Archaeologists excavate haunting 'City of the Dead' packed with hundreds of tombs
Archaeologists recently excavated a "City of the Dead" that contained hundreds of ancient tombs in Egypt.
The University of Milan announced the discovery in a press release last week. The tombs were found near the Mausoleum of the Aga Khan in Aswan, located in southern Egypt.
Patrizia Piacentini, an Egyptology professor at the University of Milan, told Fox News Digital that the entire site contains between 300 and 400 tombs. She predicts that there are probably even more tombs to be discovered.
"It was used for almost one millennium, from the sixth century BC to the second century AD, and the family tombs reused over the centuries," she explained.
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Excavations began at the site in 2019, but some of tombs were unknown to archaeologists until now. Pictures show a line of remarkably preserved mummies outside the tomb, and interior pictures show mudbrick walls and an interior court.
"In ancient times, these structures were supposed to generate an incredible panorama, especially during feasts when they were probably enlightened with lamps, some of those have been found during excavation," the press release explained. "This is a major feature of the Aga Khan necropolis."
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"Dating back to the Greco-Roman Period, they were robbed in ancient times, but still preserve dozens of mummified bodies and parts of the funerary equipment," the university's statement added. "Among the mummified bodies, an adult (probably a woman) and a child, with an estimated age at death of 1-2 years, still resting one over the other in a stone coffin of a tomb, were particularly touching."
Remains of painted terracotta figurines and coffins made of wood and stone were also found at the site, as well as offering tables and funerary masks. The press release also noted that the Egyptian-Italian Mission at West Aswan conducted radiological analyses on the bodies, and found that many of the decedents died young.
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"30-40% of the individuals were very young, from newborn to adolescent," the press release read. "Some individuals suffered from infectious diseases and some others from metabolic disorders; the femur of a mature woman showed clear signs of amputation, which the person survived since there is evidence of an osteoreparative callus."
"Other bodies present signs of anemia, nutritional deficiencies but, also, traces of tuberculosis and signs of osteoarthritis, marks of death at an old age."
Piacentini told Fox News Digital that she prefers to call the site "a city for the eternity."
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"The uniqueness is its size, and especially the fact that two hills involved 8 or 10 terraces, on which the rock tombs opened," the expert added. "Usually, you find 2 to 4 terraces in ancient Egypt."
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