The Lonious Monk said:

When you go back far enough, everyone was black (i.e. dark skinned). They believe the gene for light skin first appeared around 40K years ago, but it's not like it appeared and then instantly everyone in a certain region was light. Evolution doesn't work like that. It would have taken 10s of thousands of years for certain traits to win out through natural selection. So when we're talking about some of these civilizations that started 5000+ years ago, it's a good chance that most of them were started by black people simply because lighter people didn't even exist in high proportions in certain regions.

Click to expand...

Derived SLC24A5-AA has been naturally selected for 99% of pale skin Europeans and was discovered in Satsurblia Cave Georgia.

Africans have the Ancestral Version which is SLC24A5-GG

There's other depigmentation alleles like OCA2, HERC2, SLC45A2, and KITLG but

Non of them has the significance of SLC24A5-AA

Months ago we talked about Cheikh Anta Diop and his influences.
You told me you did an essay on him In college

He has a specific book in French talking about the Natufians. He confirmed that the Natufians that Dorothy Garrodd discovered were African with Dolichocephalic Skulls with high melanin content.

White Academia called him pseudo and unreliable.
Fast forward they biting his style and confirming what he already said.

Ancient Roman graveyard — with over 1,400 tombs — unearthed in France. Take a look



When archaeologists began excavating a plot of land in Narbonne, France, they quickly uncovered dozens of ancient Roman burials. That was just the beginning.

Seven years and over 1,400 tombs later, their work has finally finished.

The result? An extraordinarily detailed account of life and death in a typical ancient Roman graveyard.

The ancient Roman empire conquered modern-day France in 125 B.C., named it Gaul and set up Narbonne as their first colony, according to the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research. Situated on the Mediterranean Sea, ancient Narbonne thrived and quickly became one of the largest ports in the area.


To match its growing population, Narbonne needed a similarly sized graveyard. A burial district was set up on the outskirts of town around 100 A.D., the institute said in an April 17 news release. Ancient Romans continued using and expanding the graveyard until around 300 A.D.

When modern-day archaeologists excavated the site, the graveyard spanned about 54,000 square feet and included 1,430 tombs and 450 other structures.




Most of the ancient Romans buried in the cemetery were from the lower class, archaeologists said. Surviving tombstones indicated the deceased were freedmen of Italian origin, plebeians or commoners and enslaved people.

The vast majority of graves were cremations where the deceased was burned on a pyre before being buried in a stone, glass or pottery container, the institute said.

In the remaining graves, the deceased person was simply buried. There were about 260 of these burial-style graves, half belonging to children, the institute said.

A child’s burial-style grave found in Narbonne

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh's Fortified Royal Retreat

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient Egyptian fortified royal retreat.

The mud-brick rest house was uncovered at the archaeological site of Tel Hebwa in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MTA) announced in a statement

Preliminary research at the site has indicated that the structure dates back to the reign of King Thutmose III, the sixth pharaoh of ancient Egypt's 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom period.

Sometimes called Thutmose the Great, the pharaoh is thought to have ruled from 1479 B.C. until his death at the age of 56 in 1425 B.C. He is regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history, helping to expand Egypt's empire to its greatest extent thanks to a succession of victorious campaigns.


The archaeological site of the fortified royal retreat found in northern Sinai, Egypt. Preliminary research indicates that the site dates to the reign of King Thutmose III, one of Egypt's greatest military commanders.

It is likely that the ancient building in Sinai was used as a royal rest house thanks to the architectural layout and the scarcity of pottery shards found inside, according to the MTA. The pharaoh himself may have used the facility during his military campaigns to expand the Egyptian empire to the east, researchers believe.

The building consists of two consecutive rectangular halls, accompanied by a number of rooms. It appears to have been fortified with a perimeter wall.

"This discovery is pivotal as it illuminates crucial aspects of Egypt's military history, particularly in the Sinai region, during the New Kingdom era," said Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, as reported by Ahram Online.

Archaeological work at the site also uncovered a number of burials, indicating that it was used as a cemetery during later periods in ancient Egyptian history.

Archaeologists Find Rare Item Worth More to Romans Than Its Weight in Gold

An incredibly rare Roman-era object—made from a substance that was once worth more than its weight in gold—has been discovered at an archaeological site in the United Kingdom.

The item was unearthed during excavations conducted in 2023 by archaeologists and volunteers at the site of a Roman bathhouse located within the grounds of a sports club in the city of Carlisle, northern England

Testing of the lump—made from a soft, mysterious, purple substance—subsequently revealed that it contained beeswax and an element known as bromine. This is a strong indication that it represents a solid sample of Tyrian purple—a man-made pigment that was highly valued in the ancient world.

The dye, which is purple in color, is secreted by several species of predatory sea snails that are found in the Mediterranean region. Producing Tyrian purple was an extremely difficult task. The process was complex and required the collection of thousands of marine snails. In fact, it is estimated that it up to 12,000 individual mollusks would need to be processed to produce just 1 gram of dye.


