Egyptian team finds trove of ancient artifacts

Archaeologists find hieroglyphs with the name of King Psammeticus I dating back to 600 B.C.

By AP 9 February 2014, 9:43 pm

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The Nile Delta is home many ancient Egyptian sites. View of the 4,500 year old Sphinx, April 1, 2006. (Melanie Fidler /Flash90)

CAIRO — Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities said that one of its teams found a cache of artifacts dating to roughly 600 B.C. in a northern Nile Delta province of the country.

Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim said in a statement Sunday that the team found 43 amulets, a gold-plated mummy mask and nearly 600 small funerary statues inside a pharaonic cemetery in the northern Dakahliya province. Archaeologists also found a cartouche engraved with the name of King Psammeticus I, a pharaoh from the 26th dynasty, the statement said.

According to the statement, one of the amulets is special because it depicts a trinity of three Ancient Egyptian gods — Amun, Horus and Nephthys. Head of Antiquities Ali Al-Asfar says that archaeologists also uncovered two other tombs in the area.