The discovery of the world’s first and biggest stockpile of bronze sculptures at Saqqara’s Bubastien necropolis.

During the fourth excavation season, the Egyptian archaeological mission excavating in the cemetery of the holy animals (Albubastien) in the Saqqara archaeological region discovered the earliest and biggest cache at the site dating back to the late era.

What did the archaeological expedition find?

• 150 Bronze Statue of Ancient Egyptian Gods

The discovered cache includes 150 bronze statues of various sizes for a number of ancient Egyptian Gods, including Anubis, Amun Min, Osiris, Isis, Nefertum, Bastet, and Hathor, as well as a group of bronze ritual pots, according to Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and mission leader. The goddess Isis is similar to Al-Salasil, as is a highly exact and exquisite bronze figure of the engineer Imhotep without head.

• 250 closed colored wooden coffins containing mummies decorated with the Egyptian Symbols

It was also able to uncover a new group of burial wells, in which were discovered a group of 250 colored wooden coffins from the late period decorated with the Egyptian Symbols, around 500 BC, closed and containing mummies in good preservation, as well as a group of amulets and wooden statues, some of which were gilded in the face and colorful wooden boxes.

• Papyrus containing chapters from the Book of the Dead

Dr. Mustafa Waziri stated that excavations inside one of the discovered burial wells resulted in the discovery of a well-preserved sarcophagus. It may contain chapters from the Book of the Dead. They transfer it to the Egyptian Museum‘s restoration laboratories in Tahrir for sterilization, hydration, study, and knowledge of the texts it contains.

• Two colorful wooden statues with a gilded face

The mission also discovered two colorful wooden statues with gilded faces, in good condition, of the two goddesses Isis and Nephthys in mourner positions, as well as a burial from the New Kingdom around 1500 BC, containing many adornment tools such as a bronze mirror and a set of bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and anklets with their own staples and copper tools for everyday life.

The Egyptian archaeological team began their examination on the site in 2018 when they uncovered the amazing tomb of a Fifth Dynasty priest.

In addition to 7 rock tombs, including three New Kingdom tombs and four Old Kingdom tombs, and the façade of an Old Kingdom tomb. More than a thousand faience amulet, hundreds of wooden cat figurines, cat mummies, wooden statues, and animal shelters were discovered.

In addition, the team discovered approximately 100 closed wooden coffins in their original state from the Late Period, 40 sculptures of the deity of the Saqqara cemetery Ptah Suker with gilded portions, and 20 wooden boxes of the god Horus in 2020.

According to American Archeology magazine, this find is one of the ten most significant archaeological discoveries for the year 2020, as well as the most eye-catching.