Antique treasures: ancient Egyptian catacombs, full of amazing artifacts, open to the public
Antique legacy continues to hit amazing artifacts, opening new pages of history of human civilization. Ancient Egyptian catacombs, discovered over a century ago in Alexandria, has been successfully restored and opened to the public. Their splendor and scale is just amazing.
See more photos from one of the most amazing ancient buildings, filled with ancient treasures.
Ancient catacombs, which was destroyed during the flood, remained inundated for hundreds of years. Now they are successfully restored on means of the American government and show the world their beauty.The Egyptian Ministry of antiquities has completed restoration of catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, located in Western Alexandria. They were discovered in the early XX century.
The United States Agency for international development (USAID) has allocated 5.7 million dollars to rebuild the ancient landmarks and to protect it from devastating floods and sewage. In addition, some funds were spent on the restoration of unique artifacts that are located inside the catacombs. In the catacombs intricately connected to the ancient Greco-Roman and Egyptian motifs. On the walls of the catacombs there is no indicator or sign that visitors are able to find their way to the knowledge of ancient history. The entrance to the main room of the catacombs: drawings and sculptures preserved in excellent condition, despite the fact that they are more than a thousand years.Egyptian wall painting: nobleman of the time of the pharaohs is depicted in full growth. A large mural on the wall illustrates the process of mummification, which was one of the most important in ancient Egyptian culture. Stone sarcophagus with detailed sculptural decoration for the first time showed to visitors after the restoration of the catacombs. A finely crafted bust of an unknown man, who, as historians assume, belonged to the upper class of the ancient society. Columns, in addition to its supporting function, served in ancient times, the decoration of buildings. They applied ornaments, various images and carved inscriptions with the names of the owners or those who are buried in the cemetery in this case. The name of Kom El-Shoqafa with the Egyptian translates as "pile of shards", because during the excavations in the catacombs were found many fragments of clay jars and other utensils, which brought food and wine to the place of burial.On the stone sarcophagus depicts the embalming process, during which the body of the deceased removed the heart, lungs and other important organs, believing that they will be preserved for the afterlife. A number of burial niches, which were placed stone sarcophagi. Triclinium — the place of the funeral meal. Here the relatives of the deceased arranged the funeral feast — a feast in honor of dead people who were buried in the catacombs. Despite martial law, the Egyptian authorities are trying to maintain ancient cultural heritage on the territory of the country. Antiquity gave us the ideals of beauty and art that we continue to be today. The respect to the cultural heritage of the past millennia helps to create a new future. Humanity always returns to the roots, so it is important to these ancient repositories of the culture was maintained in proper condition.Do you like classical art?
Keywords: Antique | Artifact | Ancient world | Egypt | Art | Catacombs | Opening | Burial | Dungeon | Restoration