El-Assasif is a necropolis that contains burials from ancient Egypt’s 18th, 22nd, 25th and 26th dynasties, covering the period c. 1550 to 525 BC across all three dynasties.
Location of El Assasif
El-Assasif is a necropolis near Luxor on the West Bank at Thebes, Upper Egypt. It is located in the dry bay that leads up to Deir el-Bahari and south of the cemetery of Dra’ Abu el-Naga‘.
Archaeology
In November 2018, France’s University of Strasbourg announced the discovery of two sarcophagi thought to be more than 3,500 years old, with two perfectly preserved mummies and approximately 1,000 funerary statues in the Assasseef valley near Luxor. One of the tombs with paintings where a found female body was opened to the public in front of the international media. Still, Egyptian antiquities officials previously opened the other one.
Cachette of El-Assasif
In October 2019, 30 coffins (3.000-year-old) were uncovered and presented, dating back to the Twenty-second Dynasty, by the Egyptian archaeological mission in front of the Hatshepsut Temple. The coffins contain mummies of 23 adult males, five adult females and two children. The cachette’s condition is considered exceptionally good, with many of the coffins sealed and intact, with high-quality painting and preservation. According to archaeologist Zahi Hawass, mummies were decorated with mixed carvings and designs, including scenes from Egyptian gods, hieroglyphs, and the Book of the Dead, a series of spells that allowed the soul to navigate the afterlife. Some of the coffins had the names of the dead engraved on them.
Numerous breathtaking artefacts appeared to excavators of the Egyptian archaeological mission led by Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri, where coffins are extracted. The number of coffins is expected to rise in the next couple of days before the ministry’s official announcement of the findings on Oct. 19. Still, many are still buried deep in the ground.
Sources at the Ministry of Antiquities confirmed to the press that the number of sarcophaguses discovered in the cemetery of El-Assasif, west of Luxor, reached on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 29 coloured coffins belonging to senior politicians, middle-class individuals in the 18th, 25th and 26th ancient Egyptian dynasties.
Among the discovered artefacts are two small coloured sarcophaguses likely belonging to two children buried in the ancient cemetery.
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, officials at the Ministry of Antiquities conducted a full inspection of the coffins. The cache was found arranged and stockpiled on each other in a distinctive state of preservation.
Professional restorers and archaeologists began to open the coffins one by one to find out their contents, which were human remains belonging to several individuals of the ancient Pharaonic dynasties. Those coffins were prepared for burial in the tombs of middle-class families in the cemetery of El-Assasif.
The coffins were likely exhumed and buried again to re-use the tombs at Mount Qurna in successive eras from the ancient Egyptian state.
Notable burials
- 18th Dynasty
- TT192 – Kharuef
- AT28 – Vizier Amenhotep-Huy
- 22nd Dynasty
- Cachette is currently under investigation and restoration.
- 25th Dynasty
- TT34 – Mentuemhet
- TT37 – Harwa
- 26th Dynasty
- TT27 – Sheshonq
- TT33 – Pediamenopet
- TT36 – Ibi
- TT188 – Parennefer
- TT279 – Pabasa
- TT389 – Basa
- TT410 – Mutirdis
- TT414 – Ankhhor
