Newly discovered Tounah El-Gebel mummies unveiled in Minya.

Posted on February 3, 2019 by bill

EN IMAGES. Une quarantaine de momies de plus de 2 000 ans dévoilées en Egypte.

More than 2,000 years old, 40 mummies unveiled in Egypt.

Ces momies découvertes dans des catacombes du centre du pays ont été dévoilées, samedi, par le ministre égyptien des Antiquités.

These mummies discovered in catacombs in the middle of the country were unveiled by the Egyptian minister of Antiquities.

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Elles ont plus de 2 000 ans mais sont “en bon état de conservation”. Dans le centre de l’Egypte, pus de 40 momies datant de la dynastie ptolémaïque (323 à 30 avant J.-C.) ont été dévoilées en grande pompe, samedi 2 février, dans des catacombes du site archéologique de Tounah El-Gebel. Parmi ces momies, “douze sont celles d’enfants, six d’animaux et le reste d’hommes et de femmes adultes”, selon un membre de la mission archéologique ayant débuté en février 2018.

They are more than 2,000 years old but “in a good state of conservation”. Unveiled in great pomp and ceremony, in the centre of Egypt the 40 mummies dating from the Ptolémy dynasty (323 to 30 BC) were in the catacombs of the  Tounah El-Gebel archeological site. Among the mummies “twelve were of children, six animals and the remainder were of adult men and women”, said a member of the archeology team said in February 2018. 

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Les momies ont été découvertes dans cette nécropole de Tounah El-Gebel, nouvellement mise au jour à Minya, dans le centre de l’Egypte. AMR DALSH / REUTERS. The mummies were discovered in this burial site of Tounah El-Gebel, unveiled recently in Minya, in the middle of Egypt.

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Pour contempler les momies, il faut emprunter une fine échelle et descendre un tunnel en pierre étroit de neuf mètres. En bas, une vaste pièce donne accès à plusieurs chambres minuscules. AMR DALSH / REUTERS. A ladder was lowered to climb down the tunnel  to reach the mummies. Down there the vast burial site allowed access to many tiny rooms.

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Les momies brunâtres sont posées à même le sol ou placées dans des cercueils ouverts en argile blanche.  AMR DALSH / REUTERS. The darkened mummies were arranged in line on flat ground and placed in open graves of white clay.

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Parmi ces momies, douze sont celles d’enfants. AMR DALSH / REUTERS. Among the mummies, twelve were infants.

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Les momies sont enveloppées de lin ou décorées d’écritures démotiques, une langue égyptienne antique. AMR DALSH / REUTERS. The mummies were wrapped in linen decorated with ancient Egyptian demotique script.

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Certaines portent encore des fragments de carton coloré, un matériau utilisé pour la fabrication de masques funéraires. MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP Some contained fragments of coloured paper, a material used in the making of funeral masks.

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Selon le ministère des Antiquités égyptien, il s’agissait d’un tombeau familial appartenant à “la petite bourgeoisie” de l’époque ptolémaïque, du nom de la dernière dynastie pharaonique régnante, d’origine grecque, avant que l’Egypte ne passe sous domination romaine. La reine Cléopâtre en fut la dernière souveraine. MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP. According to the minister of Ancient Egyptian antiquities, the tomb resembled an upper middle-class family of the ptolomy era, that of the last reigning pharoes, who originated in Greece, before the domination of the Roman Empire.  Queen Cleopatra being the last sovereign.

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Toutes les momies “sont en bon état de conservation”, assure le ministère des Antiquités égyptien. MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP. All the mummies were i n good condition.

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Des ostracons et des fragments de papyrus ont également été découverts sur place. Ils ont été exposés à la surface de la nécropole de Tounah El-Gebel. MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP . The shapes and fragments of papyrus were also unearthed. They were somewhat close to the surface of the Tounah El-Gebel burial site.

About bill

Worked in the technical / engineering area as a Science Laboratory Technician and as an Aeronautics Engineer. The artistic side involves writing under the nom de plume of Billy Olsenn, his recently written play 'A Case of Wine' was staged by the players group Straight Make-Up at the 2012 Birr one act drama festival. It's next staging was in the one act circuit is in Cavan, at Maudebawn on Sat 10 Nov 2012. Then it was performed in the Bray, Co.Wicklow at the very popular one act festival in January 2013. Next play is FEAR. A dark tale about revenge on the cruel death of two pensioners by young thugs. Neighbours hatch a devious and dangerous plan to exact old-style revenge. Bill is a member of the Drama League of Ireland and his plays have been critically vetted and certified as original pieces of work by the DLI. Another literary project is that of commemoration of an aircraft crash on Djouce mountain in Wicklow in 1946. Bill wrote articles for the 50th, 60th and most recently the 70th anniversary, (12 Aug 2016) all were published in the Wicklow Times and ensured the survivors of the crash, all French Girl Guides, were not forgotten. Articles reproduced on this website. But mostly this site gives a more general European and specific French slant on popular and not so popular articles of French news, translated to English by the author. Each article is translated on a paragraph by paragraph basis so easy to read in either language and even possible to improve either language by comparison of the short English and French paragraphs. Amusez vous bien. The author is currently writing an easy to read technical aviation book centered around the Fokker 50. Another interest is that dealt with in another of Bill's websites www.realnamara.net, a Statue of the mother of God, Mary. It was erected in 1972 in Dublin, at the end of the Bull Wall near Clontarf, and my grandfather William Nelson, was the main instigator of that project. I give talks on the history of the statue and my grandfather's adventurous and dangerous life at sea. Technical assistance with each website is by J O'N.
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