(Photo courtesy of Jaen's University)
The wooden sarcophagus was unearthed by
archaeologists at the necropolis of Qubbet
el-Hawa in Aswan, Egypt. Believed to contain the body of a person of
some rank, it boasts extraordinarily delicate features, well-preserved by the
sands of time.
The piece was found by a team from the
University of Jaen, in Spain, who have been carrying out digs at the site since
2008. Since starting a fresh excavation in January,
they have also discovered 20 mummies and uncovered a tomb dating from around
1830BC. The dig is being led by Professor Alejandro Jiménez Serrano, who is working
alongside 16 staff from Jaen, as well as universities in Granada and
London. He said that his team came from a number of
different disciplines which allowed a broad focus.
It had also allowed them 'to develop new
techniques such as RTI or scanning in 3D which helps read hieroglyphic texts with greater accuracy,' he
added. The team had already found two smaller tombs
in earlier digs.
Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis was in
use from 2250BC and provided a last resting place for some of the country's most
important officials.
A string of 40 tombs cut into a rocky cliff
face, the burial ground also forms one of the best vantage points of the city of
Aswan.
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