Researchers have discovered a cemetery in Egypt where people from different ages and cultures are buried.
Ad-Daqahliyya – Archaeologists have discovered more than 100 rare predynastic tombs in the Nile Delta in Egypt – they date from a time before the Pharaonic empires and are more than 5000 years old. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced. Accordingly, the researchers also found graves from the later Hyksos period, in which foreign kings ruled the country (1650 to 1500 BC).
According to Egyptologists, the finds from the ad-Daqahliyya governorate shed light on two transitional periods in ancient Egypt. A total of 110 graves from three civilizations have been found, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities: 68 from the Buto culture, five from the Naqada III culture and 37 from the Hyksos period.
Egypt: tombs have different shapes
“This is an extremely interesting cemetery because it combines some of the earliest ages in Egyptian history with another important era, the time of the Hyksos,” archaeologist and Egyptologist Salima Ikram told Reuters. “Egyptologists try to understand how Egyptians and the Hyksos lived together and to what extent the former took up Egyptian traditions,” Ikram continues.
In the oval Buto graves, according to the ministry, the corpses were placed in a crouching position, mostly on the left side and with the head facing west. On the other hand, the corpses lay stretched out in the half-rectangular Hyksos graves, the heads also pointing to the west, the faces upwards. The researchers also found a child’s ceramic coffin.
Crockery and jewelry found in tombs in Egypt
In addition to the bodies, the group also discovered “ovens, stoves, remains of mud-brick foundations, dishes and amulets, some of which were made from semi-precious stones, and jewelry such as earrings,” the ministry said.
Not everything has been discovered from ancient Egypt. Researchers keep making spectacular discoveries, like in the summer of 2020 when they discovered one of the oldest villages in the Nile Delta. (ial)