The sample of Tyrian purple found at the archaeological site of a Roman bathhouse in Carlisle, England. Tyrian purple was a highly valued pigment in the ancient world.

As a result, it was extremely expensive during Roman times, to the extent that it was worth more than gold, pound-for-pound. The pigment was generally reserved f

For millennia, Tyrian purple was the world's most expensive and sought after color," Frank Giecco, an archaeologist with mining consultancy company Wardell Armstrong, which has been involved in excavations at the Carlisle site, said in a press release.

Finding a solid sample, such as the one from Carlisle, is a particular unusual find, according to Giecco.or use by the upper echelons of society.

"It's the only example we know of in Northern Europe—possibly the only example of a solid sample of the pigment in the form of unused paint pigment anywhere in the Roman Empire," Giecco said in the release. "Examples have been found of it in wall paintings (like in Pompeii) and also some high status painted coffins from the Roman province of Egypt.

Tyrian purple is thought to have first been manufactured in the 2nd millennium B.C. by the Phoenicians—an ancient civilization of the Mediterranean region that originated in the coastal Levant region, primarily in an area that is now occupied by modern Lebanon.

The purple pigment was most famously produced in Tyre—a city located in Lebanon that is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world. However, it was also manufactured in other regions of the Mediterranean, such as North Africa.

The Tyrian purple sample from Carlisle was likely used for painting frescos, Sarah Irving, a spokesperson for Cumberland Council, which has partnered with Wardell Armstrong on the excavation project, told Newsweek.

Sometimes the pigment was used to paint walls in grand public buildings, as well as the homes and properties of the elite. However, it was also used to dye clothes.

An ancient manuscript up for sale gives a glimpse into the history of early Christianity


The Crosby-Schoyen Codex at Christie’s auction house in Paris. The manuscript goes up for auction in London on June 11, 2024.

An important piece of early Christian history, the Crosby-Schøyen Codex, is up for auction at Christie’s in London. This codex is a mid-fourth century book from Egypt containing a combination of biblical and other early Christian texts.

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex was discovered alongside more than 20 other codices near Dishna, Egypt, in 1952. These manuscripts are collectively known as “the Dishna Papers” or “the Bodmer Papyri,” after the Swiss collector Martin Bodmer.

Though often overshadowed by other 20th century discoveries, this trove of ancient manuscripts represents one of the most significant finds for understanding the history of early Christianity. As an expert on early Christian reading practices, I consider the Dishna Papers an invaluable witness to the formation of the Christian Bible. This ancient library shows how, before the consolidation of the Bible, early Christians read canonical and non-canonical scriptures – as well as pagan classics – side by side.

An overshadowed discovery

The middle decades of the 20th century were exciting years for scholars of early Christianity.

In 1945, a collection of 13 ancient codices was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These contained dozens of otherwise unknown works, mostly associated with minority and marginalized forms of early Christianity. With titles like “The Gospel of Thomas” and “The Secret Revelation of John,” this cache of non-canonical scriptures captured the public’s imagination and inspired a bestseller.


Codices found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. The Gnostic Society Library

The very next year, Bedouin shepherds discovered ancient Hebrew scrolls hidden in a cave at Qumran on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea.

The “Dead Sea Scrolls” found in this and a dozen subsequently discovered caves constituted a massive library of Jewish texts, including biblical works and hitherto unknown texts with remarkable parallels to the writings of the New Testament. This find was celebrated in news stories, documentaries and other publications as among the greatest discoveries of the 20th century.

At the very same time, the Dishna Papers were discovered, smuggled out of Egypt and sold to European collectors with considerably less fanfare. No headline hailed the discovery of the Dishna Papers. Instead, pieces of this collection were sold to the highest bidders, scattering the ancient library across the globe.

The Dishna Papers

Though less exotic than Nag Hammadi or Qumran, the contents of the Crosby-Schøyen Codex and the 20-some additional codices discovered near Dishna have proved every bit as important for our understanding of early Christianity.

Two manuscripts of the canonical gospels, Luke and John, belonging to this ancient library predate almost every other surviving copy of these gospels. Scholars used these new manuscripts to revise the text of the New Testament.

For instance, the vast majority of manuscripts of the Gospel of John describe Jesus as “the only-begotten Son” (1:18). But the early manuscripts discovered at Dishna read “the only-begotten God.” Here and elsewhere, English translations of the Bible were changed to reflect the contents of the Dishna Papers.

But the library discovered near Dishna did not consist entirely of texts that ended up in the Christian Bible. Scriptures that were not included in the Christian canon, like Paul’s “Third Letter to the Corinthians” and “The Shepherd of Hermas,” were also found among the Dishna Papers.

One codex from Dishna contains the “Acts of Paul,” an extra-Biblical account of Paul’s travels and martyrdom. Another contains the “Infancy Gospel of James,” a non-canonical story about the life of Mary, Jesus’ mother. The discoveries at Dishna provide evidence that these writings, though unfamiliar to modern readers of the Bible, spent centuries on the periphery of Christian scripture.

