Archaeology
New Kingdom cemetery found at Tuna el-Gebel
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities have announced the discovery of a New Kingdom cemetery at the site of Tuna el-Gebel, located in the Minya Governorate, Egypt.
Tuna el-Gebel served as the necropolis for Khmun, also known as Hermopolis Magna. The site contains Egypt’s most extensive Greco-Roman necropolis, with origins tracing back to the New Kingdom and continuing through to the Roman Period.
A recent archaeological mission led by Dr. Mostafa Waziri has uncovered a cemetery containing the burials of high-ranked officials and priests from the New Kingdom (1550 – 1070 BC). The researchers excavated numerous rock-cut tombs, in which burials were found intact within stone and wooden sarcophagi.
Numerous funerary offerings were also recovered, such as amulets and jewellery, precious stones, gold objects, as well as wooden and ceramic Ushabti statues representing high royal officials such as “Jehutymes,” who held the title of supervisor of bulls of the Temple of Amun, and “Nani,” a singer of Amun.
Image Credit : Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
According to the researchers, the symbols and inscriptions found on these artefacts provide confirmation that the burials were associated with the upper echelons of the administrative and priestly classes during the New Kingdom in Upper Egypt.
The team also discovered the first complete papyrus discovered at the site, measuring between 13 to 15 metres in length. The papyrus refers to the Book of the Dead, an Ancient Egyptian funerary text used from the beginning of the New Kingdom that contains of a number of magic spells intended to assist a dead person’s journey through the Duat, or underworld, and into the afterlife.
“It is a discovery of enormous importance that will enrich our knowledge of this historical period. I deeply thank the entire team for their hard work and dedication, which today allows us to reveal this magnificent New Kingdom cemetery to the world, said Dr. Fahmy.
The papyrus will undergo a meticulous restoration process and will later be exhibited in the Grand Egyptian Museum, currently under construction near the pyramids of Giza.
Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Header Image Credit : Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
A Polish-Peruvian team of archaeologists have uncovered 22 mummified burials in Barranca, Peru.
The discovery was made on the Cerro Colorado hill, where the researchers unearthed the burials in one of four mounds located in a cluster.
Bioarchaeologist, Łukasz Majchrzak, said: “The bodies are wrapped in fabrics and plant material known as burial bundles. Between the layers of the fabrics we found ceramics, tools, and cult objects placed as funerary offerings.”
The team also found corn cobs and unidentified plant materials, which were likely placed as food for the deceased on their journey to the afterlife.
Six of the burial bundles contain the remains of adults placed in the fetal position, with their upper and lower limbs tucked under their chests.
According to the researchers, the adult burials are arranged vertically, which makes them appear as if they were sitting. They all have a similar external appearance, wrapped in thick fabric and entwined with rope.
One of the adult bundles is decorated with geometric patterns, while the remaining bundles – as Majchrzak suggests – may contain representations of animals and deities.
The other 16 burial bundles mostly contain the remains of children no older than 2 years old who were placed in a horizontal position.
The team plan to use computed tomography to examine completely preserved burial bundles that have no visible damage to allow for a non-invasive anthropological analysis. In further stages, they plan to carry out a chemical and isotope analysis, including the strontium isotope, which will determine whether the burials are from a local population.
Header Image Credit : R. Dziubińska
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
An international team, led by archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin has uncovered an ancient prehistoric fortress in a remote region of Siberia known as Amnya.
According to a study, published in the scientific journal “Antiquity”, the fortress is a complex system of defensive structures around an ancient settlement, dating from 8,000 years ago.
The fortress is spread across two settlement clusters, Amnya I and Amnya II. Amnya I consists of extant surface features such as banks and ditches, which enclose the tip of a promontory, and 10 house pit depressions. Ten further house pits, located approximately 50m to the east, comprise the open settlement of Amnya II.
Excavations have uncovered approximately 45 pottery vessels within the wider complex, including pointed and flat-based forms that reflect two distinct typological traditions.
The Amnya settlement complex signifies the start of a distinctive, enduring trend of defensive sites among hunter-gatherers in northern Eurasia—an almost continuous tradition that persisted for nearly eight millennia until the Early Modern period.
Tanja Schreiber, archaeologist at the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology in Berlin and co-author of the study, explains, “Through detailed archaeological examinations at Amnya, we collected samples for radiocarbon dating, confirming the prehistoric age of the site and establishing it as the world’s oldest-known fort.
“Our new palaeobotanical and stratigraphical examinations reveal that inhabitants of Western Siberia led a sophisticated lifestyle based on the abundant resources of the taiga environment,” added Schrieber.
The construction of fortifications by foraging groups has been observed in different parts of the world, primarily in coastal regions during later prehistoric periods. However, the early in inland western Siberia is unparalleled.
According to the researchers, the discovery transforms how we perceive ancient human communities, questioning the notion that the establishment of permanent settlements with grand architecture and intricate social systems began solely with the rise of agriculture.
Header Image Credit: Nikita Golovanov
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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