The Cemetery of Al-Kulah at Bahariya Oasis
- Autores: Ahmed Kh. Safina, AlaaEldeen Ali
- Localización: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische sprache und altertumskunde, ISSN 0044-216X, Vol. 152, Nº. 1, 2025, págs. 90-106
- Idioma: alemán
- Enlaces
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Resumen
This paper focuses on the results of the exca-vations conducted by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) at the hill of Al-Kulah at Bahariya Oasis between 2012 and 2014. The rock hill is located approxi-mately one kilometre south-east of the Youssef Selim site and covers an area spanning approximately 4 km2. The site, which is a cemetery dating from the Late Period to the Greco-Roman Period had not previously been investi-gated. Excavations were undertaken in three areas of the hill; in the northeast, in the middle and, in the south-west. All burials noted were hewn in the shale of the hill for mass graves or family tombs. The variety of burial types and periods represented includes pit-graves, shaft graves, and multichambered tombs, the interiors of which con-tained coffins and skeletal remains. Some of them were originally coated with a layer of lime plaster of decorated gypsum. This study will provide examples of the architec-tural layout of some tombs with a particular focus on the anomalies depicted in polychrome Tomb No. 1. These can be considered rare and have never been found before in the extant mortuary landscape of Roman Egypt or among traditional Egyptian scenes. The tomb features two sym-metrical mourning goddesses, who are believed to repre-sent Isis Dolente or Electra, and two hybrid creatures, sea-horses standing on their tails, holding the deceased’s arms. Notable details include a ritual dance by two bearded men and a farewell scene by two living relatives. Comparable funerary portraits are found in Etruscan tombs in Italy from the 2nd to 1st century BC onwards, yet
