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Nevine al-Aref – Ahram Online
An Egyptian archaeological mission at Bubastian Cemetery in Saqqara Necropolis unearthed a collection of 250 wooden painted coffins and 150 bronze statues of ancient Egyptian deities on Monday.
Ancient Egyptian deities Bastet, Anubis, Osiris, Amunmeen, Isis, Nefertum, and Hathor are depicted in the statues. The collection includes a well-carved headless statue of engineer Imhotep and instruments like the Sistrum, which is used during the Isis rituals.
A collection of intact painted wooden coffins containing mummies from the Late Period were also discovered. The coffins were found with amulets, wooden boxes, and statues with gilded faces inside the burial shafts.
The mission found a distinguished duo painted statue depicting deities Isis and Neftis mourning the dead. The uncovered pieces include cosmetic items such as combs, kohl eyeliners, containers, bracelets, earrings and seed necklaces.
“Excavators unearthed a papyrus written in hieroglyphs from one of the coffins, which may contain verses from the Book of the Dead. It was transferred to the laboratory of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir”, said Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Waziri affirmed, “the coffins will be transferred to the soon-to-be-inaugurated Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) to be among the display of the museum’s main halls”.
The archaeological mission had been working in the Saqqara Necropolis cemetery area since 2018. It has so far made several discoveries, including collections of artefacts, coffins, human and animal mummies.
