A wooden royal statue, an offering chapel and an identified building with eight dozen mummified animals are the latest discoveries in North Abydos, Nevine El-Aref reports During routine excavation work in the Votive Zone north of the Upper Egyptian town of Abydos, a Canadian archaeological team from Toronto University has made an unexpected discovery of what is believed to have been an animal necropolis along with remains of religious buildings that could reveal ritual activities associated with the great gods of ancient Egypt. In ancient times Abydos was a holy city where Osiris, god of the underworld, was buried along with his wife Isis and their son Horus. Its sacred position led the early Egyptian kings to choose it as their burial place. A temple dedicated to Osiris was built there, as well as a number of chapels and religious buildings. This summer, the Canadian team found an early offering chapel that can be dated to more than 3,600 years old, plus the remains of a temple dedicated to the 19th-Dynasty pharaoh Seti I. More than 83 animal mummies were found inside one of the rooms, and early studies have revealed that most of the animal mummies belonged to dogs, cats, sheep and goats and dated back more than 2,000 years. Professor Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner of the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilisations and leader of the Canadian team believed that these animals were offerings from an as yet undiscovered tomb in the area, which could be dated to a later period than the temple. "I think there is another tomb there, another Third Intermediate Period tomb [1070 to 664 BC] and a very large one," Wegner told Live Science, adding that this tomb would probably have been reused at a later date. "In some subsequent period, when the tomb was robbed and disturbed, the animals were simply taken out with a pitchfork and became disarticulated and dissociated from their original linen wrappings," Wegner told the Toronto audience during her lecture at the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. The dogs represent Wepwawet, the ancient Egyptian Jackal god, whose procession precedes immediately that of Osiris. During the excavation, the team unearthed a royal wooden statue, 65cm tall, wearing the nemes headdress. It was covered with mud, but following cleaning and restoration Wegner suggests that the statue could depict Queen Hatshepsut in her female features. The tomb also discovered two noblemen's tombs dating from the reign of Pharaoh Thuthmosis III. A collection of faience and clay ushabti figurines was also unearthed. Excavations will continue in order to decipher the truth about the place and its buildings.
