Discovery

Discovering a unique tomb dates back to the Saite Period in al-Bahnasa

Discovering  a unique tomb dates back to the Saite Period in al-Bahnasa

The Egyptian Archaeological Mission and its Spanish counterpart from the University of Barcelona working in al-Bahnasa (ancient Egyptian Per-medjed), which is more famously known by its name during the Greco-Roman Period, Oxyrhynchus, discovered a unique tomb that dates back to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664–332 BC), also called the Saite Period.
Dr Mustafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, stated that this tomb is one of a kind, for no other like it had yet been discovered in al-Bahnasa. It consists of one chamber made of polished limestone which is entered from its north side. Unlike other previously discovered tombs in the area, it has a straight rather than a domed ceiling. Dr Waziri added that no funerary equipment was discovered in the tomb.
The head of the mission, Dr Esther Pons, stated that excavations have revealed eight tombs from the Roman Period with undecorated, domed, ceilings, in which a number of inscriptions, bronze coins, small crosses, and mud seals were discovered.