The discovery of a cemetery and four small chapels in the area of ​​Saqqara, dating back to the Ramesside era

The joint Dutch-Italian archaeological mission from the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands and the Egyptian Museum in Turin, working in the Saqqara antiquities area under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, succeeded in discovering a tomb of a person claiming Banahsi from the Ramesside period, during the excavations it is conducting at the site during its current excavation season.

This was stated by Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, pointing out that the mission also succeeded in uncovering a number of other chapels dating back to the same time period, which would contribute to shedding light on the development of the Saqqara cemetery in the Ramesside period, as well as unveiling at the same time. About new people were not known in historical sources.

He added that this discovery supports previous theories that suggest that the space between the tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty (such as the Maya tomb) was reused in later ages and tombs and chapels were built there during the Ramesside period, whose inscriptions shed light on the funerary practices of the dead during that period.

And the planning of the cemetery explained d. Muhammad Youssef, Director of the Saqqara Antiquities District, that 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 chapels next to each other.

Dr. added. Christian Greco, director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin and head of the mission from the Italian side, found inside the tomb a painting depicting the owner of the tomb Banhasi and his wife Paya, who bore the title of the singer of Amun, including a beautiful scene of Banhasi worshiping the goddess Hathor. An offering table, in front of which a bald man stands with a leopard skin on his shoulders, in addition to a number of scenes of priests and offerings.

For her part, Dr. Lara Weiss, curator of the Egyptian and Nubian collection of the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands, said that the mission also succeeded in uncovering the remains of four small chapels, two of which contain a number of inscriptions, one of which is of a person called Yoyo, and despite its small size, it contains a number of The scenes and inscriptions that are characterized by their accuracy and the quality of their details are in a good state of preservation, as there is a view of the funeral procession of Yoyo and the revival of his mummy again to live in the other world, in addition to a view depicting the cow of the goddess Hathor and a boat of the god Suker, the god of the cemetery, and it is likely that the cabin was reused in Later eras, which explains the extent of the destruction that was inflicted on it. As for the second booth, it is for an unknown person so far and contains a very rare carved inscription of the owner of the booth and his family. The other two booths are completely devoid of inscriptions.