New tombs unearthed in Egypt
2004-06-13 19:35
Cairo - Australian archaeologists have unearthed a 5 000-year-old necropolis with 20 well-preserved tombs in a poor neighborhood of Helwan, just outside Cairo, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced on Sunday.
The statement quoted Christian Kohler, head of the Australian mission, as saying a newly discovered limestone relief, which was found within the necropolis, was one of many in Helwan representing early uses of hieroglyphic text.
"It is a duty to protect this magnificent archaeological site from the urban expansion which represent a major threat to (Helwan's) monuments," Kohler was quoted as saying.
Helwan, 25 kilometers south of Cairo, is a heavily populated industrial area located across the Nile river from the pyramids of Saqqara, also a cemetery site.
Some of the tombs were small and plain. Others, for the middle and upper classes, were larger and contained alabaster, limestone, clay and copper pots and pans, the statement said.
It added that two large limestone tombs dated to the Old Kingdom, 2575-2134 BC, also were found in Helwan that have the same architectural style as some in Giza and Saqqara, their walls containing a collection of small chapels and niches.
- AP