2,000-Year-Old Egyptian Tomb Contains Mummy of High Priest and 40 Sarcophagi

[Buster's Uncle]

Ancient Egypt: Newly Discovered 2,000-Year-Old Tomb Contains Mummy of High Priest and 40 Sarcophagi
Newsweek
Aristos Georgiou •February 26, 2018



A spectacular 2,000-year-old necropolis containing at least eight tombs has been uncovered in Egypt, according to the country’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The previously unknown complex—located in the Minya region, south of the capital Cairo—consists of a vast network of burial shafts inside which a number of people are buried in 40 limestone sarcophagi of different shapes and sizes.

The cemetery site dates back to the Late Period of Ancient Egyptian history (525-332 B.C.), which witnessed the last native Egyptian rulers before Alexander the Great’s invasion of the territory.



A stone sarcophagi, inside the recently discovered ancient burial site in Minya, Egypt, on February 24.   REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany


The excavation works, which began at the tail end of 2017, unearthed a number of intriguing finds, including a tomb belonging to a high priest of Thoth—a prominent deity in Ancient Egyptian mythology who maintained the universe and was responsible for judging the dead. Usually depicted as having the head of an Ibis or a baboon, Thoth was also revered as the god of writing, science and magic.

According to hieroglyphics found on jars in the priest’s tomb, he was one of the “Great Five”—the most important of Thoth’s priests. Gruesomely, four of these alabaster jars contained the preserved organs of the holy man.



Skulls are seen inside the recently discovered burial site in Minya, Egypt, on February 24.   REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany


The mummy of the priest is decorated with a bronze collar depicting an image of the goddess Nut—who the Egyptians believed offered protection in the afterlife. It was also adorned with blue and red beads made from precious stones and two bronze eyes embedded with ivory and crystal.

The tomb complex also yielded 1,000 earthenware figurines representing servants, intended to accompany the high-status individuals into the afterlife.



Egyptian antiquities worker brushes a coffin inside the recently discovered burial site in Minya, Egypt, on February 24.   REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany


It is unclear how much more of the complex there is still to be uncovered, but Khaled el-Enany, the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, said “excavation work is scheduled to last for 5 years in an attempt to uncover all the burials of the cemetery.”

The new discovery is located just 3.8 miles away from a site at Tuna el-Gebel, where, just last year, a tomb containing at least 17 mummies was found by archaeologists.



Ancient statues discovered near an ancient necropolis in Minya, Egypt, on February 24.   REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany


http://www.newsweek.com/ancient-egypt-spectacular-2000-year-old-tomb-complex-discovered-40-sarcophagi-819863

[Unorthodox]

Whats with the skulls?  I wasn't aware of egyptians staging skulls like this...

[Buster's Uncle]

Servants buried with him maybe?  Ones who'd already died, but he wanted them in heaven?

[Unorthodox]

Servants buried with him maybe?  Ones who'd already died, but he wanted them in heaven?

That's just it, they are SKULLS, not bodies.  I've seen the bodies entombed with, but not the skulls purposely arranged.  I've seen a few other pics of this find and they are literally on a shelf, basically all around the room.  Almost Mayan cenote style.  Many seem to have been mummified prior to placement as well, which is particularly odd to me to have a dismembered head mummified, or mutilating a mummy. 

[Unorthodox]

Nothing to see.

I went digging deeper into my archeology news, this site's been active since November. 

This is a press release type deal today showing off some of their more spectacular finds in hopes of increasing tourism again.  As such, these better skull samples were put on display for press pictures by the archeologists, not arranged this way by the ancient Egyptians.  They're making a display of this find already in the hopes to get $$$ flowing to the country. 

Not sure I agree with this course from the new antiquities director, but there you have it. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Very distantly along those lines, if you know, I think Dr. Hawass has been allowed back in the country for a year or so, apparently without fear of arrest.  Does anybody know what the deal is?

It's just, one imagines that the politics of Egyptology are probably wild and complex, possibly fascinating, if only you knew all the inside dirt.

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I was about to speculate "enemies' skulls" until you did more digging.