The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that an archaeological mission has discovered a collection of tombs dating back approximately 2,000 years on the Mediterranean coast, along with a complete city dating back to the Byzantine era.
اضافة اعلان
The ministry stated in a press release on Saturday that the discoveries were made in the Marina El Alamein area, about 100 kilometers west of Alexandria, where excavations unearthed 18 tombs dating back to the Greek and Roman eras.
Several burial chambers were found with stone cover slabs still in place, alongside a granite sarcophagus measuring about 2.5 meters in length with its lid still intact, indicating that the tombs remained sealed for nearly 2,000 years.
The excavation work also yielded pottery vessels, amphorae, plates, altars, and limestone basins, in addition to several architectural elements associated with the tombs.
Among the most notable finds was the discovery of 24 gold pieces placed inside the mouths of some of the deceased. These represent what is known as the "golden tongue," an element tied to funerary beliefs during that period.
The archaeological site on the northwestern coast of Egypt likely corresponds to the ancient city of "Leucaspis," which was mentioned by the Greek geographer Strabo.
The city flourished from the Hellenistic era through the Byzantine era, reaching the peak of its urban and economic activity during the first three centuries AD.
The ministry pointed out that this brings the total number of discovered tombs in Marina El Alamein to 44 since the site was first identified in 1986 during construction work.
In a separate context, the ministry announced on Friday that an Egyptian archaeological mission operating in the Dakhla Oasis, New Valley Governorate, succeeded in uncovering a complete residential city dating back to the Byzantine era, with all its buildings made of mud brick.
The city features an organized urban design including main streets, squares, and open courtyards, with a basilican church standing at its center, overlooking one of the main streets.
The site also yielded a large collection of written documents, consisting of about 200 ostraca pieces in both Coptic and Greek, documenting buying and selling transactions, correspondence, and other details of daily life.
Egypt is striving to boost its tourism revenues, using major archaeological discoveries to showcase the country's cultural heritage and attract international visitors.
Tourism serves as a major source of foreign currency alongside Suez Canal revenues and remittances from Egyptians working abroad.
AFP
