Excavation training program leads to discovery of Ptolemaic-era cemetery in Sohag

CAIRO – 5 October 2022: Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri stated that participants of the "Training School for Excavation Works in Al-Diyabat, Sohag” succeeded in uncovering a tomb dating back to the Ptolemaic era. 

A total of 16 antiquities inspectors and restoration specialists from various sectors of the Supreme Council of Antiquities participated in the training, which came within the ministry's plan to enhance the skills and scientific capabilities of its cadres and progress the archaeological work in its museums and sites. 

During the excavations - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

The training is organized by the Central Training Unit in the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities' Office, in cooperation with the Sohag Antiquities District. It dealt with scientific and practical excavations, archaeological surveys, and drawing archaeological finds and inscriptions in the Akhmim area in Sohag Governorate, according to Waziri.

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Part of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities 

For his part, Head of the Central Administration of Upper Egypt Antiquities Mohamed Abdel Badie said that the discovered tomb is carved into an archaeological hill, and was reached by a descending staircase, preceded by a courtyard, perhaps built of mud bricks, due to the presence of the remains of a brick wall at the top of the stairs to the right of the interior to the cemetery.

He added that the tomb consists of two rooms, the first with an area of 2.70 m * 2.65 m and a height of 1.70 m.  A part of its roof has been lost, and on its walls there is a layer of mud mortar free of drawings, inscriptions and writings. Inside, two limestone sarcophagi and a part of the sarcophagus lid were revealed, all of them devoid of inscriptions.

The eastern wall of the first room has an entrance with a cornice in the middle that leads to the second room. The southern part of its entrance from the inside contains the South Crown and the northern part from the inside contains the North Crown. Its ceiling has drawings representing the journey of the deceased to the other world.Most of rooms are covered with a layer of soot, perhaps due to the use of the tomb as a residence in the Coptic period.

Abdel Badie also pointed out that it is scheduled to carry out cleaning and restoration work on the ceiling during the coming period to study those scenes and writings, and determine the owner of this tomb, who may have been a senior employee in the Ptolemaic era. This is indicated by the important location of the cemetery, as well as the presence of the South Crown, the North Crown, the remains of scenes and hieroglyphic writings found in the tomb, as well as the remains of pottery and mummified animals.