New Ancient Egyptian Tombs Discovered at Lahun

A group of 45 ancient Egyptian tombs has recently been discovered at Lahun, which is south of Cairo in the Fayum. There are four seperate cemeteries, one that dates back to the first and second dynasties and is composed of 14 tombs, one which dates from the Middle Kingdom containing 31 tombs, one from the New Kingdom and one from the Late Period.

One of the tombs from the first and second dynasty cemetery has been discovered almost completely intact with all its funerary equipment and a sarcophagus containing a mummy.  Many of the other tombs were also found to contain mummies still within their wooden painted sarcophagi.  One of the tombs dating to the 18th dynasty was found to have 12 painted wooden sarcophagi piled on top of one another.

Read on to find out more about the discovery of amazing new tombs at Lahun

New Ptolemaic Temple Discovered in Alexandria

The remains of a Ptolemaic temple of Queen Berenike, wife of Ptolemy III of Egypt have been unearthed in Alexandria.  The finds so far include a cachette of 600 Ptolemaic statues, a Roman water cistern, several wells, and a great number of clay pots and sherds.

There were a large number of statues depicting the cat goddess Bastet among the haul, which suggests that the temple was dedicated to Bastet and proves that the worship of Bastet continued into the late period of Egyptian history.  In Ancient Egypt, Bastet was a goddess of protection and motherhood.

Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, explained that the temple had been used as a quarry in later time periods and that many of the stone blocks had been taken away.

To read the whole press release, please click here