Category Archives: Archaeological Discoveries

The French archaeological mission, headed by Professor Frederic Colin of the University of Strasbourg, has discovered three wooden coffins in El-Assasif Necropolis in al-Qarnah, located on Luxor’s West Bank.

The coffins were discovered in the outer courtyard of cemetery No. 33 at the archeological site.

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri said in a state ment on Wednesday that the three coffins dated back to the era of the 18th Dynasty, adding that they remain in good condition and bear colorful decorations and hieroglyphics.

The first coffin, designated for a woman named Ti Abo, is 195 cm long and features colorful artwork and hieroglyphic inscriptions, while the second coffin, which belongs to a woman named Rao, measures in at around 190 cm in length and is painted yellow with hieroglyphic inscriptions on a white background, Director-General of West Bank Antiquities in Luxor Fathi Yassin said.

The third coffin is about 180 cm long with white and brown paintings. It is covered with a layer of gypsum and has no writing, he added.

The French archaeological mission has been working in Egypt for two seasons, according to Yassin, and it has already succeeded in uncovering sandstone paintings featuring the names of two senior statesmen, Titi Ankh and Anini.

The mission also discovered a wooden coffin for a man named Boya dating back to the 18th Dynasty.

Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Khaled El-Enany announces today in a press conference a new discovery in Saqqara necropolis carried out by an Egyptian archaeological mission led by Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, at the sacred animals necropolis, where dozens of mummified cats and meticulously mummified scarab beetles along with other mummies of cobras and crocodiles, along with the exceptionally well preserved tomb of the fifth Dynasty royal priest “Wahtye” have been previously uncovered during excavations carried out by the mission last year.

Dr. El-Enany explains that today’s discovery includes a large collection of 75 wooden and bronze statues of cats of different shapes and sizes; a group of mummified cats found inside 25 wooden boxes with lids decorated with hieroglyphic texts; wooden statues of animals and birds among them the apis bull, the mongoose, the ibis, the falcon and the ancient Egyptian god Anubis in the animal form.

The mission has also found, he continues, a very distinguished large scarab made of stone hidden inside a wooden box, two small size scarabs made wood and sandstone; three statues of crocodiles inside them found remains of small crocodiles’ mummies. A collection of ancient Egyptian deities was also unearthed, said Dr. El-Enany, including 73 bronze statuettes depicting god Osiris; six wooden statues of god Ptah-Soker; 11wooden and faience statues of the lioness god Sekhmet as well as a beautifully carved statues of goddess Neith wearing the crown of Lower Egypt
A relief bearing the name of king Psamtik I was also discovered along with a collection of statues of Cobra; amulets; faience amulets of different shapes and sizes; wooden and clay mummies masks and a collection of papyri decorated with drawings showing goddess Tawert.
El-Enay describes the discovery as “a museum by itself as hundred objects have been unearthed here at the Bubastian necropolis in saqqara.” He said that these artifacts belong to the 26 th Dynasty of the seventh century BC, considered as the renaissance era.
During the conference El-Enany announced that today is not the last discovery of the year but there will be another one next month before celebrating the Christmas. He said that studies revealed that five of these mummies may belong to lion cubs as studies revealed.
El-Enany pointed out that French Egyptologist, Alain Zivie has previously uncovered near this necropolis a skeleton of a lion

Dr. Mostafa Waziri, said that the most distinguished items of this discovery are the five mummies of big cats which probably are lion cubs. According to the CT-scan carried out in two of these mummies revealed that the mummies for 95 per cent belong to lion cubs according to the size and shape of the bones of the mummies.
But more studies will be carried out fo more details

A Swedish-Egyptian mission led by Maria Nilsson and John Ward from Lund University has discovered a New Kingdom sandstone workshop and several sculptures during excavations carried out at Gebel El-Silsila archaeological site in Aswan.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the mission discovered among the debris in the workshop a large criosphinx (ram-headed sphinx) statue.

The statue, approximately 5 metres long, 3.5 metres high, and 1.5 metres wide, is carved in a style comparable to the criosphinxes to the south of Khonsu Temple at Karnak. The sphinx is believed to be dated to Amenhotep III of the 18th Dynasty.

Minister of Antiquities Dr.Khaled El-Enany announced today Saturday the first discovery of year 2019 from Tuna El-Gebel archaeological site in Menia.

A joint mission from the Ministry of Antiquities and the Research Center for Archaeological Studies of Menia University has stumbled upon a collection of Ptolemaic burial chambers engraved in rock and filled with a large number of mummies of different sizes and genders.

The Egyptian-Austrian mission working in Kom Ombo has discovered a large number of cylinder seals bears inscriptions of 5th Dynasty King’s names.

Dr. Mostafa Waziri said that the names discovered on one of the seals is the King “Userkaf” as well as King “Neferirkare”. He added “It is the first time that Kom Ombo witness Kings names of Old Kingdom.”

Dr. Irene Forstner-Müller, director of the Austrain Archaeological Institute mission at the site said” The mission started working at the site in 2018 to investigate the history of the town of Kom Ombo. The first season of survey and excavation brought to light a First Intermediate Period Cemetery with the town of the Old Kingdom below it as well as a seal of King “Sahure”. These discoveries emphasise the great importance of old Kom Ombo as an administrative capital in Upper Egypt during the Old Kingdom.

