Archaeologists in Egypt Unearth Tombs Containing Colorful Mummy Masks and “Silent God” Statues at Saqqara.
According to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a series of tombs dating back approximately 1,800 to 4,800 years, some of which contain vibrantly colored mummy masks and even statues resembling a “Silent God” in the form of a child.
As noted by Nozomu Kawai, director of the Institute for Research on Ancient Civilizations and Cultural Resources at Kanazawa University, the colorful mummy masks worn by the deceased likely date back to the Roman period (29 BC to AD 641).
Mummy mask unearthed by the excavation team at Saqqara. (Photo: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities).
The archaeologists also found a small statue depicting Harpocrates, a Greek god often represented as a child associated with silence, riding a goose. The goose symbolizes the “evil spirit that the Divine Child conquers”, Kawai explained to Live Science.
The research team also discovered a stele, or carved stone slab, inscribed with the name of a man called “Heroides.”
Kawai and his colleagues initially uncovered several tombs at this site in northern Saqqara. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced archaeologists to temporarily suspend their work.
Upon returning in 2023, they excavated additional tombs and artifacts. Kawai noted that in one of the oldest tombs in the area, the team found an Egyptian plaster from the Second Dynasty along with a skeleton inside a wooden coffin that had been damaged by termites. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities stated that one tomb dating back to the 18th Dynasty contains a mummy inside its sarcophagus.
The excavation and analysis of the tombs are ongoing.
