The joint Dutch-Italian archaeological mission from the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands and the Egyptian Museum in Turin, operating in the Saqqara antiquities area under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in the Arab Republic of Egypt, succeeded in discovering a tomb of a person named “Banhesi” from the Ramesside period, during the excavations it was conducting at the site during current excavation season.
The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Mustafa Waziri, said in a statement today that the mission also succeeded in uncovering a number of other pavilions dating back to the same time period, which would contribute to shedding light on the development of the Saqqara necropolis in the Ramesside period, as well as displace The curtain at the same time reveals new people who were not known in the historical sources.
He added that this discovery supports previous theories that suggest that the space between the tombs of the 18th Dynasty, such as the Maya tomb, was reused in later eras and tombs and chapels were built in it during the Ramesside period, whose inscriptions shed light on the funerary practices of the dead during that period.
Regarding the layout of the cemetery, the director of the Saqqara Antiquities District, Dr. Muhammad Youssef, said: It takes the form of a self-contained temple, as the cemetery has a gate entrance, an inner courtyard containing stone column bases and a well leading to underground burial chambers, and three compartments next to each other.
For his part, Dr. Christian Greco, director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin and head of the mission from the Italian side, said that inside the tomb he found a painting depicting the owner of the tomb of Banhasi and his wife Paya, who bore the title of the singer of Amun, including a beautiful scene of Banhasi worshiping the god Hathor, and below him A scene depicting Banhasi and his wife Paya together in front of an offering table, with a bald man standing in front of them with a leopard skin around his shoulders, in addition to a number of scenes of priests and offerings.
The curator of the Egyptian and Nubian collection affiliated with the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands, Dr. Lara Weiss, said that the mission also succeeded in uncovering the remains of four small booths. It contains a number of scenes and inscriptions that are characterized by their accuracy and quality of details, and they are in a good state of preservation, as there is a view of the funeral procession of Yoyo and the revival of his mummy to live in the other world, in addition to a view depicting the cow of the god Hathor and a boat of the god Suker, the god of the cemetery.
She added that it is likely that the booth was reused in subsequent ages, which explains the extent of the destruction that was inflicted on it. The second booth is for an unknown person so far, and it contains a very rare carved inscription of the owner of the booth and his family, while the other two booths are completely devoid of inscriptions.
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