3,500-year-old Egyptian scarab discovered in a cemetery in Cyprus

CAIRO – 13 December 2020: Prospectors in Cyprus discovered a series of exciting discoveries, including artifacts dating back 3,500 years, during the Bronze Age.

The artifacts include a vessel used as a funerary body, a seal with cuneiform symbols and a scarab with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic letters.

Professors Peter Fischer and  Teresa Borg from the University of Gothenburg talked about the Swedish archaeological project "Soderberg's Journey" to explore the Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke on the west bank of the salt lake Larnaca in Cyprus.

The ancient city is located on the salt lake of Larnaca, near the airport, after it was abandoned around 1150 BC.

In 2017, surveys indicated that underground cavities in the eastern region of the city have corridors leading to the burial chambers, according to ancient-origins.

The expedition uncovered 52 human skeletons and took DNA samples from the skeleton of a 30-40-year-old woman with a decorated ivory button on her chest.

Numerous graves have been discovered in cemeteries, including "the only complete ships known from Greece from about 1350 BC" depicted with detailed scenes of horse-drawn tanks and people wielding swords.

Moreover, a cuneiform seal from Babylon dating back to 1800 BC has been found with a rare scarab from Egypt dating back to 1350 BC.