Historical discovery: they found 16 catacombs with …

The Egyptian-Dominican mission of the University of Santo Domingo, led by archaeologist Kathleen Martínez, discovered sixteen Greco-Roman catacombs with their respective mummies in the necropolis of Taposiris Magna, west of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

In a statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Friday the discovery of the catacombs, carved and decorated with motifs “from the Greek and Roman period”. It is not yet known how many mummies were found, but they said they were “in poor condition”.

The mummies were covered with remains of golden cardboard. Junto a ellas, se encontraron además amuletos de láminas de oro en forma de lengua, que a su vez se ponían en la boca del difunto durante el ritual funerario para asegurar que pudiera hablar en el otro mundo ante el dios de juzgar aargado the dead.

Martínez explained that one of the mummies was covered with gold decorations depicting the god Osiris, while another wore the crown of Atef, decorated with horns and a cobra on her forehead. A golden necklace in the shape of a falcon, a symbol of the Egyptian sky god Horus, was also found on the chest of the last mummy.

For his part, the director general of the Department of Antiquities of Alexandria, Khaled Abu al-Hamd, said in a statement that throughout this season, the Egyptian-Dominican mission made several important discoveries at the site, such as the one of a funeral mask of a woman, eight gold plaques and eight Greek marble masks.

<< Over the past ten years, the mission has discovered an important group of archaeological remains that have changed the perception of the temple of Taposiris Magna, where several coins bearing the name and image of Queen Cleopatra VII were found in the walls of the temple ”, noted the Egyptian authorities.

The discoveries made so far show that the Temple of Alexandria was built by King Ptolemy IV, who reigned from 221 BC to 204 BC For his part, Martinez is still in search of the tomb of Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt who defied Rome and committed suicide in the year 30 after Christ after the defeat of her lover Marco Antonio before the troops of Octavian, the future Augustus, the first Roman emperor.