meter-deep shaft, the statement added.

Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anany and Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), visited the site on Sunday and inspected the excavation work in the shaft.

“The discovery marks the largest number of coffins found in one burial place since the discovery of the Asasif Cachette,” the minister said, referring to the discovery of 30 ancient coffins in October 2019 at Asasif cemetery in Upper Egypt’s Luxor Province.

“The discovery in Saqqara includes a wonderful collection of colored wooden coffins whose colors and inscriptions are still in a good condition despite the passage of 2,500 years,” Waziri, who leads the Egyptian archeological mission in Saqqara, told Xinhua news agency.

Waziri said the exact number of the unearthed coffins, as well as the identity and

titles of their owners, have not yet been determined, but they will be found out in the coming few days as the excavation work still continues.

 

“The mission continues excavation work on the site and it is expected to result in many other new discoveries of shafts, colored wooden coffins, and statues,” the SCA chief added.

Initial studies revealed that the coffins are completely sealed and have not been opened since they were buried inside the shaft, according to the ministry.

Source: CGTN 

 

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Exclusive Video: Inside the Newly Discovered Tomb in Sakkara

Exclusive video showing Dr. Mostafa Waziry talking about the discovery and the tomb. 

Who is the tomb owner? What was his job? The description of the tomb contents? What is yet to be discovered?

New Discovery, Saqqara: 'Exceptionally Well-Preserved' Tomb of Fifth Dynasty Royal Priest Discovered in Egypt's Saqqara

An Egyptian archaeological mission has uncovered an “exceptionally well-preserved” tomb belonging to a Fifth Dynasty royal priest at Saqqara, the antiquities ministry has said. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The mission at the Sacred Animal Necropolis in Saqqara discovered the tomb of a royal purification priest named “Wahtye” from the reign of King Nefer Ir-Ka-Re, Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany announced. A large number of foreign and Arab ambassadors and members of Egypt’s parliament attended an event announcing the new discovery.

El-Enany said that the tomb is exceptionally well-preserved and painted, with walls decorated with colourful scenes depicting the owner of the tomb with his mother, wife and family as well as a number of niches with large coloured statues of the deceased and his family. El-Enany describes it as “the most beautiful tomb” found this year.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the head of the excavation mission, said that the mission was able to reach the facade of the tomb during its second excavation season in November, but was not able to enter it then as the doors were sealed.

Excavations continued, and after removing the debris from the tomb’s façade, a lintel on top of the tomb’s door was revealed, inscribed with three hieroglyphic lines: the name and different titles of the owner, who was the royal purification priest, the supervisor of King Nefer-Ir-Ka-Re and the inspector of the holy boat.

Waziri added the tomb’s walls have several coloured inscriptions showing the name of the wife of the tomb’s owner (Weret Ptah), and many scenes featuring the deceased with his mother (Merit Meen) and his family, as well as scenes depicting the fabrication of pottery and wine, making religious offering, musical performances, boats ailing, the manufacturing of the funerary furniture, and hunting. Inside the tomb there are 18 niches displaying 24 large coloured statues carved in rock and depicting the owner of the tomb and his family.

Meanwhile, the lower part of the tomb contains 26 small niches with 31 statues of a yet unidentified person standing, or in the seated scribe position. “This statue might be of the deceased or a member of his family,” Waziri said.

Sabry Farag, the general director of the Saqqara archaeological site, said that the tomb consists of a rectangular hall about 10 metres long from north to south, 3 metres wide from east to west, and about 3 metres high, with a basement at the end of the tomb. Waziri said that the tomb contains five burial shafts, all of which will be excavated, in addition to two false doors, one belonging to the deceased and the second to his mother.

Source: Ahram Online

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