Archaeologists in Egypt on Saturday unearthed human and animal mummification workshops and tombs dating back 4,000 years in the ancient burial ground of Saqqara, around 30 kilometres (roughly 18.5 miles) south of Egypt’s capital Cairo.
Egypt’s tourism and antiquities ministry said that the workshops, which house the mummified humans and animals, date back to ancient Egypt’s 30th dynasty, which reigned about 2,400 years ago.
In one of the workshops, the researchers had “found several rooms equipped with stony beds where the deceased lay down for mummification,” the ministry said.
Apart from that, clay pots and other items apparently used to mummify humans and sacred animals were also found at the site in Saqqara.
Saqqara was once a part of Egypt’s ancient capital of Memphis, said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
“We discovered the biggest embalming — we call it house — or workshop, one for humans and one for animals,” Waziri told reporters at the UNESCO World Heritage site, reported Reuters news agency.
The workshops and tombs date back to the 30th pharaonic dynasty (380 BC to 343 BC) and to the Ptolemaic period (305 BC to 30 BC), he said.
The animal workshop was made with mud and stone floors, and was found alongside bronze tools that would have been used in the mummification process.
Five beds made out of stone were found standing still inside the room, which would have been used to mummify the most sacred animals.
Tombs belong to two protests
The discovered tombs are of two priests, one dating back to the 24th century BC and the other to the 14th century BC.
The earliest belonged to Ne Hesut Ba, who was the head of scribes and priest of the gods Horus and Maat in the Old Kingdom’s fifth dynasty.
The second tomb belonged to Qadish priest named Men Kheber from the 18th dynasty (around 1400 BC). His tomb was carved in rock and had depictions of himself “in different positions.”
It also contained a 1-meter-long (roughly 1 yard) alabaster statue.
Mohamed Youssef, director of the Saqqara archaeological site said the tomb walls were decorated with depictions of “daily life, agriculture, and hunting scenes.”
Egypt banking on archaeological findings to boost tourism
The Egyptian government has been strongly pushing for new archaeological discoveries and showcasing them to international media and diplomats in the hopes of reviving beleaguered tourism industry in the country.
Cairo aims to revive the industry that suffered from political turmoil and the COVID-19 pandemic and fallout from the conflict in Ukraine.
Economic data showed tourism revenues climbing to $7.3 billion in the second half of 2022, a 25.7 per cent increase compared with the previous year.
(With inputs from agencies)
