New archaeological find in Menya leads to discovering Ptolemaic city

A Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) mission in tandem with a Cairo University mission unearthed in Al-Bahnasa area Menya, a three-metre high statue of Osiris, an ancient Egyptian god, that dated back to the Ptolemaic era, the 2nd century BC.

Several galleries used as burying places of the statues of Osiris with the words Ber-Khef inscribed on them. Ber-Khef turned out to be the ancient name of Bahnasa during the Ptolemaic era, which is mentioned in ancient documents.

The name King Ptolemy and his wife Cleopatra was found inscribed on the galleries, said SCA Secretary-General Gab Allah Ali Gab Allah.

Inside these limestone galleries the mission found instruments and offerings with inscriptions in Demotic on them in addition to several clay statues, amulets, tables for offerings, earthenware vessels and golden chips that used to cover the facades of the statues of Osiris.

Hassan Ibrahim, the mission's chief, said that many papyrus - like the Homiac papyrus and in some galleries of Osiris in Dandara Temple spoke about the annual celebrations that used to be held for this god in Egypt.

He added that the new find represented one of the galleries indicating those annual galas in this site in Bahnasa.

The mission had last year unearthed a tomb that dates back to the 26th Dynasty era with a limestone sarcophagus in a human like cover inside, in addition to some Ptolemaic colored gypsum drawings, he said.

A report on the find was raised to Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, who ordered immediate restoration of the discovered tomb to be put in Menya Museum he also ordered to restore the galleries to be placed on the tourist map of the city.

Menya contains Pharaonic, Coptic and Islamic antiquities.