First Roman Period Catacomb Discovered in Saqqara

The joint Egyptian-Japanese archaeological mission in North Saqqara area led by Professor Nozomu Kawai of Kanazawa University and Japanese Waseda University managed to discover a Roman Period archaeological cemetery belonging to the 1st and the 2nd centuries AD, during the last excavation season.

Saqqara’s General Manager Sabry Farah said the mission found the catacomb in the area northeast the old Saqqara region, where no excavation work has been carried out before.



On his part, Professor Kawai said that the discovered catacomb consists of a domed mud-brick building with an internal staircase, and a room made of limestone that included five statues of Isis-Aphrodite made of terracotta, and a number of clay pots discovered on the entrance gate.

He added that the mission also discovered two statues of lions made of limestone, each statue is about 55 cm long, 33 cm x 19 cm high.

Dr. Mohamed Youssef, director of the Saqqara area indicated that the mission had found the rock-carved room outside the entrance gate. The room consists of a long hall of about 15 meters in length and about 2 meters in width, with a number of small chambers carved on the sidewalls. Inside the carved chambers a large clay statue of Isis-Aphrodite was discovered in addition to a number of mummies.

