Archaeologists in Egypt discover mummification workshop
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Archaeologists in Egypt stumbled upon a new discovery dating back to more than 2,500 years ago near Egypt's famed pyramids at an ancient necropolis south of Cairo.
The discovery which includes a mummification workshop and a shaft, used as a communal burial place, is located at the Saqqara necropolis of Memphis, the first capital of ancient Egypt. Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its vast necropolis are home to a wide range of temples and tombs as well as the three renowned Giza pyramids.
The latest find, announced at a press conference Saturday, belongs to the Saite-Persian Period, from 664-404 B.C. The site, which lies south of the Unas pyramid, was last excavated more than 100 years ago, in 1900.
In the mummification workshop, an embalmer's cachette holding a large collection of pottery vessels, bowels and measuring cups were found. Archaeologists believe the findings will reveal more about the oils used in the mummification process in the 26th Dynasty.
"We are in front of a goldmine of information about the chemical composition of these oils," said Ramadan Hussein, the head of the German-Egyptian mission, at the press conference.
Among the artifacts found were fragments of mummy cartonnages, canopic cylindrical jars and marl clay and faience cups. Many will be displayed in the under-construction Grand Egyptian Museum, the first phase of which is expected to be inaugurated later this year.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-07-archaeologists-egypt-mummification-workshop.html#jCp
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Very interesting!
Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it, Bob. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
I often seed stuff that I think is interesting and worthy of being shared... but which doesn't really provoke much reaction. I appreciate a simple "thank you"... and therefore I always leave a "thank you" when I'm on the other side.
I know what you mean. It happens to me, too.
I do the same.
This is an interesting story.
The more we learn about the ancients, it seems the more we realize how little credit we have historically given them.
There are some recent geological and archaeological discoveries that are beginning to explain how a concentration of people wound up in and around the Nile valley which resulted in one of the early civilizations beginning around the 5500 BC era.
As typical, greed (in this instance, tomb robbers serving higher masters) has resulted in the destruction of in-calculable knowledge transfer known by the ancients.
There are a couple videos that give insight into the daily lives of the ancient Egyptians which shatter the wrong information we were taught in school. I will try to find them.
The most interesting aspect of this videos was the conveyance that the everyday people were, guess what? Everyday people. We became modern humans several tens of thousands of years ago.
There are 2 very good archeological and anthropological instructors who do a good job and bringing the ancients to life.
Professor Alison Roberts of the University of Birmingham (UK) and focused on the Mediterranean and Fertile Crescent areas, historian Bettany Hughes.
Later today I might find the vids mentioned earlier.
Thanks for your comment, dave. I was introduced to ancient Romans and Egyptians in 6th grade and even though I'm still not well-educated in the field, I love reading about every discovery. In the 1970s, I saw the spectacular King Tut exhibition in both NYC and Washington, DC.
I look forward to your future posts about the videos you find!