Egypt

45 tombs found in Faiyum area

I turn my back for five minutes and everything kicks off!

Egypt State Information Service

Culture Minister Farouq Hosni announced on Sunday 23/5/2010 that forty-five tombs have been unearthed in Lahoun, Fayyoum, containing a group of painted wooden sarcophagi with mummies inside.

Zahi Hawwas, Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said archaeologists found a tomb dating back to the 18th dynasty (1569-1315 B.C) containing 12 wooden sarcophagi each with a mummy inside.

The mummies are in perfect condition and wrapped in linen decorated with religious texts from the Book of the Dead and scenes featuring ancient Egyptian gods.

drhawass.com

With photographs.

Dr. Abdel Rahman El-Aydi, head of the archaeological mission, pointed out that the first and second dynasties cemeteries are composed of 14 tombs. One of the tombs is almost completely intact, including all of its funerary equipment and a wooden sarcophagus with a mummy wrapped with linen.

The Middle New Kingdoms cemetery contains 31 tombs most of which are dated to the 11th and 12th dynasties (2030-1840 BC). Each tomb includes a painted wooden sarcophagus bearing a mummy covered with cartonnage, decorated with religious texts that help the deceased to cross through the underworld, as well as scenes of different ancient Egyptian deities, such as Horus, Hathor, Khnum and Amun.

Also, at the four corners of king Senwosret II’s temple, the mission has located four shafts filled with a large collection of clay vessels.

Last year, the mission found 53 stone tombs from the Middle and New Kingdom, as well as the Late Period and the Roman era.

Associated Press

With photographs.

Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday.

The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt's first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C.

The discovery throws new light on Egypt's ancient religions, the council said.

Egypt's archaeology chief, Zahi Hawass, said the mummies dating to the 18th dynasty are covered in linen decorated with religious texts from the Book of the Dead and scenes featuring ancient Egyptian deities.

Abdel Rahman El-Aydi, head of the archaeological mission that made the discovery, said some of the tombs are decorated with religious texts that ancient Egyptians believed would help the deceased to cross through the underworld.

Heritage Key (An Wuyts)

With photos

Archaeologists last week discovered 45 ancient Egyptian tombs at the site of El-Lahoun, in the Fayum. In a statement issued by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni claims that a sarcophagus holding a mummy has been found in in each of the tombs, located about 70 miles from Cairo.

One of the tombs unearthed during the dig is from the 18th dynasty (1550-1295 BC), and contains at least 12 wooden sarcophagi stacked on top of each other. Each of these sarcophagi is thought to hold a mummy covered in cartonnage.

The mummies are decorated with religious texts from the Book of the Dead and scenes featuring different ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses.

Four cemeteries have also been discovered, the oldest dating to the 1st and 2nd Dynasty (ca. 2750-2649BC). Mission leader Dr Abdel Rahman El-Aydi says the cemetery is composed of fourteen tombs, with one of the burials found almost completely intact. All of its funerary equipment and a wooden sarcophagus with a linen-wrapped mummy were unearthed.

The second cemetery belongs to the 11th and 12th Dynasty (2030-1840BC.) Each tomb includes a painted wooden sarcophagus bearing a mummy covered with cartonnage. This was decorated with religious texts which help the deceased with their journey through the afterlife.

The third and fourth cemeteries are dated to the New Kingdom (1550-1070BC) and the Late Period (724-343BC) respectively.

- More Re Saqqara Tombs Discovery
drhawass.com Press Release with photographs Two rock-hewn painted tombs considered as two of the most distinguished tombs ever found from the Old Kingdom were discovered last week at Saqqara necropolis. Cultural Minister, Mr. Farouk Hosni, announced today...

- 14 Graeco-roman Tombs Discovered In Bahariya Oasis
Egypt State Information Service Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni announced on April 12, 2010 the discovery of 14 Greco-Roman tombs dated back to 2,300 years at a construction site near al-Baweeti town in al-Baharia Oasis, October 6th Governorate. The...

- More Re Discoveries In The Faiyum
The Star Egyptian archeologists found the mummies in 53 tombs cut into rock in the oasis of Fayoum, about 80 kilometres southwest of Cairo, said Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, in a statement. Four of the...

- More Re Painted Coffins
Monsters and Critics Egyptian archaeologists have discovered painted wooden coffins that date to the era of Ramses II (1279-1212 BC), Egypt's antiquities chief said Thursday. 'These coffins were found in tombs of senior officials near Saqqara,'...

- Mummy Find
I must say I am suspicious that this is an old story making its rounds again but I have been wrong before. Archaeologists working in the Fayum have found a cemetery dating to the second dynasty as well as many tombs which contained intact mummies and...

Egypt