Discovery of two adjacent tombs dating back to El-Sawy era in Al-Bahnasa archaeological area in Minya

CAIRO – 5 December 2021: The Spanish archaeological mission, working in Al-Bahnasa archaeological area in Minya Governorate and affiliated with the University of Barcelona, has discovered two adjacent tombs dating back to El-Sawy period.

The Spanish mission working in Al-Bahnasa archaeological area - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mustafa Waziri said that the mission found in one of these two tombs the remains of two unknown persons with gold tongues. Inside the tomb, a sarcophagus made of limestone was found with a lid shaped as a woman; next to it the remains of an unknown person was found.

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Waziri pointed out that preliminary studies on the cemetery proved that it had been entered before during ancient periods.

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

However, head of the mission Maite Mascourt explained that the second cemetery was completely closed and the mission opened it for the first time during the excavations.

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Hassan Amer, a professor at the Department of Greco-Roman Archeology at the Faculty of Archeology, Cairo University and director of the excavations of the mission, indicated that the mission found a limestone sarcophagus with a human face in a good state of preservation, in addition to canopic utensils. Also, 402 Ushabti figurines made of faience, a set of small amulets and green beads were found.

Director General of the Antiquities of Middle Egypt Jamal el-Samastawi said that the Spanish mission has been working in the Al-Bahnasa archaeological area for nearly 30 years, during which they uncovered many tombs dating back to the El-Sawy, Greco-Roman and Coptic eras.

Samastawi pointed out that Al-Bahnasa region was famous for its papyri written in Greek, which were published in dozens of volumes at Oxford University. It also belonged to the 19th region of Upper Egypt and had great fame in the Coptic and Islamic eras.