Saturday October 12th, 2024
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22 Ancient Tombs Have Been Unearthed in Minya

New discovery at the Al-Bahansa site in Minya unveils 22 tombs dating back to the Persian, Roman, and Coptic-Byzantine periods.

Cairo Scene

22 Ancient Tombs Have Been Unearthed in Minya

22 ancient tombs have been discovered during an ongoing Egyptian-Spanish archaeological mission from Barcelona University at the Al-Bahansa archaeological site, which is located in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Minya. Six of these tombs date back to the Persian and Roman periods, while 16 other individual tombs date to the Coptic-Byzantine period.

These tombs are not the first to be unearthed by the Egyptian-Spanish archaeological mission in Minya; they had uncovered two other tombs from the 26th Dynasty in December 2021. The tombs dated back to the last native dynasty to rule over ancient Egypt, and contained well-preserved corpses with gold coins in their mouths.

The newly discovered tombs included a number of notable finds, including frogs inside a couple of jars, and preserved bodies with decorated shrouds. Additionally, a coffin without a cover was found inside a tomb from the Roman period, while potteries were found among the ruins of a limestone coffin from the Coptic period.

As a part of the Egyptian-Spanish mission, consolidation work was executed on the structure of a basilica found within the necropolis. Restoration work was also carried out on the mural paintings found in the crypt.

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