Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered dozens of carved tombstones, pottery coffins, and funerary objects at the ancient site of Tel El-Deir in the northern province of Damietta, the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced.

The excavation, carried out by a mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), revealed around 20 limestone tombstones carved with human figures. The stones are decorated with religious motifs including the griffin, Agathodaemon, and Isis-Thermouthis, highlighting a blend of ancient Egyptian beliefs with Greco-Roman influences.

According to officials, the tombstones indicate that their owners occupied a distinguished social position, and that Tel El-Deir was a funerary center with its own social and religious significance rather than just a cemetery.

“The site, spanning from Egypt’s Late Period to the end of the Roman era, serves as a living archaeological record of centuries of social, religious, and funerary evolution in the Nile Delta,” the ministry said.

Archaeologists also uncovered pottery incense burners, decorated oil lamps, barrel-shaped anthropoid coffins, and a number of funerary amulets. 

“These discoveries provide a more complete picture of the ritual and symbolic rites associated with burial practices across various periods,” the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mohamed Abdel-Badie, noted.

The ministry reported another archaeological breakthrough on Thursday, revealing the first integrated bath complex to be scientifically uncovered at the Tel Nasser archaeological site in Egypt’s Port Said Governorate. The discovery, dating to the late Ptolemaic and Roman periods, provides data on settlement patterns and the development of architecture and public infrastructure in the eastern Nile Delta.

Last week, Egyptian archaeologists also uncovered a new funerary complex at the Tel Athar Quesna necropolis in Menoufia province. The excavation unearthed hundreds of ushabti figurines, protective amulets, imported Rhodian pottery, and other burial artifacts.