Ancient canopic jars discovered in Egypt's Luxor

Ancient canopic jars discovered in Egypt's Luxor

PanARMENIAN.Net - A well-preserved set of canopic jars was discovered in the tomb of Karabasken (TT 391), in the South Asasif Necropolis on the West Bank of Luxor by the Egyptian- American mission of South Asasif Conservation Project, working under the auspices of the Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt Today reports.

The new discovery was announced by Mostafa Waziri, general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities; Fathy Yassin, head of the Egyptian side of the mission, explained that the uncovered jars are made of Egyptian alabaster and probably held viscera.

As a result of the pressure of flood water the jars had fallen over and one of them was broken into several fragments. They underwent emergency cleaning and consolidation performed by the conservation team. Although the contents of the jars were damaged by floodwater, the jars still contained a large amount of resin. The sizes of the jars (with lids) vary from 35.5 to 39.4 cm. The lids depict a human, a baboon, a jackal and a falcon and are skillfully carved and modeled by three different artists.

Waziri pointed out that the canopic jars were found in a nearly cubic cutting in the floor in an intrusive burial compartment cut into the south wall of the Pillared Hall in the Kushite tomb of Karabasken (TT 391).

On her part Elena Pischikova, director of the South Asasif Conservation Project, said that the jars are belong to the "Lady of the House Amenirdis" from the 26th Dynasty.

The South Asasif Conservation project was founded in 2006 with the aim of restoring and reconstructing the damaged and partially collapsed Late Period tombs of the South Asasif necropolis, Karabasaken (TT 391), Karakhamun (TT 223) and Irtieru (TT 390). During its 12 years of work, the Project found thousands of fragments of the collapsed decoration of the tombs and reconstructed the Second Pillared Hall and part of the First Pillared Hall in the tomb of Karakhamun. The restored tombs will feature sophisticated carvings and paintings of the 25th and 26th dynasties.

Previously, a gold coin from the Islamic period was discovered by an Egyptian-French mission during an underwater excavation at Abuqir Bay in Alexandria.

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