A treasure trove of 225 funerary statues has been discovered in a tomb in the ancient Egyptian capital of Tanis in the Nile Delta, with experts saying the rare find has also solved a “long-standing archaeological mystery”.
“Not since 1946 has a statue been found inside a royal tomb in Tanis,” French archaeologist Frederic Payraudeau told reporters in Paris on Friday.
Such a discovery had never before occurred further south. Egypt’s Valley of the Kings He added that with the exception of the 1922 tomb of the famous child king Tutankhamun, all are located near modern-day Luxor, as most such sites have been looted throughout history.
Peroteau, who is in charge of the excavation mission in Tanis, France, said that this extraordinary discovery was made on the morning of October 9.
The team has excavated three other corners of a narrow tomb containing an imposing, unnamed sarcophagus.
“When we saw three or four statues together, we knew immediately it was going to be amazing,” Peroteau said.
“I ran out and told my colleagues and officials. After that, it was a real struggle. It was the day before the weekend – normally, we stop at 2pm. We thought: ‘This is impossible.'”
A trove of 225 funerary statues was discovered in a tomb in the ancient Egyptian capital of Tanis in the Nile Delta. / Image source: Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
The team then set up lights to work through the night. It took 10 days to carefully extract all 225 small green figurines.
They were “carefully arranged in a star shape around the sides of the trapezoidal pit and horizontally at the base,” Perondo said.
These funerary statues, known as “ushabti”, were intended to serve as servants that accompanied the deceased into the afterlife.
Peroteau said the fact that more than half of the statues are women is “pretty special.”
Located in the Nile Delta, Tanis was built around 1050 BC and was the capital of the 21st Dynasty of the Kingdom of Egypt.
At that time, the Valley of the Kings – which had been sacked during the reigns of pharaohs including Ramses – was abandoned and the royal tombs were moved to Tanis, Peroteau said.
“There are many secrets that have yet to be discovered”
Royal symbols on the newly discovered statue also solve a long-standing mystery by identifying the person buried in the sarcophagus. Pharaoh Shoshank III reigned from 830 BC to 791 BC.
Peroteau said this was “surprising” because the walls of another tomb at the site bear his name, as well as the largest sarcophagus there.
“Why isn’t he buried in this tomb?” the expert asked.
“Obviously, for the pharaohs, building tombs was a gamble because you could never be sure that your successor would bury you there,” he said.
“Obviously, we have new evidence that these gambles don’t always work out,” Perondo said with a smile.
He said Shoshank III’s four-year reign was fraught with turmoil, with “a very bloody civil war between Upper and Lower Egypt, with several pharaohs vying for power.”
Therefore, the royal succession may not have gone as planned and the pharaoh was not buried in the tomb of his choice. Another possibility is that his body was later removed as part of a robbery.
But “it’s hard to imagine that a 3.5 x 1.5 meter granite sarcophagus could be reinstalled in such a small space,” Peroteau said.
Peroteau said the statues will be put on display in the Egyptian Museum after being studied.
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a Facebook post that Egyptian experts confirmed the discovery marked “a decisive step in solving a long-standing archaeological mystery.”
Dr Mohammad Ismail Khalid, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Archaeology, said in a Facebook post that the discovery “confirms that the Tanis site still holds many secrets that have yet to be discovered”.
Mr. Mohamed Abdel-Badi, head of Egypt’s archaeological department, pointed out that the mission also revealed previously unknown patterns inside the tomb, providing clues to the burial methods of that period.
“It is not clear whether the king was buried directly within Osakon II’s tomb or whether his funerary collectors were moved to this location to prevent theft,” the ministry said in its Facebook post. “We still have a lot of work to do to answer these questions.”
The discovery was announced just weeks after the official $1 billion opening. grand egyptian museum. GEM is one of the largest museums in the world and the largest dedicated to a single civilization: ancient Egypt. Its themes span some 7,000 years, from prehistory to the end of the Greek and Roman era around 400 AD
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