A necropolis of the Hellenistic period with 40 mummies was discovered in the central part of Egypt. This was announced on Saturday by the Minister of Antiquities of Egypt Khaled al-Anani, noting that this is the first archaeological discovery this year.
The necropolis was excavated in the Tuna el-Gabal area in the Al-Minya province, about 300 km south of Cairo. At a depth of about 10 meters underground, there are sarcophagi with mummies of different sex, age and social status. Of the 40 mummies, 10 are for children. The discovery belongs to a joint mission of historians from the archaeological research center of El Minya University and specialists from the Supreme Council for Antiquities.
According to the General Secretary of the Supreme Council Mustafa Waziri, the methods of burying mummies vary: some bodies are wrapped in linen cloth and placed in stone or wooden sarcophagi, some mummies were buried in the sand, some were simply laid on the floor or in underground niches.
As the professor at the Al-Minya University Teyib Abbas explained to the TASS correspondent, different methods of burial indicate that the burials were made in different time periods. “This necropolis was founded in the late period of the pharaonic dynasties, under the Ptolemies (IV-I centuries BC), and was also used in subsequent centuries - already under the Romans and Byzantines (the era ended in the 7th century),” the professor said. "In fact, it is a cemetery of local residents, which was subsequently reused, and we understand this from the deciphering of the names of those who are buried here inscribed directly on the shroud."
According to the scientist, the inscriptions made in places in demotic script, in places in Greek, suggest that the necropolis, in general, was the burial place of representatives of the high classes. “Judging by the inscriptions and decor, the Egyptians are buried here, and later the Greeks,” he added. Most of the mummies are in good condition, but there are some that require restoration. “In fact, we are still at the beginning of the excavation path: during the work we came across the continuation of the necropolis with 20 more mummies, but they are now sent for restoration,” Abbas said.
In February last year, a priestly family necropolis was discovered in the same area, dating from an earlier time period, dating from about the 7th-5th centuries BC. In 2017, another burial ground was found in Tuna el-Gabal - a mass grave of representatives of the nobility of the era of the Middle Kingdom (XXI-XVIII centuries BC).
Dina Pyanykh