More than 2,000 mummified ram heads dating to the Ptolemaic era have been discovered in the Temple of Ramses II in the ancient city of Abydos in southern Egypt, Egyptian authorities said today.
Mummies of sheep, dogs, goats, cows, gazelles and mongooses were also exhumed by a team of American archaeologists from New York University, in this place famous for its temples and necropolis, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced in a statement. . statement to the press.
According to the archaeologist and secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, these discoveries will allow us to better understand the temple of Ramses II and the activities that took place there between its construction, during the sixth dynasty of the Old Kingdom (between 2374 and 2140 BCE), and the Ptolemaic period (323 to 30 BCE).
The director of the American mission, Sameh Iskandar, quoted in the same press release, said that these rams’ heads are “offerings”, which indicate “a cult of Ramses II celebrated 1,000 years after his death.”
The team also discovered the remains of a palace with walls about five meters thick, dating back to the sixth dynasty, as well as various statues, papyri, remains of ancient trees, clothing and leather shoes.
550 km south of Cairo and famous in ancient times for having housed the tomb of Osiris, the god of the dead, the pre-dynastic site of Abydos is known for its temples, particularly that of Seti, and its necropolis.
The Egyptian authorities have been periodically announcing archaeological discoveries in recent times, described by some specialists as having more of a political and economic impact than a scientific one, since the country, with almost 105 million inhabitants and in a serious economic crisis, depends on tourism to replenish your finances.
Tourism in Egypt employs two million people and generates more than 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Government intends to reach 30 million tourists a year by 2028, compared to the 13 million it had before Covid-19, although many critics doubt the achievement of the goal and point out the degraded state of certain archaeological sites and museums.
Source: TSF
