A joint Egyptian-American mission of archaeologists has been shocked after unearthing 11 sealed burials in a tomb, near South Asasif necropolis, next to the Temple of Hatshepsut on the Nile’s West Bank in Luxor. According to Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, the 11 graves contained skeletons of men, women and children which indicated that it was a family grave that may have been used for several generations through the 12th Dynasty and the beginning of the 13th Dynasty.
“The joint Egyptian-American archaeological mission working on the restoration project of the South Al-Assif cowardice has discovered the first medieval cemetery with many unopened closed graves for men, women and children as well as a collection of unique artefacts,” read the statement.
Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt said most of the burials had been heavily damaged due to floods which destroyed the timber of coffins and wrapped linen fabrics.
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The jewellery and mirrors
However, the discovery included a trove of exquisitely crafted jewellery as well as a figurine that has been described as an “important find”. The necklace was a unique find as it consisted of “30 cylinder-shaped beads of amethyst stone with two cylinder beads of agate surrounding a hippopotamus head”.
Inside two of the burials, the archaeologists found brass mirrors, one with a lotus-shaped handle, another with a rare design of the face of the goddess Hathor with four faces showing her as a woman of rigorous features.
“The fertile blue and green Venetian stone with severed legs, well designed and decorated with an assortment of jewellery, and her hair is painted black, around 4,000 clay beads were found next to the small statue, forming her natural hair,” said Dr. Elena Batchkova, the director of the South Sensitive Cowardice Preservation Project.
In June earlier this year, 36 tombs with 20 to 40 mummies in each one were discovered in the city of Aswan — situated on the Nile River’s east bank and established 4,500 years ago. The tombs were dated between 600 BC and 300 AD — a time period that covers many important parts of history, including the Persian rule, the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty and the Roman rule.
