#South Asasif necropolis

[blueiscoool]

Joint US-Egypt Archaeology Team Unearths 4,000-Year-Old Tomb in Luxor

11 coffins for men, women and children found inside necropolis, suggesting it was a family tomb.

Archeologists from Egypt and the United States unearthed an ancient tomb with 11 sealed burials near the famed city of Luxor, Egyptian authorities said in a statement Friday.

Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said that the tomb, which dates back to the Middle Kingdom (1938 BCE-1630 BCE), was found in the South Asasif necropolis, next to the Temple of Hatshepsut on the Nile’s West Bank in Luxor.

The joint Egyptian-American mission excavating the necropolis found coffins for men, women and children, suggesting that it was a family tomb used for generations during the 12th Dynasty and the beginning of the 13th Dynasty, said Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt.

He said ancient floods destroyed most of the burials’ wooden coffins and linen wrappings.

However, some items such as jewelry in women’s burials were found intact, including a finely crafted necklace with 30 amethyst beads and two cylindrical agate beads framing a hippo-head amulet, according to the statement.

Katherine Blakeney, chief American archeologist with the South Asasif Conservation Project, said they found two copper mirrors, one with a lotus-shaped handle, and the second with a unique design of Hathor, goddess of the sky, women, fertility and love in ancient Egypt.

According to a statement from the South Asasif Conservation Project, directed by Dr. Elena Pischikova, this find is the first Middle Kingdom tomb found in the area.

The project’s statement referenced several finds, including a green-blue glazed faience fertility figurine with truncated legs, decorated with jewelry markings on the legs and torso, and a square-shaped offering tray with relief representations of a bull’s head, a loaf of bread and other offerings.

In the 11 discovered burials, team member Dr. Afaf Wahba identified the skeletons of five women, two men and three children. Six of the individuals — primary females — were interred with burial assemblages.

[ancientstuff]

Very nice find. The 26th Dynasty was the Nubian dynasty, and the burial seems to have been intrusive...I think? It’s not completely clear.

[coffeebreakarchaeology]

26th Dynasty canopic jars discovered at Luxor's South Asasif necropolis — The Archaeology News Network

26th Dynasty canopic jars discovered at Luxor’s South Asasif necropolis — The Archaeology News Network

Excavators at a tomb in Luxor have found four canopic jars from the 26th Dynasty, dedicated to “the lady of the house Amenirdis.” Credit: Ministry of AntiquitiesThe discovery was made by an Egyptian-American mission led by Elena Pischikova and Fathy Yassin during conservation work carried out by the South Assasif Conservation Project in the Kushite…

via 26th Dynasty canopic jars discovered at…