Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered a series of nearly 2,000-year-old tombs on the Mediterranean coast and the remains of a planned Byzantine city in the Western Desert, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said.
The coastal find was made at Marina El-Alamein, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Alexandria, where recent excavations revealed 18 Greco-Roman tombs, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Several burial chambers were discovered with their original stone blocking slabs still in place, while a granite sarcophagus of about 2.5 meters (8 ft) was found with its lid intact, suggesting that the tombs had been sealed for nearly two millennia.
Inside the tombs, archaeologists found human remains alongside pottery, amphorae and other funerary objects.
Among the most notable finds were 24 gold objects placed inside the mouths of several individuals, a funerary practice associated with the belief in the afterlife.
The site is thought to correspond to the ancient city of Leukaspis, a Mediterranean port that flourished between the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods.
The latest discovery brings the total number of known graves at Marina El-Alamein to 44 since the site was first identified in 1986 during construction work, the ministry said.
Separately, in the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a Byzantine settlement at Ain al-Sabil, dated to around the 4th century AD, the ministry said on Friday.
The mud-brick city has a planned street grid, public squares, residential buildings, a basilica-style church and defensive structures, indicating an organized urban community in the desert interior.
The site also yielded around 200 ostraca written in Coptic and Greek, along with bronze and gold coins, including examples linked to the reign of the Roman emperor Constantius II (337-361 AD).
Egypt has sought to boost its tourism revenue, with high-profile archaeological finds often used to showcase the country’s cultural heritage and attract international visitors.
Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange, along with Suez Canal revenues and remittances from Egyptians working abroad.
