Four intact
child burials, a cemetery and a headless statue of Greek goddess Artemis have
been discovered by different missions
Dec
2017
The statue of the Greek goddesses
There have been a series
of antiquities discoveries in Aswan in the last few weeks, officials
have said.
The Swedish-Egyptian mission working in the Gebal
El-Silsila area has uncovered four intact burials of children, while the
Austrian mission at Kom Ombo’s archaeological hill discovered a large
segment of a First Intermediate Period cemetery, and the Egyptian-Swiss mission
working in the old town of Aswan has
unearthed a small incomplete statue that probably depicts Greek
goddess Artemis.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme
Council of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the four child burials date
to the 18th dynasty (549/1550 BC to 1292 BC.).
They consist of a rock-hewn grave for a child
between two and three years old; the mummy still retains its linen
wrapping and is surrounded with organic material from the remains of
the wooden coffin.
The second burial, he went on, belongs to another
child aged between six and nine years old, who was buried inside a wooden
coffin, while the third burial is of a child between five and eight. Both of
these graves contain funerary furniture, including amulets and a set of
pottery.
The fourth burial is also of a child
between the age of five and eight.
“The new burial discoveries are shedding more
light on the burial customs used in the Thutmosid period as well as the social,
economic and religious life of people during that period,” Maria
Nilsson, head of the Swedish mission said, adding that the mission
has succeed during its previous excavation works to uncover many burials but
the newly discovered ones have a special significance.
More excavations and studies on the site
will reveal more about the death rituals conducted in this site during the
period, she said.
Child
burial
A child burial
The Egyptian-Austrian archaeological mission in Kom
Ombo led by Irene Foster uncovered a part of a cemetery from the First
Intermediate Period, with a number of mud-brick tombs.
Numerous pottery vessels and grave goods were
unearthed.
Foster explains that the preliminary study
revealed that it is mostly built on top of an earlier cemetery. Below the
cemetery, Foster told Ahram Online, the mission has uncovered remains of an Old
Kingdom town with a ceiling impression of King Sahure from the 5th
Dynasty (2494 to 2345 BC)
The first intermediate cemetery
In the ancient town of Aswan, the Egyptian-Swiss
mission, headed by Egyptologist Wolfgang Muller, unearthed a statue
of a woman that was missing its head, feet and right hand.
Abdel Moneim Saeed, general director of Aswan and
Nubia Antiquities, said that the statue is carved from limestone and
measures 14cm by 9cm in width and the thickness of its bust is 3cm and the
lower part is 7cm.
A preliminary study on the statue reveals that the
dress she wears is similar to that of Artemis, Greek goddess of
hunting, procreation, virginity and fertility, combined with the Egyptian
goddesses Isis and Bastet.
Source: "ahram.org.eg"
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