An Egyptian archaeological mission has discovered two embalming workshops dating from the XXX Dynasty and the Ptolemaic period and two tombs from the Old and New Kingdoms at the archaeological site of Saqara, the main necropolis of the city of Memphis, on the west bank of the Nile. , located about 30 kilometers south of Cairo.
“The workshop for humans is rectangular in shape and designed to be divided into several rooms equipped with stone beds, two meters long and half a meter wide, where the deceased lay down to be mummified,” said the secretary general of the Supreme Council. of Antiquities, Dr. Mostafa Waziry, in a statement.
The second embalming workshop was for animals, it is also rectangular in shape, made of clay with stone floors and consists of a group of rooms for the different tasks of the “mummification of sacred animals” process.
In both cases, they found a collection of clay vessels, including those used in mummification, as well as a collection of mummification instruments and ritual vessels.
The new find from this archaeological mission also includes two burials; “The first tomb belongs to a high official of the 5th Dynasty named ‘Ne Hesut Ba’ (2400 BC), chief of the scribes and the priest of Horus and Maat,” said Sabri Farag, director general of the Saqara archaeological site.
The second tomb belongs to a qaddish priest named ‘Men Kheber’ from the 18th Dynasty (1400 BC).
“The Old Kingdom tomb consists of a mastaba with a stone façade painted with the names of the deceased and his wife. Above it is a lintel with hieroglyphic text showing the various titles of the deceased and his wife, as well as paintings for bearers of the offerings, with scenes of daily life, cultivation and hunting”, detailed Mohamed Youssef, director of the Saqara site.
On the other hand, the New Kingdom tomb is carved in rock with a door and a lintel with the names of the deceased and his wife, and inside it was found “a niche with a meter-long alabaster statue of the owner of the tomb, which appears in a long dress, a wig and the lotus flower in one hand decorated with hieroglyphics written in blue,” he added.
They also found other statues, including a collection of wooden statues of a man named ‘Nesu Henu’ and his wife from the 5th Dynasty, as well as a painted anthropoid coffin from the 3rd Intermediate Period.
The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Isaa, expressed his satisfaction with these new discoveries, which he framed in Egypt’s national tourism strategy to increase the number of tourists between 25% and 30% annually and thus triple the capacity of places on international flights.
“I assure you that Egypt, especially the archaeological site of Saqara, has not yet revealed its secrets and there are many more to discover,” said Issa, who highlighted the importance of these missions to attract investment to the country, currently marked by a severe economic crisis. .
