It was a find of Biblical proportions.
Archaeologists have unearthed a treasure trove of funerary artifacts in Egypt that could potentially shed light on life and death in Heliopolis — the ancient metropolis mentioned in the Story of Joseph in the Bible.
The discovery, which was announced last month by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities,was made within the Heliopolis necropolis at the Panhesy tomb site in Ain Shams, Cairo.
Unfortunately, officials didn’t provide a date for the artifacts, but the ancient burial ground was used to inter prominent individuals from multiple eras spanning Egypt’s late period all the way to the Christian period.
One of the ancient world’s oldest and most important religious meccas, Heliopolis is perhaps best known for its multiple cameos in the Bible, where it was referred to as “On,” Fox News reported.
The hub was referenced in the Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Ezekiel, and Genesis with Genesis 41:45 noting that Joseph’s wife, Asenath, was the daughter of Potipherah, a Heliopolis religious figure.
This particular cache, which was found beneath a mud-brick tomb housing human remains, marked the “first near-complete funerary assemblage ever found in the area.”
Highlights of the haul included five pairs of yellow-colored metal earrings of various sizes, which archaeologists believed were comprised of solid gold.
There were also two light-blue faience vessels, one of which bore six inscribed representations of scarabs — two were outlined in a metal that was also believed to be gold.
Other post-mortem adornments included amulets modeled after everything from a duck to an Atef Crown — an Egyptian headdress associated with Osiris, the God Of The Dead — as well as four decorative stones.
Two were believed to be comprised of agate, a semiprecious gemstone that was ubiquitous in antiquity.
These were not the only breakthrough finds at the site this excavation season.
Archaeologists had previously exhumed “mudbrick and limestone funerary structures and two coffins found in fragmented condition,” per the statement.
The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities hopes that these finds will “provide deeper insight into the daily life and funerary practices” in the city spanning multiple epochs.
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