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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 May 2000 Issue No. 483 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 May 2000 Issue No. 483
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Look at all the mummies!
By Nevine El-Aref
After a search of almost 30 years, the discovery of the tomb of Jed-Khenso-Iufankh, the 26th-dynasty ruler of Bahariya Oasis, was announced early this week, again highlighting the desert oasis of Bahariya as a giver of exciting artefacts and finds.
The tombwas uncovered by an Egyptian mission beneath the residential area of Al-Sheikh Sobi, in the oasis town of Bawiti. According to Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), many Egyptologists, like the late Ahmed Fakhri -- famous for his studies on the oases of the Western Desert -- had been searching for the tomb for decades. "It is a very important discovery, which will reveal more about the history of the oasis," Gaballa said.
Bahariya made headlines in summer of last year when four tombs filled with gilded mummies and funerary artefacts were found in the area now known as the "Valley of Gilded Mummies." The tomb found by the Egyptian team dates to the 26th dynasty, known as the Saite Revival, in 664 BC, explained Gaballa.
A long entrance corridor leads to a vast hall, decorated in the distinguished style of the period. The walls and domed ceiling of the hall are adorned with coloured scenes showing the deceased with Pharaonic deities like Osiris and Isis. The walls are also inscribed with verses from the mortuary literature known as The Book of the Gates and The Book of the Dead.
The tomb has a square, rock-hewn burial chamber containing an anthropoid sarcophagus made of limestone that bears various names of the deceased engraved on its lid and reliefs featuring the god Osiris and the goddess Isis on both sides. On opening the sarcophagus, another anthropoid sarcophagus -- this one made of alabaster -- was found inside. The mummy of the deceased lay inside the second sarcophagus, but it is reportedly in a poor condition because the sarcophagus was previously opened in the Graeco-Roman period.
Although the discovery of the tomb has made waves in the archaeological record, it is the mummies that grab all the attention. Zahi Hawass, director general of the Giza Plateau and a field director of excavations in Bahariya Oasis, said that another seven intact tombs containing some 100 gilded mummies, along with bronze coins, wooden stelae and pottery have just been uncovered in the Valley of Gilded Mummies, extending for six kilometres from Bawiti.
Rock-hewn tombs found in the area, some cross-shaped, like an ankh, abound with mummies, piled one on top of the other and covered with linen. Some of the newly discovered mummies have golden masks and bear magnificent ancient Egyptian designs of deities on their chests. Others are coated in plaster or covered with linen.
Three of the mummies uncovered so far belong to women and are beautifully decorated, Hawass said, adding that the first one was found with a child laying on her chest.
"We do not know whether they died together or whether the son died after his mother," said Hawass. One of the female mummies has a thick braid, apparently a "new" kind of hair style, while the third is coated with a layer of coloured plaster, clearly showing the beautiful features of her face.
Alongside this mummy was found a coloured wooden stelae showing a doorway, guarded by a sacred cobra, and a coloured limestone statue, featuring a woman in Graeco-Roman dress. Hawass said that from his first impression, it is likely that this statue belonged to the mummy of the woman it was found beside.
An ageless and world-wide fascination with Egypt's ancient mummies practically ensures that the discoveries at Bahariya will bring much more than scholarly acclaim. "These new discoveries in Bahariya will change the status of the oasis on Egypt's tourist map," said Hawass. "It will become an archaeological site as well known as the valleys of the kings and queens in Luxor."
Bahariya also has a temple built by Alexander the Great, as well as catacombs of the sacred Ibis and well-preserved tombs belonging to traders of the 26th dynasty.
