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Archaeological project discovers 3,400-year-old family made out of sandstone in Egypt

six statues dating back 3,400 years in two shrines by the sandstone quarry of Gebel el Silsila, Egypt
A research group recently found six statues dating back 3,400 years in two shrines by the sandstone quarry of Gebel el Silsila, Egypt. Photo: The Gebel el Silsila Project 2015.

It was just before Christmas when the only Swedish-led archaeological project in Egypt, run by Maria Nilsson from Lund University, made the unique discovery. The research group found six statues dating back 3,400 years in two shrines by the sandstone quarry of Gebel el Silsila.

The team was able to excavate two shrines – number 30 and 31 of a total of 32 in the area – and found six human-sized statues made out of sandstone.

“The first statue we excavated was of a woman. It was a powerful moment. We were the first to see her after the statue was buried here several thousand years ago. Uncovering the statue from all the Nile sludge and roots that previously consumed it was magical”, says Maria Nilsson when describing the moment of discovery.

Inside one shrine, the research group uncovered an entire family of four, carved out of sandstone – the father Neferkhewe, who was also the owner of the tomb, his wife and their two children. Neferkhewe was in charge of the stone mining at the quarry, and was also part of the military in direct contact with the Pharaoh Thutmose III.

Neferkhewe and his family in the shrine. Photo: The Gebel el Silsila Project 2015
Neferkhewe and his family in the shrine. Photo: The Gebel el Silsila Project 2015

The shrines are so-called “empty tombs”, or cenotaphs, which means no bodies were ever placed inside them; the actual grave sites are in Luxor, a city on the east bank of the Nile River in Egypt.

“A cenotaph is something of a stopping-place for the eternal soul. Ancient Egyptians believed that when a person dies their soul ventures out on a daily trip, and through the inscribed scenes of the cenotaph the soul could stop at a place that meant something special to the person depicted, and there receive food and drink from the family members in a symbolic form”, says Maria Nilsson.

The now excavated shrines are located facing the Nile, and have been damaged by an earthquake that took place during Antiquity. They have become partially eroded by the regular flooding of the Nile, and when the group began their work, the shrines were filled with sludge. The tombs are architecturally well-preserved, which refutes previous archaeological theories of total destruction.

Maria Nilsson and her colleague John Ward, who have both been situated in the area since the start of the project in 2012, after a while began to think that the tombs rather had sunk – which turned out to be correct.

The quarry of Gebel el Silsila is located 850 km south of Cairo by the Nile, in between Luxor and Aswan. The quarry is particularly interesting as this is where the stones, which were later transported on the Nile and used for building temples in Luxor, southern Egypt etc., were mined.

During the spring, the Gebel el Silsila Survey Project will continue with its excavations, including of a temple and an administration building in Gebel el Silsila, and with work to interpret the inscriptions that were also found in the shrines.

The discovery has received a lot of attention – both in Sweden and internationally.

Excavation team infront of the shrines. Photo: The Gebel el Silsila Project 2015
Excavation team infront of the shrines. Photo: The Gebel el Silsila Project 2015

More from the same story:
- Archaeologists make unique discoveries in Egypt
- Ancient temple rediscovered in Egypt
- More information about the research project

In the media
- Ancient Rock Figures Found at Gebel el Silsila in Egypt
- Egyptian Statues Revealed in Ancient Shrines

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