Egypt: Unearthing the first and largest cache of bronze statues in the Bubastien necropolis in Saqqara

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The Egyptian archaeological mission working in the cemetery of the sacred animals (Albubastien) in the Saqqara antiquities area in the Arab Republic of Egypt succeeded in uncovering the first and largest cache at the site dating back to the late period, during the work of the mission’s fourth excavation season.

The Secretary-General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and head of the mission, Dr. Mustafa Waziri, said - in a statement issued today - that the discovered cache includes 150 bronze statues of various sizes of a number of ancient Egyptian deities, including Anubis, Amun Min, Osiris, Isis, Nefertum, Bastet, and Hathor, in addition to To a group of bronze vessels related to the rituals of the goddess Isis, such as Alslasel, as well as a bronze statue of the engineer Imhotep without a head, very precise and beautiful.

He added that the mission was also able to discover a new group of burial wells, in which a group of 250 colored wooden coffins from the Late Period, about 500 BC, were found, closed and containing mummies in good condition of preservation, in addition to a group of amulets and wooden statues, some of them gilded with faces and wooden boxes. colorful.

Dr. Mustafa Waziri indicated that the excavations inside one of the discovered burial wells resulted in the discovery of a sarcophagus with a papyrus in a good state of preservation, possibly containing chapters from the Book of the Dead, and that it was transferred to the restoration laboratories of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir for sterilization, hydration, study and knowledge of the texts it contains.

The mission also found two colorful wooden statues with a gilded face, in good condition of preservation of the two goddesses Isis and Nephthys in the position of mourners, in addition to finding a burial from the New Kingdom around 1500 BC with many adornment tools such as a bronze mirror and a set of bracelets, necklaces Earrings and anklets have their own staples and copper utensils for everyday life.

It should be noted that the Egyptian archaeological mission began its work on the site since 2018, and succeeded in discovering the unique tomb of the priest of the Fifth Dynasty "Wahi", in addition to 7 rock tombs, including three tombs from the New Kingdom and four tombs from the Old Kingdom, and the facade of a tomb from the Old Kingdom, in addition to To the discovery of more than a thousand amulet of faience and dozens of wooden cat statues, cat mummies, wooden statues and mummies of animals.. While the mission succeeded in 2020 in the discovery of more than 100 wooden coffins closed in their first state from the late era inside burial wells, and 40 statues of a deity Saqqara cemetery Ptah Soker with gilded parts and 20 wooden chests of the god Horus.

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