The Ministry of Antiquities announced on the discovery of an ancient cemetery in Saqqara. It is the first discovered cemetery from the Roman era in this region.
 |
| Credit: Egypt. Ministry of Antiquities |
During the last excavation season, a joint Egyptian-Japanese archaeological mission in North Saqqara headed by Nozomu Kawai of Kanazawa University and Waseda University in Japan succeeded in uncovering a Roman catacomb tomb, spanning back to the first and second centuries AD.
 |
| Credit: Egypt. Ministry of Antiquities |
Saqqara's General Manager Sabry Farah said the mission found the catacombs in the area northeast the old Saqqara region, where no excavation work has been carried out before.
 |
| Credit: Egypt. Ministry of Antiquities |
For his part, Kawai said the discovered catacombs consisted of a domed mud brick building with an internal staircase and a rock carved room made of limestone, where a rock-engraved plaque with a round plate was found containing images of Sokar, Thoth and Anubis from left to right and two lines of Greek inscriptions below the relief.
 |
| Credit: Egypt. Ministry of Antiquities |
Five terra-cotta statues of Isis-Aphrodite were also found, in addition to a number of clay pots found by the entrance gate.
 |
| Credit: Egypt. Ministry of Antiquities |
He added that the mission also found two statues of lions made of limestone. Each statue is about 55 cm in length.
 |
| Credit: Egypt. Ministry of Antiquities |
Farah indicated that the mission had found the rock-carved room outside the entrance gate. The room consists of a long hall of about 15 metres in length and about 2 metres in width, with a number of small chambers carved on the sidewalls. Inside the carved chambers a large clay statue of Isis-Aphrodite was discovered in addition to a number of mummies.
Author: Mustafa Marie | Source: Egypt Today [November 06, 2019]
No comments: