Ancient workshops and tombs were recently discovered in a Pharaonic necropolis just outside the capital Cairo, Egypt’s antiquities authorities said.
The ancient workshops were found in the vast necropolis of Saqqara, part of Egypt’s ancient capital Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Briefly speaking about Saqqara, it contains numerous pyramids. It is home to the oldest known complete complex of stone structures in history, the Pyramid of Djoser, built during the Third Dynasty. (It was built in the name of Pharaoh Zoser. It is the first and oldest pyramid built in ancient Egypt.) Apart from this, Egyptian kings built many other pyramids in Saqqara. The high authorities added special funerary monuments to this necropolis during the entire Pharaonic period. For over 3000 years, until the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, it was an important complex for non-royal funerals and cultic ceremonies.
According to VOA News report, The Supreme Council of Antiquities’ secretary general, Mostafa Waziri, claimed the workshops had been used to mummify both people and revered animals. He claimed that they are from the Ptolemaic period (305 BC to 30 BC) and the 30th Pharaonic Dynasty (380 BC to 343 BC).
He said archaeologists found ritual vessels inside the workshops, as well as clay pots and other items apparently used in mummification.
Sabri Farag, the director of the Saqqara archaeological site, also claims that the graves belonged to a senior official from the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt and a priest from the New Kingdom.
The Egyptian government has been heavily promoting new archaeological finds to international media and diplomats in recent years. The richness of Egyptian soil is already unquestionable, but such new discoveries have led to an increase in the number of tourists visiting the country.