Sacred animal mummies live on in Egypt’s City of the Dead
Among the many archeological treasures of Tuna el-Gebel in Upper Egypt is a large cemetery for sacred animals.
Tuna el-Gebel, a village in the center of Egypt, is known as the necropolis of Hermopolis. The “City of the Dead” is famous for a large cemetery of mummified animals established two millennia ago.
Magdy Shaker, chief archeologist at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, told Al-Monitor, “The excavations and research in the Tuna el-Gebel area began nearly 100 years ago by German archeologist [Gunther] Roeder and renowned Egyptian archeologist Sami Gabra. Gabra was the first to discover the monuments of Tuna el-Gebel with the support of Cairo University and then-dean of Arabic literature Taha Hussein during excavation works from 1931 to 1954. Later on, a joint mission of the Universities of Cairo and Munich carried out works that led to the discovery of the largest human cemetery in Graeco-Roman Egypt.”
Shaker explained, “The village of Tuna el-Gebel is located to the west of the city of Malawi and west of Hermopolis. It was the capital of the 15th Upper Egyptian Nome, and was originally named ‘Towns’ in the Pharaonic era and ‘Tahnet’ in the Roman era. The two names mean ‘blessing.’”
Shaker added that Tuna el-Gebel features funerary chambers decorated with a mixture of ancient Greek and Egyptian art. “The area is becoming more famous with new discoveries and the villageof Tuna el-Gebel has not yet revealed all of its secrets.”
