On Saturday, we reported on the incredible finding of an ancient tomb containing a well-preserved Egyptian mummy in a limestone sarcophagus and a collection of 180 ushabti figurines in a newly-discovered tomb in Egypt’s northern province of Dakahliya. As excavations have continued over the weekend, archaeologists have revealed more amazing discoveries , which date back more than 2,500 years.

Excavations have now uncovered three sets of human remains in two tombs and hundreds of funerary objects, including a gold-plated mummy mask and rare amulets. Two limestone sarcophagi have been found with mummies inside.

In one of the sarcophagi, the mummy is covered with gilded cartonnage, a type of material composing Egyptian funerary masks, and decorated with hieroglyphic text.  It also contains the cartouche of King Psamtiak I from the 26 th Dynasty. Inside was a wooden box filled with 14 amulets and 300 ushabti figurines, funerary figurines which were intended to act as substitutes for the deceased, should he/she be called upon to do manual labour in the afterlife.  The most important amulet is one that depicts a trinity of three Ancient Egyptian gods – Amun, Horus and Neftis.

In the second sarcophagus, archaeologists found another mummy, as well as a similar wooden box with 286 ushabti figurines and 29 amulets, among them a heart shaped scarab and garnet amulets.  Beside the third skeleton, excavators uncovered 12 amulets featuring the Udjat eye of Horus.

The rare discovery was made inside a mastaba tomb at Tel El-Tabila, an ancient necropolis of the Late Ancient Egyptian period (712 – 323 BC).  A mastaba tomb is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of an above ground, flat-roofed, rectangular structure with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians.  They were built with a north-south orientation which was essential for Egyptians so that they may be able to access the afterlife.