The
new discovery has yielded a large cache of figurines and a fully preserved
mummy. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
In
the middle of the desert, six kilometres south of Tuna Al-Gabal archaeological
site, Egyptian and international media gathered to witness the announcement of
a new discovery.
Five
showcases displaying the artefacts uncovered from burial sites in the cemetery
were guarded by inspectors. Minister of Antiquities Kaled El-Enany, who was on
site, announced the discovery of a 26th Dynasty cemetery that consists of a
large number of burial shafts.
The
discovery was made out by an Egyptian mission led by Mostafa Waziri, secretary
general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), who started excavations at
end of 2017.
“Excavation
work is scheduled to last for five years in an attempt to uncover all the
burials of the cemetery,” El-Enany told Ahram Online. He explained that the
discovery is still fresh, and many more are to come as excavation continues.
Waziri
said that in the last three months the mission has discovered a group of tombs
and burials that belong to priests of the ancient Egyptian god Thoth, the main
deity of the 15th nome and its capital Al-Ashmounein.
One
the discovered tombs belongs to a high-priest of god Thoth, “Hersa-Essei”. The
tomb houses 13 burials in which was found a large number of ushabti figurines
carved in faience. A collection of 1,000 figurines are in a very good state of
conservation while other statuettes were found broken in pieces.
“Restorers
are now busy collecting all of the parts for restoration,” Waziri pointed out.
He continued that four canopic jars made of alabaster with lids bearing the
faces of the four sons of the god Horus were also unearthed.
They are in a very
good state of conservation and still contain the mummified inner organs of the
deceased. The jars are decorated with hieroglyphic texts showing the name and
titles of its respective owner.
The
mummy of high-priest “Djehuty-Irdy-Es” was also found. The mummy is decorated with a bronze collar
depicting the god Nut stretching her wings to protect the deceased according to
ancient Egyptian belief. It is also decorated with a collection of blue and red
precious beads as well as bronze gilded sheets, two eyes carved in bronze and
ornamented with ivory and crystal beads.
Four
amulets of semi-precious stones were also found on the mummy. It is decorated
with hieroglyphic texts, one of which is engraved with a phrase saying:
"Happy New Year.”
The
mission has also unearthed 40 limestone sarcophagi of different shapes and sizes,
some of them with anthropoid lids decorated with the names and different titles
of their owners.
Another family tomb was uncovered in the cemetery, Waziri
said. It houses a collection of gigantic sarcophagi of different shapes and
sizes, ushabti figurines bearing the names of their owners who were priests of
the gods during their time. Other funerary collections showing the skills and
art tastes of the ancient Egyptians were also found.
Al-Gurifa
site was subject to an attempt at illegal excavation in 2002, a matter that led
the SCA at the time to start comprehensive excavation work on site in 2002 and
2004 under the supervision of archaeologist Atta Makram. In 2004, the site was declared an
archaeological site under the guard of the SCA. In 2017, excavation work
resumed to uncover the part of the cemetery of the New Kingdom and Late Period.
The
cemeteries of the Old Kingdom, First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom
were on the east bank of the Nile in Al-Sheikh Saad and Eeir Al-Barsha area. The Ptolemaic period of the cemetery was on
the west bank of the Nile at Tuna Al-Gabal.
Three
of the mummies reveal deliberate desecration. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
According
to Sonbol, the second phase of the project will begin shortly and will involve
the restoration of several more mummies. He
explained that during the recently completed work, the team noted that two
mummies have "screaming" faces, a term used to describe mummies with
open mouths. The hands of a third mummy were bound with rope.
