Egypt has revealed a new burial complex at the Tel El-Qweisna necropolis in the Nile Delta, providing insights into funerary practices and trade connections during the Late and Graeco-Roman periods. The complex, discovered by an archaeological mission from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, features a well-planned architectural layout with a central hall linked to multiple vaulted burial chambers. Among the discoveries were 560 faience ushabti figurines inscribed with passages from the Book of the Dead, reflecting ancient Egyptian burial beliefs.
The excavation also uncovered imported pottery from the Greek island of Rhodes, including a vessel handle with the potter’s name. This finding offers new archaeological evidence of active commercial exchanges between Ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean during the Late and Graeco-Roman periods. The Tel El-Qweisna necropolis, discovered in 1991, stands as a significant burial site in Egypt’s central Nile Delta, showcasing evolving funerary traditions across different historical periods.
In a recent announcement, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities highlighted the discovery of a Greco-Roman cemetery at the Tell Kom Aziza site in Beheira Governorate. The excavation revealed various burial styles, such as simple pits, mud-brick-lined graves, painted plaster coffins, and barrel-shaped pottery coffins typical of the Ptolemaic period. Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy emphasized that this discovery provides a comprehensive view of settlement evolution, daily life, and human-environmental interactions over millennia.
Secretary-General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Hisham Elleithy, mentioned that initial studies of human remains showed a diverse range of burial rituals, orientations, and positions.
