Archaeologists working on different missions in the region of Aswan, Egypt, made recent discoveries, including intact child burials, a cemetery and a headless statue of Greek goddess Artemis.
Swedish-Egyptian mission working in the Gebal El-Silsila area has uncovered four intact burials of children in rock-hewn graves, dating back to the 18th dynasty (549/1550 BC to 1292 BC). One burial is of a child between two and three years old with the mummy still wrapped in linen and surrounded by organic material from the remains of the wooden coffin. Second belongs to another child aged between six and nine years old, who was buried inside a wooden coffin, while the third burial is of a child between five and eight. Both of these graves contain funerary furniture, including amulets and a set of pottery. The fourth one is of a child between the age of five and eight.
Austrian mission at Kom Ombo uncovered a part of a cemetery from the First Intermediate Period, with a number of mud-brick tombs containing numerous pottery vessels and grave goods. Preliminary study revealed that it is mostly built on top of an earlier cemetery. Beyond older layers the researchers have uncovered remains of an Old Kingdom town with a ceiling impression of King Sahure from the 5th Dynasty (2494 to 2345 BC).
Meanwhile a Swiss mission working in the ancient town of Aswan unearthed a statue of a woman that was missing its head, feet and right hand. The statue is carved from limestone and measures 14 centimetres by 9 centimetres in width. According to the researchers the dress the statue wears is similar to that of Artemis, Greek goddess of hunting, procreation, virginity and fertility, combined with the Egyptian goddesses Isis and Bastet.
(after Ahram Online)