Scottish archaeologists have finally unraveled the mystery surrounding the completely perplexing appearance of a series of Egyptian treasures unearthed from the grounds of a school.
According to Live Science, Magaret Mathiland, the lead curator for Ancient Mediterranean at the National Museum of Scotland, along with her colleagues, has shed light on an event from the 19th century, explaining how a collection of thousands-year-old treasures from Egypt ended up in England.
Mathiland’s museum houses an extremely valuable collection of Egyptian artifacts.
The red sandstone statue excavated from the school grounds in Scotland, marking the beginning of a 70-year archaeological mystery – (Photo: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND).
The story dates back 70 years. While serving community service by digging for potatoes, a Scottish boy discovered a red sandstone bust.
The student and his teacher handed the artifact over to the authorities. The statue was identified as a 4,000-year-old treasure.
Many other valuable artifacts were subsequently found in the school grounds from 1952 to 1984, which seemed entirely implausible as there could not have been any Egyptian structures or temples built in the British Isles millennia ago.
The school is located at Melville House, a historic building in Fife that housed soldiers during World War II. However, this does not explain the treasures buried beneath the ground.
In addition to the aforementioned 4,000-year-old Egyptian treasures, other artifacts include figurines and pottery dating from 1069 to 30 BC, before this mysterious land was occupied by the Romans.
After many years of following scattered documents, archaeologists finally traced a name: Alexander Leslie-Melville, the heir of the Melville family, a former owner of the building in the 19th century.
He is confirmed to have traveled to Egypt in 1856, staying for a while before returning to England and passing away a year later.
The Egyptian treasures may have been collected by this young, short-lived heir of the wealthy family during his travels. Unfortunately, it seems that his relatives did not understand the value of the artifacts and moved them to a storage area after Alexander Leslie-Melville passed away, subsequently forgetting them.
After some time, an event led to the destruction of the building housing these treasures, resulting in them being scattered and buried across the grounds.
Despite everything, many of the artifacts have been well-preserved, including the exquisite red sandstone statue, a priceless treasure from ancient Egypt.