The Swedish-Egyptian mission at Gebel el-Silsila, Aswan Region, led by Dr. Maria Nilsson and John Ward (Lund University), under the supervision of the inspectorates of Aswan and Kom Ombo, has discovered an undecorated shaft tomb (5 m deep) with two chambers dating to the 18th Dynasty (Thutmosid period). The tomb is water filled and requires pumping to allow excavations. Since a recent looting attempt in the tomb is also filled with sand and silt, and the extent of damage that was caused to the monument is still to be assessed. Mr. Abdel Moniem, General Director of Aswan and Nubia, says that the team is currently estimating the preservation of the tomb, as the movement of water and sand has caused great disturbance to the interior, artefacts and osteological remains, but it appears to be intact and undisturbed from looting. So far, the team has discovered three sandstone sarcophagi, two of which have been excavated, revealing an infant and a young child. The third sarcophagus was also made for an infant; its contents await excavation.

The burial goods contain several artefacts of importance, including dozens of scarabs, amulets, beads, seals, bracelets, large amphorae, beer jugs, bowls, pilgrim flasks, and various storage jars, etc.

8
Chronologically, there are indications of at least three generations, ranging from Thutmosis II to Amenhotep II (c. 3400 years ago). Exceptionally, the team has documented the remains of so far a minimum of over 60 individuals (2/3 adults and 1/3 children) have been discovered, but with excavations still ongoing the team estimates the amount to increase. No other tomb documented at Gebel el-Silsila previously has contained such a high number of entombed individuals. One of the more important results of the discovery at Gebel el-Silsila is the amount of buried children and women, indicating that there was a complete society with entire families living and working in ancient Kheny. Excavations are scheduled to continue until the end of the year.

The Egyptian archaeological mission working at Kom El Khelua necropolis in Fayoum directed by Dr. Aiman Ashmawi has discovered during their work started last month, a burial shaft to the east of Prince Waje’s Middle Kingdom tomb.

Dr. Mostafa Waziri said “El Khelua is located at the far south of Fayoum about 40 km from the town. It is a Middle Kingdom necropolis and precisely the time of King Amenemhat III (1842-1799 B.C) and it was reused as a Christian settlement during Byzantine time, The tomb of prince Waje the govener of Fayoum was also found along with the tomb of his mother Nebt Mot.

Dr. Ashmawi said that this tomb looks like it was robed long time ago and then reused ages later.

A team of Egyptian archaeologists discovered a 3000-year-old Ramesside tomb in Assasif area on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor, Egypt.

The work started in March 2018 and stopped in May 2018 then resumed in August 2018 and still ongoing.

During the work, over 300 cubic meters of debris was cleared. The tomb shows depictions of Queen “Ahmos-Nefertari” and her son “Amenhotep I” according to minister of antiquities, Dr. Khalid El-Enany.

The tomb belongs to a man called “Shu En Khet.ef” meaning “North Wind in his back” who was a “Scribe of the mummification chapel in Mut temple” as Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said during the press conferece held this morning a couple of hundred meteres away from the famous temple of Deir Bahari in the background and a few steps of the said discovered tomb.

Dr. Waziri added that the Scribe’s wife was a “Chantress of Mut”.
In their tomb, over 1000 ushabtis, coloured wooden masks, faience figurines and papyri bears a part of chapters 125 of Book of the Dead were found.

Then during the work and in September 2018, a side room was discovered and it was sealed with mud bricks.
Inside that room, 2 wooden coffins were found with flowers on top of them and in perfect condition of preservation. The coffins are dated to 25th or 26th Dynasty.
First one for a man called “Padiese” who was a high priest of Amun and the other coffin for his wife who was a chantress of Amun.

CAIRO: Egypt says archaeologists have uncovered parts of a booth with a seat that belonged to famous pharaoh Ramses II, one of the longest ruling pharaohs in antiquity.

Thursday’s statement from the Antiquities Ministry says the artifacts were found during an excavation in eastern Cairo’s Matariya neighborhood.
Egyptologist Mamdouh el-Damaty says the structure was probably used in celebrations and for public gatherings, and dates back to the 19th Dynasty.
Ramses II ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. He is credited with expanding ancient Egypt’s reach as far as present-day Syria and Sudan, campaigns that earned him the title “Ramses the Great.”
Egypt frequently announces archaeological discoveries, hoping this will spur interest in the country’s ancient treasures and revive tourism, which was hit hard by political turmoil following the 2011 uprising.

An archaeological mission from Egypt’s Ain Shams University has completed the excavation of a shrine to King Ramses II discovered last year in Cairo’s Matariya district.
The head of the mission Mamdouh El-Damaty explains that the shrine was once used during festivals.

The mission has also unearthed a collection of lintels, scarabs, amulets, clay pots and blocks engraved with hieroglyphic text.

El-Damaty says the discovery is important because it is a unique shrine from the New Kingdom that was used for the Heb Sed festival, not only during the reign of King Ramses II but throughout the Ramesside period.