According to a reporter in Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on June 24 that an Egyptian-Italian archaeological team working at a cemetery in the western part of Aswan province, located in southern Egypt, has discovered 33 family tombs dating back to ancient Greek-Roman times.
This discovery adds valuable archaeological evidence to the cemetery area near the Aga Khan mausoleum on the west bank of the Nile, which contains over 400 tombs dating from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD.
One of the discovered tombs. (Source: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities).
Some of the tombs still contain preserved parts of mummies and remnants of burial items, contributing to a greater understanding of ancient Greek-Roman times in Egypt.
Some tombs were carved deep into the mountains, while others were surrounded by walls made of mud bricks.
Additionally, archaeologists found small painted terracotta figurines, stone and wooden coffins, offering tables, and numerous painted paper boxes inside the excavated tombs.
According to Abdel-Moneim Said, the Director General of the Aswan Antiquities Museum, preliminary studies reveal that middle-class residents of Elephantine Island in Aswan were buried in tombs located in the lower parts of the cemetery, while the upper sections were reserved for the upper class.
The Egyptian-Italian archaeological team also conducted anthropological analyses and X-rays on several mummies using advanced technology.
Patrizia Piacentini, the head of the Italian archaeological delegation and an Egyptologist at the University of Milan, explained that the demographic study aimed to gather the most complete biological records possible, including sex diagnosis, estimated age at death, and any signs of pathology or injury.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities noted that studies of the discovered mummies indicate that 30-40% of the bodies buried are teenagers and infants.
Some individuals had contracted infectious diseases before death, such as tuberculosis or metabolic disorders like osteoporosis, arthritis, malnutrition, and anemia.
CT scan results also showed the presence of bracelets on some mummies, which can be reconstructed in a three-dimensional model using modern techniques.
