Archaeologists excavating at the ancient site of Tel Kom Aziza in Egypt have revealed a Greco-Roman cemetery atop much older settlements dating to the earliest days of ancient Egyptian civilisation.
The excavation, conducted by the Egyptian Archaeological Mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, revealed an extremely diverse variety of burial practices and artefacts that experts say confirm the site’s importance as one of the Egyptian Delta’s most important multi-period archaeological sites.
Among those discoveries were simple burials dug directly into the ground, mudbrick-lined graves, painted plaster coffins, and barrel-shaped pottery coffins common among the ancient dead. The variety of burial methods reflects the evolution in funerary customs and religious beliefs over the centuries.
Sherif Fathy, Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, said the discovery was evidence of the exceptional archaeological value of the site.
“Tel Kom Aziza is not only a funerary site,” he said. “It is a comprehensive archaeological record as far as we know of settlement patterns, daily life and the interaction between humans and their environment over thousands of years.”
A preliminary investigation of the human remains revealed great differences in the burial practices. According to Dr Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, bodies were buried in different orientations, such as north-south and east-west, and hand positions were different in graves.
Some people were buried with their arms crossed over their chests in the so-called “Osirian position,” a pose that was associated with ancient Egyptian beliefs around rebirth and the afterlife.
The Greco-Roman necropolis also was found to be built over layers of older settlements dating back to the Old Kingdom and New Kingdom and Late Period, so, as a result, the site was still inhabited and culturally important.
Archaeologists uncovered a vast collection of everyday artefacts, including pottery vessels, stone tools, bread-making moulds, ovens and storage jars, offering a rare glimpse into daily life at the ancient settlement. Particularly significant were the large quantities of fish, bird and animal bones discovered at the site, providing valuable insight into the diet, domestic practices and living conditions of its ancient inhabitants.
One of the most unusual discoveries was the complete burial of a wild boar in one of the archaeological layers—an exceptionally rare find in ancient Egyptian funerary contexts.
Khaled Abdel Ghani Farhat, Director General of the Beheira Archaeological Area and head of the excavation mission, said the discovery is particularly significant because pigs were often associated with impurity and negative symbolism in ancient Egyptian religious traditions.
Researchers think the burial could be linked to economic or residential activity that was at the site at a certain time of occupation.
Experts say the findings validate Tel Kom Aziza as an archaeological site that has been able to preserve the evidence of changing settlement patterns, funerary customs, and day-to-day life in the succeeding civilisations.
More excavation work is expected in the upcoming seasons and there is hope that the site might still hold some new discoveries in the ancient history of the Egyptian Delta.
Sources : Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
