Sarcophagi, mummies, skeletons, death masks, a tombstone with an ancient Greek inscription, alabaster vessels and other archaeological treasures were discovered by Egyptian and Japanese archaeologists in excavations at the necropolis of Saqqara, located about 20 miles south of Cairo.

The impressive archaeological finds were found inside a 4,000-year-old rock-hewn tomb, which included several individual ‘rooms’.

According to Muhammad Youssef, Director General of Antiquities at Saqqara and Head of the Egyptian Mission, the excavations brought to light a pharaonic sarcophagus with the mummy inside, dating to the 18th Dynasty (center photo).

Burial dating from the Second Dynasty, about 4,800 years ago. It shows a person huddled in the remains of a wooden box. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

The remains of a man with a death mask and a small child were also found.

Japan’s chief archaeologist Nozomu Kawai revealed that two more terracotta statues of the goddess Isis with white remains, a statuette of Harpocrates – the “God of Silence” – riding a bird and a statuette of the god Bes were also found inside the tomb.

Also found was a tombstone created for a man called Heroides as well as a number of later burial objects.

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