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.
The
Maayan Band - a group of friends from Toronto - different characters,
tastes and backgrounds, but sharing the sense that the ancient sources,
writings of the Jewish sages are the
highest expression of the art of being human. We draw inspiration and
musical force from them. What unites us is the desire to share that
harmony that touches the eternal. Our performances are all about
interacting with the people who come to spend time with us because the
beauty of truth is only revealed in the connection of friends.
Paz sobre vós, anjos servidores, anjos do Altíssimo,
Do supremo Rei dos reis, o Santo, bendito é Ele.
Que sua vinda seja em paz, anjos da paz, anjos do Altíssimo,
Do supremo Rei dos reis, o Santo, bendito é Ele.
Abençoe-me com a paz, anjos da paz, mensageiros do Altíssimo,
Do supremo Rei dos reis, o Santo, bendito é Ele.
Que sua partida seja em paz, anjos servidores, anjos do Altíssimo,
Do supremo Rei dos reis, o Santo, bendito é Ele.
