Greco-Roman tombs uncovered near Aswan, Egypt.

A group of Egyptian and Italian archaeologists have uncovered a series of tombs dating to the Greco-Roman period near Aswan in southern Egypt, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The archaeologists, from the Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan uncovered the tombs on a series of terraces on a rocky hillside close to the Aga Khan Mausoleum, during a series of excavations in the area following reports of illegal excavation in the area. To date 33 of the tombs have been excavated, with an estimated total of about 300, scattered over an area of about 20 000 m².

A team of Egyptian and Italian archaeologists surveyed the area around the Mausoleum of Aga Khan to map out 300 ancient tombs. Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Significantly, the tombs did not belong to pharaahs or other high ranking individuals, but to ordinary Egyptian families, and were in use between about 900 BC and 300 AD, a period which covers the occupation of Egypt by first the Persian Empire, then the Ptolemaic Greeks, and finally the Romans. Piacentini Patrizia, of the University of Milan, who has been leading the investigations, suggests that during this interval Aswan would have been a prosperous trading centre, connecting Egypt and the Mediterranean world to Nubia and the kingdoms of the African interior.

The interior of one of the newly discovered tombs near Aswan. Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The tombs reveal much about the lives, and particularly the health, of ordinary Egyptians during the period. Between 30% and 40% of the Human remains uncovered so far belong to children and infants, suggesting a fairly high infant-mortality rate. Many of the bodies have pathologies indicative of diseases, including malnutrition, anaemia, tuberculosis and osteoarthritis. Several adult women had undergone limb amputations.

Remains of mummies from the late Greek and Roman period discovered in tombs near Aswan, Egypt. Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Some of the dead from the tombs were buried within coffins or sarcophagi, but many more were preserved as mummies wrapped in linen and covered by painted cartonnages (a kind of papier-mâché made of linen or papyrus and plaster). The tombs have also yielded a wide range of other artefacts, including offering tables, painted statuettes, figurines, and terracotta lamps.

A cartonnage mask, which would have once covered a mummy, from the Aswan Necropolis. Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

See also...

Archaeologists uncover three-headed statue of the Goddess Hectate at Kelenderis on the southern coast of Anatolia.

Archaeologists from Batman Üniversitesi in Turkey have uncovered a three-headed statue of the Goddess Hecate while carrying out excavations at the ancient city of Kelenderis, close to the modern town of Aydıncık in Mercin Province, according to a press release issued by the university on 18 August 2023. Hecate was worshipped by the Ancient Greeks, and other peoples of the eastern Mediterranean, and was associated with magic, witchcraft, boundaries, doorways, night, light, the Moon, herbalism, graves, ghosts, necromancy, Dogs, and Snakes. Hecate was often depicted with a triple form, as three closely associated female figures, which may have given rise to the European belief in witches coming in threes. Interestingly, although Hecate was worshipped by the Greeks, and the oldest known depictions of her are all from Greece, it is thought likely that she was imported at some point from Anatolia and incorporated into the Greek religion. The Kelenderis statue of Hecate, however, is not evidence of this, as it depicts Hecate with three heads, a practice which is known to have started in Athens in the fifth century BC, and which implies that the statue dates from the Hellenistic Period at Kelendris.

A tripple-headed statue of the Goddess Hecate, uncovered at Kelenderis on the southern coast of Anatolia. Batman Üniversitesi.

The city of Kelenderis dates back to at least the eighth century BC, and was probably originally founded by the Phoenicians, although it appears to have attracted Greek settlers early in its history, and by the by the fifth century BC was a thriving Greek port. The city formed part of the Delian League, which fought against the Achaemenid Empire under the leadership of Athens, between 460 and 454 BC, but when Athens made peace with the Achaemenids, Kelenderis was effectively ceded to the empire, not coming back under Greek control until Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire in 330 BC.

See also...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Twitter.