Egyptian archaeologists discover two embalming workshops in the Saqqara necropolis

2023-05-28 01:27:38

Egypt announced on Saturday the discovery of two workshops dedicated to embalming of humans and animals in Saqqara, in the necropolis of the ancient city of Memphis, the capital of the Old Empire of the pharaohs, “the largest and most complete” discovered so far.

The site of Saqqara – located 15 kilometers south of Cairo and the famous pyramids of Giza – is part of the UNESCO World Heritage list and is known for the step pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser.

The two workshops one for the embalming of humans and the other for the treatment of “sacred animals”, They date from the XXX Dynasty (380-343 BC) and the Ptolemaic Period (305-30 BC), that is, between 2,400 and 2,000 years ago, explained Mostafa Waziri, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and collect AFP and Reuters.

The embalming workshops of Saqqara

AFP

Egyptian archaeologists discovered in both workshops instruments for embalming, earthen containers and ritual objects.

The discovery came after a year-long excavation near the sanctuary of the goddess Bastet, which houses the catacombs of mummified cats at Saqqara. It was the same place where they were discovered hundreds of statues and mummified animals in 2019.

Both workshops contained stone beds, clay pots, ritual vessels, natron saltwhich is one of the main ingredients for mummification, and fabricsamong other mummification instruments.

two tombs of priests

The Saqqara excavations also led to the discovery of two small tombs nearby, 4,400 and 3,400 years oldbelonging to two priests, Ne Hesut Ba of the fifth dynasty of the Old Kingdom and But Kheber from the Late Kingdom Eighteenth Dynasty, respectively.

Inscriptions of cultivation, hunting and other daily activities were found on the walls of Ne Hesut Ba’s tomb, while “scenes showing the deceased in different positions” were engraved in Men Kheber’s tomb, authorities said.

Mostafa Waziri shows the press one of the sarcophagi discovered

Reuters

Authorities announced in March the discovery of more than 2,000 embalmed ram heads, as well as mummies of sheep, dogs, goats, cows, gazelle and mongoose.

Egypt has carried out extensive excavation operations at Saqqara and other ancient sites in recent years, resulting in a series of high-profile discoveries.

The country plans to open the Grand Egyptian Museum, a state-of-the-art facility near the Pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo, after construction is completed later this year.