Tomb Treasures: 63 Ancient Burial Sites Containing Gold Artifacts Excavated From Egyptian Necropolis
Researchers in Egypt, have recently unearthed 63 tombs containing a variety of items, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The discovery was made by a team of archaeologists in Damietta, CNN reported. In the tombs, the team found a trove of gold artifacts, coins, and pottery.
Authorities announced about the findings on July 23, CNN reported. In their announcement, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities mentioned that such findings make them hopeful about knowing more about their culture's past. Archaeologists with their analysis, have concluded that the treasures date back more than 2,500 years.
These findings give experts an idea about the burial traditions in the ancient past and also the role coastal cities played in foreign trade, CNN reported. Excavation on the site has been ongoing for years.
The burial site was used extensively during the rule of King Psamtik II, and remained important in the age of the Romans and Byzantines, according to the ministry, CNN reported.
The excavators found items like funerary amulets, charms that were thought to protect the dead, and ushabti statues, structures designed to contain forces that will accompany the dead in the afterlife, dated to the 26th Dynasty of the Late Period (664 to 525 BC), CNN reported.
Amongst the recovered materials, archaeologists also found 38 bronze coins, held within a ceramic vase, belonging to the Ptolemaic era, one of the dynasties that reigned after the death of Alexander the Great from 323 to 30 BC.
Salima Ikram, a distinguished university professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, who was not involved in the excavation project shared, "Based on the kind of objects, especially the gold amulets, one can see that this was a wealthy necropolis and obviously the city attached to it had a great deal of social (stratification) (a society’s hierarchy of people that is determined based on social and political factors)," CNN reported.
Archaeologists noted that several bodies were buried in the tombs with gold foil figures showing religious symbols and ancient Egyptian idols, Fox19 reported.
Researchers and authorities focussed on the Damietta site, also known as Tal al-Deir, specifically because it is a necropolis containing the remains of rich people, Fox19 reported. Necropolis is the name given to ancient burial sites in Egyptian culture. Archaeologists believe that excavating the place, where the rich were buried, will help them understand what was important to the society in those times.
"One of the most interesting aspects of this ongoing, government-sponsored excavation at Damietta, is that the burials document a wide range of funerary techniques within the same cemetery precinct: from placing the deceased into a simple pit burial to interment within a mud-brick structure," said Lorelei Corcoran, a professor of art history and director of the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology at the University of Memphis in Tennessee, who was not part of the project, CNN reported.
"This, together with the discovery of gold foil amulets in the shape of Egyptian deities and coin hordes, also illustrates a dichotomy in the wealth and status of the individuals buried here," she added, CNN reported.
The country's authorities have remained dedicated to excavating various necropolises all across the state, not only to know more about the culture's history but also to rejuvenate tourism, The New York Times reported.
In 2017, archeologists unearthed the tomb belonging to a goldsmith named Amenemhat in Draa Abul-Naga, a necropolis for noblemen and rulers near the Valley of the Kings, on the left bank of the Nile River.
The tomb's main chamber contained statues of Amenemhat and his wife seated on chairs, according to Mostafa Waziri, the archaeologist who led the project, The New York Times reported.
Though the find did not come with any treasures, authorities still considered the discovery to be valuable, The New York Times reported. "This find is important for marketing," Egypt’s antiquities minister, Khaled el-Enany, said at a news conference outside the tomb. "This is exactly what Egypt needs."