Dig at ancient cemetery reveals colorful masks and artifacts. See the finds from Egypt
Forgotten by time and obscured by the desert, a collection of ancient burials — and their treasures — went unnoticed in Egypt. Not anymore.
A joint team of Egyptian and Japanese archaeologists excavated part of the Saqqara archaeological site and unearthed an ancient cemetery, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a Jan. 4 Facebook post.
The cemetery included several burials, a tomb and a poorly preserved coffin, archaeologists said. Several of the graves had colorful masks that represented the deceased person’s face.
Photos show several of these burial masks and one skeleton next to the mask of its face.
Archaeologists also found several other artifacts including religious pendants, or amulets, statues of goddesses, vases and pieces of pottery at the cemetery, the release said.
The graves and their contents spanned several ancient eras, archaeologists said.
The cemetery and its oldest finds dated to the Second Dynasty, a period that ended over 4,600 years ago, according to the World History Encyclopedia. The most recent finds dated to the Ptolemaic era, a period that ended about 2,000 years ago.
The Saqqara archaeological site is about 5 miles long and the cemetery of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, according to Britannica. The site includes the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the burial site of a king who ruled over 4,500 years ago.
Excavations are ongoing.
The Saqqara archaeological site is about 15 miles southwest of Cairo.
Google Translate was used to translate the Facebook post from Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
This story was originally published January 4, 2024 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Dig at ancient cemetery reveals colorful masks and artifacts. See the finds from Egypt."
