And what makes this discovery special are the 20 mummies that were discovered in this massive Greco-Roman tomb located in the vicinity of the Aga Khan Mausoleum. According to Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the recently discovered Greco-Roman tomb has two parts, one above ground (made of rectangular sandstone and mudbrick, which hid the tombs), and one carved into the rock! Dated to the Greco-Roman period, the tomb called AGH032 was looted by grave robbers in antiquity, reports The Heritage Daily .

The mission, headed by Patrizia Piacentini, Professor of Egyptian Egyptology and Archaeology at the University State of Milan, and Abdel Moneim Said, Director General of Antiquities of Aswan and Nubia (SCA), has been working in the vicinity of the Aga Khan Mausoleum since 2019, where previously 300 tombs dating from the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD had been found.

Along with the Greco-Roman tombs , there were other interesting archaeological finds including offering tables, stone panels covered in hieroglyphic script , a copper necklace engraved with Greek script, with the name Nikostratus on a plaque next to it. Coffins made of clay and others of sandstone were also found.

Moreover, a number of wooden statues of the Ba bird and parts of colored cartonnage were also found in the Greco-Roman tomb. Colored cartonnage was used in Egypt for making funerary masks. Cartonnage includes plastered layers of fiber or papyrus, flexible enough for molding while wet. The method was used in funerary workshops to produce cases, masks, or panels to cover all or part of a mummified body.

The tomb also contained a landfill of animal bones, pottery fragments, offering tables and plates inscribed in hieroglyphics, reports The Express . The landfill area was clearly used for ritual ceremonies, most likely as a votive place for offerings or consecrations. It was here, in the east wall of the tomb that a man’s mummy was found. The researchers believe this man, whose name was Nikostratus, was the owner of copper necklace engraved with Greek script also found in the tomb.

The room is overlooked by four burial chambers dug deep into the rock, where a beautiful terracotta sarcophagus of a child and a beautiful cartonnage were discovered. While this child mummy remains unnamed, there was another child mummy with a name plaque found, located inside the mummy’s chest. In total, 30 mummies were found inside the four tunnels dug into the rock, including very young and very old people.

Greco-Roman Culture: A History of Cultural Continuity

The Greeks had arrived in Egypt as early as the 7th century BC and by the 4th century BC Alexander the Great’s conquests had established the city of Alexandria . After Alexander’s death, his empire was divided amongst his generals. Ptolemy I Soter inherited Egypt. The Greco-Roman period ended with the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC. This period in Egyptian history is also known as the Hellenistic period.

When the Roman Empire annexed the Ptolemaic Kingdom in 30 BC, Egypt became an extremely important agricultural and trading center, the most revered outside Rome itself, with a highly developed urban economy. This created a vibrant Greco-Roman culture, with a sense of historical continuity between both of these great ancient empires. And though Ptolemaic institutions were reformed the overarching authority of Roman law triumphed over the Greco-Egyptian legal system.