A treasure trove of historic gold foil artifacts that were buried for nearly 3,000 years has been uncovered in Egypt.
Archaeologists discovered 63 graves Tel-El-Dir – a burial complex in the city of Damietta – that were filled with figurines, pottery, coins and a mirror.
The team believes the relics could reveal the secrets of ancient Egyptians dating back to the Bronze Age, specifically about the city’s foreign trade efforts.
A total of 38 coins found at the site dated back to the Ptolemaic period, (304 to 30BC), when one of Alexander the Great’s general’s descendants ruled Egypt.
The ancient currency featured images of both ancient Greek and Egyptian gods.
Archaeologists discovered the burial site of Tel-El-Dir in the city of Damietta in Egypt that held more than 60 tombs
Gold Foil artifacts were discovered that led researchers to believe they could shed light on how the Egyptians lived during the Bronze Age and Ptolemaic Period
The artifacts and tombs are believed to date back to Egypt’s Late Period from 664 BC to 332 BC when Damietta served as the center of foreign trade with cities in the Mediterranean.
The pottery was likely exchanged with other cities, but it was the bronze coins found within a pottery vessel that are indicative of the turmoil that struck the city of Damietta.
The coins appeared to be engraved with the head of the Greek God Zeus and the Egyptian God Ammon.
These gods are associated with oracles and prophecies, which date the coins to the late third century, Thomas Faucher, the director of the Center for Alexandrian Studies in Egypt who was not involved in this research, told Live Science.
The artifacts are believed to date back to Egypt’s Late Period from 664 BC to 332 BC when Damietta served as the center of foreign trade with cities in the Mediterranean
These gods are associated with oracles and prophecies which dates the coins to the late third century. The researchers found gold foil statues with religious symbols and ancient Egyptian idols including the Eye of Horus that revealed the deceased were people of high social standing
When the coins were released in 206 BC, the country was undergoing a large-scale revolt led by two native Egyptians, Pharaohs Horwennefer and Ankhwennefer, who set out to overthrow the Greek rule.
The ancient Greeks held control of the nation, shuffling in a new language, religion and new way of life, which caused a rift between the two groups.
After the revolt, there was a mass coin recall and they were given additional markings.
However, the 38 bronze coins found by archaeologists had been stashed away by someone unwilling to meet the demands of the new rulers.
Faucher told Live Science that the new discovery could provide more details about the events that took place and explain in greater detail why the ancient Egyptians hid these items.
However, the researchers have not officially confirmed if the coins were buried during the revolt.
The findings from the 26th dynasty ‘confirm the completion of the historical sequence of the Tel El-Dir cowardice and the important commercial role of the Damietta site through different historical eras’
The tombs were constructed with mud bricks over storage chambers that held funerary goods, but one ‘huge’ burial contained multiple remains who may have been of a higher social class.
The tomb also featured a trove of gold foil artifacts, such as religious statues and ancient Egyptian idols, including the Eye of Horus – a falcon-headed God that was worn as an amulet that was believed to have protective powers
They uncovered funeral pyres, which were wooden structures used to cremate the body and gold foil figurines that were notable because they appeared to depict ‘ba-birds.’
These were mythological creatures that had wings, a human head and human arms and were believed to watch over the deceased’s spirit as it passed into the afterlife.
The researchers did not disclose the presence or condition of any human remains that may have been recovered at the Damietta site but said the artifacts found at the tombs ’emphasize the historical significance of this discovery, which may be the beginning of the re-dating of an important period of time for the city of Damietta.’
They also explained that the findings from the 26th dynasty ‘confirm the completion of the historical sequence of the Tel El-Dir cowardice and the important commercial role of the Damietta site through different historical eras.’