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Tomb discovered in Aswan, with 20 mummies

2022-01-15T07:53:57.455Z


A tomb with about 20 mummies, most of which are still well preserved, was discovered in Egypt, west of Aswan, by an Italian-Egyptian archaeological mission, led by the State University of Milan (ANSA)


A tomb with about 20 mummies, most of which are still well preserved, was discovered in Egypt, west of Aswan, by an Italian-Egyptian archaeological mission, led by the State University of Milan.


It is a Greco-Roman tomb carved into the rock and "it is a common tomb that accommodates more than one family", explained Patrizia Piacentini, professor of Egyptology at the Milanese university and head of mission on the Italian side.



The archaeologist added that important finds have been unearthed, such as offering tables, stone panels written in hieroglyphic characters, a copper necklace engraved in Greek, a series of wooden statues of the bird with a human head "Ba "(personification of the life principle) and parts of colored cartons (a material used to build funeral masks), still reports the site.



The tomb is made up of two parts, said the director general of antiquities of Aswan and Nubia, Abdel-Moneim Said Mahmoud: the first is a rectangular building containing an entrance built with sandstone blocks covered by a mud brick vault; the second part leads from the entrance to a rectangular courtyard carved into the rock in which there are four burial chambers.

The tomb discovered in Aswan, indicated with the initials AGH032 and already looted in antiquity, was hidden by a well-preserved rectangular structure, which shows important traces of a mysterious fire that also affected the burial.

A huge landfill containing animal bones, pottery fragments, offering tables and plates inscribed in hieroglyphics covered the east wall of the structure, suggesting its use as a votive place.

This is the first structure of this type found in the Aga Khan necropolis.

A man's mummy was found near the east wall of the structure and, next to it, a copper necklace with a plaque engraved in Greek that mentions his name, Nikostratos.

Originally, it was placed in the tomb which was soon discovered under the structure and later brought out by ancient thieves.


Copper necklace with Greek inscription of a man called Nikostratos (source: Piacentini, University of Milan)

The tomb has a room overlooked by four burial chambers dug deep into the rock.

In the room, in front of the entrance, a terracotta sarcophagus was discovered containing the mummy of a child and a beautiful cartonnage (a kind of decorated papier-mache that covered the mummies).

Another child mummy, found in one of the burial chambers, was x-rayed and shows a plaque on the chest inside.

Almost 30 mummies were deposited inside the four tunnels dug into the rock, some in an exceptional state of conservation, others with bandages and cartonnage cut by ancient thieves, who probably used a knife that was discovered among the mummies.

Some mummified bodies were of elderly people, as evidenced by visible osteoarthritis, others were of women or small children, including a newborn.

The discovery is the result of a mission carried out between May and October 2021 by the Egyptian-Italian Mission at West Aswan (EIMAWA), directed by Patrizia Piacentini, Professor of Egyptology and Egyptian Archeology at the University of Milan and Abdelmoneim Said, Director General of the Antiquities of Aswan and Nubia (SCA)

Source: ansa

All tech articles on 2022-01-15

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