SAQQARA: Egypt unearthed human and animal mummification workshops as well as two tombs in the ancient burial ground of Saqqara, officials said on Saturday, marking the latest in a string of discoveries that the country hopes can help revive its vital tourism industry. Mostafa Waziri, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters that the two large “embalming workshops” date back to the 30th dynasty (380-343 BC) and the Ptolemaic (305-30 BC) eras.
The discovery was made after a year-long excavation near the sanctuary of the goddess Bastet, which is home to the catacombs of mummified cats in Saqqara, some 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) south of Cairo. It was the same spot where hundreds of mummified animals and statues were uncovered in 2019.
“We found embalming workshops, one for humans and one for animals. We found all the tools that they used (in mummification) in ancient times,” Waziri said. Both workshops featured stone beds, clay pots, ritual vessels, natron salt, which is one of the main ingredients for mummification, and linens among other mummification instruments. The Saqqara excavations also led to the unearthing of two small 4,400 and 3,400-year-old tombs nearby, belonging to two priests, Ne Hesut Ba of the Old Kingdom’s fifth dynasty and Men Kheber of the late kingdom’s 18th dynasty respectively. –Agencies
