エジプト、木製のひつぎ５０以上発掘　「歴史書き換える発見」

【サッカラＡＦＰ＝時事】エジプトは17日、首都カイロ南方のサッカラ遺跡で3000年以上前の木製のひつぎを50以上発掘したと発表した。エジプト元考古相のザヒ・ハワス氏は「歴史を書き換える発見」だとしている。（写真はエジプト・カイロ南方のサッカラ遺跡で発掘された石棺）
　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、十数基のピラミッドがある。新王国（紀元前１６世紀から紀元前１１世紀）時代にさかのぼる木製のひつぎが５０以上、埋葬用の縦穴の中で発見され、遺跡の発掘作業が進められる中、人の頭蓋骨や骨など発掘された遺物が１７日にメディアに公開された。
　ハワス氏は１７日にＡＦＰに対し、「珍しい新発見だ」として、「これまでサッカラでは紀元前５００年前後のものが見つかるのが普通だったが、今回見つかったものは主に新王国時代にまでさかのぼる」と述べ、「今回の発見はサッカラの歴史を書き換えるものだ。もっと具体的に言えば、３０００年前に始まった新王国の歴史を書き換える発見だ」と続けた。
　ハワス氏によれば、今回発掘された遺物の中には、「死者の書」第１７章を含む長さ約５メートルのパピルスやマスク、木製の船、古代エジプト人が遊んでいた複数のボードゲームなどがある。
　「セネット」と「ゲーム２０」と呼ばれるボードゲームは、死者が死後、遊べるように墓の中に置かれていた。セネットの勝者は、「古代エジプトの天国」とされたあの世に行くのだとハワス氏は説明した。
　ハワス氏によると、サッカラ遺跡でこれまでに発掘された遺物は全体のわずか３０％程度で、７０％はまだ砂の下に埋まっているとみられているという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/01/18-13:34）

Egypt unveiled Sunday ancient treasures found at the Saqqara archaeological site south of Cairo, including sarcophagi over 3,000 years old, a discovery that rewrites history, according to famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.
Saqqara is a vast necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to more than a dozen pyramids, ancient monasteries, and animal burial sites.
A team headed by Hawass made the finds near the pyramid of King Teti, the first pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom.
More than 50 wooden sarcophagi dating to the New Kingdom (16th century BC to 11th century BC) were found in a burial shaft.
This discovery re-writes the history of Saqqara and more specifically the history of the New Kingdom, which began 3,000 years ago, Hawass told AFP on Sunday.
He said his team had discovered a total of 22 shafts.
One of the coffins belonged to a soldier. We found the axe that he used to fight, Hawass said.
A stone sarcophagus was also found, he added, as well as a papyrus around five metres long containing the 17th chapter of the book of the dead... masks, wooden boats, games the ancient Egyptians used to play.
The games, known as Senet and Game 20, he said, were placed in the tombs so the dead could play on in the afterlife.
Those who win at Senet will go to the other world, to the field of Aaru -- this is the paradise of ancient Egypt, said Hawass.
It is a rare and new discovery because most of the artefacts we found are dated back to the New Kingdom, whereas in Saqqara, it's usually more around 500 BC, he added.
Objects including human skulls and bones were displayed to the media on Sunday, while excavations of the site are ongoing.
- 'Major discoveries' -
The artefacts unearthed by the team so far represent only 30 percent of what is expected, Hawass said, adding that 70 percent still remains buried under the sands of Saqqara.
Egypt's tourism and antiquities ministry had announced Saturday major discoveries at Saqqara, where there has been a flurry of excavations in recent years.
The ministry said the team had also discovered the funerary temple of Queen Nearit, the wife of King Teti, which had already been partially discovered in recent years.
Three warehouses made of bricks were also found on the site and were used to store ritual offerings to the deities, it said.
The Saqqara site is also home to the step pyramid of Djoser, one of the earliest built in ancient Egypt.
Later this year, and after several delays, authorities hope to inaugurate a new museum -- the Grand Egyptian Museum -- at the Giza plateau, home to the famed Giza pyramids.
Egypt hopes archaeological discoveries will spur tourism, a sector which has suffered multiple shocks, from a 2011 uprising to today's coronavirus pandemic.