Antiquities Minister Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty has announced the discovery of 6 rock cut statues inside the chapels 30 and 31 in Gebel Elselsela Area- North Aswan.
The discovery was made during the excavation works performed by Lund University Mission – Sweden, and headed by Dr. Maria Nilsson and Dr. John Ward.
Eldamaty said that “this is an important discovery because Gebel Elselsela was subjected to an earthquake in ancient times which made it completely covered with huge blocks.”
A former report by Egyptologist Ricardo Augusto Caminos assumed that Chapel 30 had been completely destroyed.
Dr. Mahmoud Afifi, Head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities said that the six statues date back to the New Kingdom Era, two of them were found at the rear of chapel 30 and they are the statues of the tomb owner and his wife seated on a chair.
The tomb owner is presented in the Osirian position, his arms crossed over his chest and wearing a shoulder length hair wig.
The other four statues were found at the rear of chapel 31 and they belong to “neferkhewe”, Overseer of the Foreign Lands during the reign of “Thutmosis III”, his wife, his daughter and son.
General Manager of the Aswan Archaeological Area, Nasr Salama said that the Swedish Mission started excavations in 2012 and will continue researching the area to discover more inside the 32 chapels of Gelbel Elselsela.
MINISTRY OF ANTIQUITIES
