A treasure trove of gold has been discovered completely untouched in the graves of an ancient Egyptian necropolis. Gold has been a coveted possession for centuries and centuries, with the largest golden nugget ever discovered weighing as much as an adult man, and a pot overflowing with gold coins discovered in an ancient Greek home.
In an incredibly rare discovery in an ancient Egyptian necropolis, excavations of previously untouched mudbrick chambers revealed precious gold treasures among their contents. The discovery was made in a necropolis in Tel el-Deir in Damietta – a city in Egypt around 200 kilometres north of Cairo.
The dead inside would have been interred over 2,500 years ago, where they were protected into the afterlife with treasures including pottery vessels, funerary amulets and scarabs. Several ushabti figures were found, as well as bronze coins, and gold foil figures of deities and religious symbols.
The discovery is an incredibly rare one, as many graves have been looted over the years and left as good as empty. Intact discoveries such as these allow archaeologists to get an insight into the funeral practices of ancient Egyptians, says Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities.
It was part of an ongoing project that has been working to slowly uncover a burial complex dating back to between 644 and 525 BCE. Previous work at Tel el-Deir has seen 20 tombs discovered containing similar figures including scarabs, amulets and canopic jars into which the organs of the dead were placed during the mummification process.
Since then, a further 63 individual tombs have been uncovered, as well as other more humble burial sites and methods.
