There ’s no good way to show your regard for a long - dead swayer than bymummifying the drumhead of an animal , and the ancient Egyptians were the masters of this strange form of reverence . Further proof of this singular custom has recently been uncovered at the tabernacle ofKing Ramesses II , where archaeologists have announced the breakthrough of more than 2,000 mummify ram heads .
Led by researchers from the University of York , the excavation also unearth mummified dog-iron , goat , sheep , moo-cow , cervid , and mongooses . Announcing the discovery , theEgyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquitiesexplained that the ram heads were in all likelihood used as votive offering and were associated with “ an unprecedented worship of rams ” during the Ptolemaic period .
Ramesses II was the third swayer of the 19th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt , and live from roughly 1303 to 1213 BCE . Also known as Ramesses The Great , he is widely involve to have been one of the most influential pharaohs of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt , when the imperium was at its most sinewy .
One of the mummified ram heads. Image credit: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
The Ptolemaic era encompassed the thirty-third and last Dynasty , and lasted from 305 to 30 BCE . That such offerings were being made to Ramesses II more than a millenary after his death provides an indicant of just how much he was admired in Ancient Egypt .
Located in Abydos – one of the old cities in Egypt – the temple was in the beginning discover more than 150 old age ago , yet has never been in full explored . In addition to themummifiedanimal stiff , researchers also succeeded in excavate part of the temple ’s northern wall .
According to the Ministry , these excavations will help Egyptologist to gain a more accurate picture of the social organization ’s design and challenge sure assumptions that have been moderate since the temple was first described .
A freestanding “ vast building ” dating back to the Sixth Dynasty was also notice at the land site . Lasting from 2345 to 2181 BCE , the Sixth Dynasty fell under the Old Kingdom and precede the procession of Ramesses II by just about 1,000 class . Within this structure , the squad found the remnants of ancient apparel , leather shoes , fragment of statues and papyri , and even Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree parts .
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities says these artifact could help generate Modern theories “ about the activities and computer architecture of the Old Kingdom in Abydos . ”
