１００基超える古代のひつぎ発掘、エジプト・サッカラ遺跡

【サッカラＡＦＰ＝時事】エジプトは14日、首都カイロ南方のサッカラ遺跡で2500年以上前の古代のひつぎが100基超発掘され、今年最大の発見になったと発表した。（写真はエジプトのサッカラ遺跡で出土したひつぎに納められているミイラを調べる考古学者）
　大量のひつぎは木製で、深さ１２メートルの穴３か所から封印された状態で出土した。古代エジプトの末期王朝やプトレマイオス朝時代の高官のものとみられている。考古学者がひつぎの一つを開いたところ、色鮮やかな象形文字を施した埋葬布に包まれたミイラが姿を現した。
　十数基のピラミッドや古代の宗教施設、動物の埋葬地を有するサッカラ遺跡は、古王国時代の首都だったメンフィスの大規模墓地（ネクロポリス）で、国連教育科学文化機関（ユネスコ）の世界遺産に登録されている。
　ハリド・アナニ観光・考古相は、ひつぎとミイラを公開する記念式典で「サッカラ遺跡はまだ発掘され尽くしていない。宝だ」と語った。
　出土したひつぎは、ギザ台地に今後オープンする大エジプト博物館を含めた国内の博物館数か所に収蔵される。大エジプト博物館は有名なギザのピラミッドに近く、数回の延期を経て２０２１年の開館が予定されている。
　エジプトは考古学上の発見物が観光業を活性化することを期待している。観光業は２０１１年の反政府デモから現在の新型コロナウイルスのパンデミック（世界的な大流行）まで、さまざまなショックに見舞われている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/11/16-12:36）

Egypt announced Saturday the discovery of an ancient treasure trove of more than a 100 intact sarcophagi, dating back more than 2,500 years ago, the largest such find this year.
The sealed wooden coffins, unveiled on site amid much fanfare, belonged to top officials of the Late Period and the Ptolemaic period of ancient Egypt.
They were found in three burial shafts at depths of 12 metres (40 feet) in the sweeping Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo.
Archaeologists opened one coffin to reveal a mummy wrapped in a burial shroud adorned with brightly coloured hieroglyphic pictorials.
Saqqara, home to more than a dozen pyramids, ancient monasteries, and animals burial sites, is a vast necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Saqqara has yet to reveal all of its contents. It is a treasure, Antiquities and Tourism Minister Khaled al-Anani said at the unveiling ceremony.
Excavations are still underway. Whenever we empty a burial shaft of sarcophagi, we find an entrance to another.
The latest find came just over a month after archaeologists in the area found 59 other well-preserved and sealed wooden coffins, also dating back more than 2,500 years ago.
- 'Beautiful, wonderful statues' -
More than 40 statues of ancient deities and funerary masks were also discovered, the minister said.
Another two wooden statues were found in the tomb belonging to an ancient judge of the 6th dynasty, according to Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
It was not immediately clear if the statues depicted any of the judge's family members but one statue is believed to depict an individual, by the name Heteb Ka, who was venerated by the king, Waziri said.
The beauty of the statue ... is seen in the intricacy of its eyebrows, moustache, and eyelashes. It is absolutely beautiful and wonderful, he added.
The sarcophagi will be distributed among several museums in Egypt including the yet-to-opened Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) at the Giza plateau.
Situated near the famed Giza pyramids, GEM is planned to be inaugurated in 2021 after multiple delays.
Anani attributed the flurry of discoveries in Saqqara to extensive excavation works in recent years.
Another discovery in the vast Saqqara necropolis is expected to be announced in December or early 2021.
Archaeologists also hope to find an ancient workshop for manufacturing wooden coffins for mummies.
Waziri explained that ancient Egyptians used to buy their coffins at this workshop.
We expect it to be somewhere close to the coffin's burial shafts, Waziri said.
Egypt hopes archaeological discoveries will spur tourism, a sector which has suffered multiple shocks ever since a 2011 uprising up until today's coronavirus pandemic.