Prehistoric skeletons in Egypt
2001-02-19 09:31
Cairo - US archaeologists have found prehistoric tombs containing skeletons and rock drawings of the ancient Goddess Hathor which date back more than 6 000 years, antiquities officials said on Sunday.
The illustrations of the sky goddess Hathor were found on Mount Nabta, 1 350 kilometres (810 miles) south of Cairo, said the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Gaballah Ali Gaballah.
In Egyptian mythology, Hathor, the patron of love and joy, is variously represented with either a cow's head, cow's ears, or with a solar disc between her horns.
On the same mountain the archaeologists found "two tombs, with one containing seven prehistoric skeletons and the other two skeletons, all dating about 4 000 years before Christ," Gaballah said.
"What's new about this discovery is the existence of Mica insulation imported especially from Sudan or Egypt's eastern desert to preserve the skeletons," said Ali al-Asfar, head of antiquities for the Aswan region.
Stone tools, used to pound grain, and ceramic utensils were also found in the Nabta mountain, which is about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of the pharaonic temple at Abu Simbel, Asfar added.
These finds will be exhibited soon at the Nubian Museum in Aswan, he said.
The pharaonic dynasties began around 3 100 years BC. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA