Mummy
Wearing Gold-Gilded Face Mask
Discovered at Ancient Egypt Burial Ground
A silver face mask gilded with gold, a mummification workshop, mummies
and sarcophagi have all been discovered at a tomb complex in Saqqara, Egypt, an Egyptian-German team announced this morning (July 14).
The complex contains several burial shafts dug into the ground, some of
them extending more than 100 feet (30 meters) deep, the team said in a
statement.
At least some of the finds date back around 2.500 years, including the
silver face mask, which dates to sometime between 664 B.C. and 404 B.C.,
the statement said.
The eyes of the face mask contain calcite, obsidian and a black gemstone.
Foto Credit: University of Tübingen, Ramadan B. Hussei
The tomb complex (shown in this 3D laser scan) consists of a series of shafts that
lead to multiple burial chambers.
Credit: University of Tübingen, eScience Center
"The finding of this mask could be called a sensation," Ramadan Badry
Hussein, head of the Egyptian-German team, from the University of
Tübingen in Germany, said in the statement. "Very few masks of precious
metal have been preserved to the present day, because the tombs of most
ancient Egyptian dignitaries were looted in ancient times."
The mask was found on the face of a mummy hidden inside a badly damaged
wooden coffin that has an image of a goddess called Mut on it. From the
writing on the coffin that is still legible, researchers can tell that
the man was a priest who served Mut.
Mummification workshop
Archaeologists also found the remains of what they think is a
mummification workshop, a place where people were mummified before
burial, in the tomb complex. It contains bowls and measuring cups that
have the names of oils and other substances used for mummification
written on them. Inside the workshop, they also discovered two large
basins that were likely used to dry mummies with natron and prepare
bandages that would be used to wrap them, the statement said.
The workshop is in the remains of a building made of mudbrick and
limestone. This building is above a large shaft that leads down to
several burial chambers holding mummies,
sarcophagi, alabaster vessels (used to hold the organs of the deceased)
and shabti figurines — the Egyptians believed these figures could act
as servants for the deceased in the afterlife.
Excavation and mapping of the tomb complex are ongoing. The research is
sponsored by the German Research Foundation. Many of the team's German
researchers are from the University of Tübingen.
https://www.livescience.com/63066-mummy-mask-sarcophagus-saqqara-egypt.html
