6 statues dating back over 3,400 years unearthed in Aswan

A team of archaeologists from Sweden has unearthed six ancient Egyptian statues in the Gebel al-Silsila area of Aswan. These intact statues are reported to date back to the New Kingdom’s 18th Dynasty, making them nearly 3,500 years old.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Antiquities on Thursday, an archaeological team from Lund University discovered the statues when excavating within ancient burial chambers of Gebel al-Silsila. The statues are all carved into the earthen rock within two ancient burial chambers. 

The Ministry of Antiquities described this latest discovery as being of “great importance” as Gebel al-Silsila’s artifacts have, over the centuries, been hit hard by earthquakes and erosion. Earlier archaeologists had claimed that some of Gebel al-Silsila’s burial chambers had been completely destroyed in quakes, and covered in collapsed rock, the statement added. 

The statues, which depict an ancient Egyptian couple, are said to belong to a nobleman buried within this chamber and his spouse. Neither his name, nor that of his wife, has yet been identified.

The remaining four statues were reportedly found at the back end of the burial chamber. The ministry’s statement identified the owner of the ancient tomb as being the nobleman Neferkhewe, said to be a senior diplomat during the rule of Pharaoh Thutmose III (circa 1479-1425 BC). 

Led by chief archaeologists Maria Nillson and John Ward, the team has been working in and around the rocky Gebel al-Silsila area since the year 2012, sifting through its ancient tombs, and documenting their finds.

While working in the same area in May, the archaeologists unearthed the foundations and remains of the Kheny/Khenu Temple. They also discovered over 300 fragments of the temple’s ceilings, iconography, colorful limestone and sandstone artifacts, ornamental beads, along with royal seals and cartouches.