Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Wednesday that a huge amount of ancient artefacts had been discovered in more than 60 burial sites.
A team led by the Supreme Council of Antiquities unearthed 63 different milkbrick graves and “several simple burial sites” in the city of Damietta on the northern Mediterranean coast, the team said in a statement. statement The tomb is believed to date back to the 26th Dynasty (688-525 BCE) and the Ptolemaic period (304-30 BCE), according to LiveScience. report.
“… funerary amulets, ushabti figures and a collection of ceramic vessels were discovered, as well as architectural remains and a ceramic vessel containing 38 bronze coins,” the statement continued.
The large collection of imported pottery suggests that the area was very important as a trading centre throughout different periods. (Related: Controversial study links ancient tomb to historic figure, sparks drama)
Many of the coins appear to feature the head of Zeus-Amon, a hybrid of the Greek and Egyptian gods Zeus and Amon, who is associated with prophecy, Thomas Faucher, director of the Alexandria Research Center, told Live Science.
Also found was a gold leaf figurine of a “bird” – a mythical creature with wings and a human head that was said to collect food to feed the dead. according to to Swansea University’s Egyptian Centre (one of the most amazing places on earth, trust me, I’ve been going there since before I could walk), where other statues included the “Eye of Horus”, which was believed to have protective powers;