The Dishna Papers included a few additional literary texts. One codex in this mostly Christian library contains several comedies by the Hellenistic playwright Menander. Another codex binds together a chapter of Thucydides’ “History of the Peloponnesian War” with a Greek version of the biblical Book of Daniel.

Evidently, the owner of this Christian library had no aversion to the arts and sciences of pre-Christian Hellenism. In this library, pagan classics and Christian scripture stood side by side.

But whose library was this?

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex, written in Coptic, on papyrus. The Schøyen Collection

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex, which is now up for sale, actually supplies several important clues to the origin of the Dishna Papers with which it was found.

Thanks to recent radiocarbon dating of this codex and the contents of a closely related manuscript, the Crosby-Schøyen Codex can be dated with some measure of confidence to the middle of the fourth century – roughly 325 to 350 C.E.

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex itself contains five texts in Sahidic Coptic, a dialect of the ancient Egyptian language. Three texts are Biblical: Jonah, Second Maccabees 5:27-7:41, and 1 Peter. The rest of the codex contains part of a well-known Easter homily and a brief otherwise unknown exhortation.

These texts, argue scholars Albert Pietersma and Susan Comstock, may have been collected into a single codex for use as an Easter lectionary. A lectionary is a collection of readings used in Christian worship services. Such lectionaries were used in Pachomian monasteries, like the one located only a few miles west of Dishna.

This monastery was established in the mid-330s by Pachomius, the reputed founder of communal monasticism. His Pachomian Rule, by which the monks would have ordered their communal life, makes frequent reference to the public and private use of books. Pachomius’ monasteries even taught illiterate monks to read.

It seems likely that this eclectic library of canonical and non-canonical scriptures, early Christian writings and pagan classics belonged to these book-loving monks in central Egypt. One of the Pachomian rules allowed monks to borrow books from the monastic library for up to one week.

Today, for a few million dollars, one such book can be yours forever. On June 11, 2024, the Crosby-Schøyen Codex will go to the highest bidder.

Archaeologists Find 3,600-Year-Old Site Making Ancient World's Prized Color


Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of an ancient workshop on a Greek island where a highly prized purple dye was produced around 3,600 years ago.

Excavations conducted in the ancient settlement of Kolonna—located on the small island of Aegina off the coast of mainland Greece—have revealed the remains of two buildings from the 16th century B.C. that had collapsed on top of each other.

The older building is interpreted to be a site where purple dye was produced in the Late Bronze Age, a conclusion based on several finds that archaeologists unearthed in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Colored dyes were a valuable commodity in the Mediterranean region during the Late Bronze Age. As a result, evidence of dye production in this period can provide significant insights into culture and trade at the time.

The Kolonna archaeological site on the Greek island of Aegina. Insets from L-R: a 16th-century drawing of a snail, a Hexaplex trunculus specimen, and a purple pigment sample from Kolonna. AEGINA KOLONNA EXCAVATION, DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS, PARIS LODRON UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG, CC-BY 4.0 HTTPS://creativecommons.org/LICENSES/BY/4.0/

The most frequently found evidence for purple dye production at archaeological sites in the Mediterranean comes from deposits of crushed marine snails. This type of dye is made from the mucous secretions of one of several species of predatory marine snails that inhabit the region. These secretions come from an organ known as the hypobranchial gland.

"To obtain the desired dye, the hypobranchial glands of the snails, either extracted by opening the shell or as a component of the fully crushed mollusk body, were mixed with some salt water and left steeping for a few days in suitable containers, vats, or vessels," the authors wrote in the study, which was led by Lydia Berger with Paris Lodron University of Salzburg in Austria.

"The choice of an adequate container allows the necessary control of the oxygen and light supply, which are important for obtaining the desired color shade."

While small in size, Aegina played a significant role in the cultural history of the Aegean Sea—the arm of the Mediterranean in which it is located—for thousands of years. From the Neolithic period until Byzantine times (approximately the 6th millennium B.C. until the 10th century A.D.), the main settlement on the island, was situated on a promontory on the northwestern coast called Cape Kolonna.

It is in the Bronze Age eastern suburb of Kolonna where researchers uncovered evidence of the purple dye workshop.

The existence of the workshop at the site is inferred from three main strands of evidence. The first is the "exceptional finding" of pottery fragments with "remarkable quantities" of well-preserved purple pigment, which are likely remnants of dye containers. The researchers also uncovered tools used in the manufacturing process, such as grinding stones, as well as the crushed shells of marine snails.

The findings are significant given that pigment residues have rarely been preserved on the interiors of ceramic vessels, other containers, and other materials.


A map shows the location of the archaeological site of Kolonna, on the small Grecian island of Aegina. Archaeologists have discovered that, during the Late Bronze Age, the site housed a purple dye workshop

The researchers then conducted an analysis of the shells and the chemical composition of the pigments, revealing that the workshop almost exclusively used one marine snail species to produce the dye—the banded dye-murex (Hexaplex trunculus).

This marine snail, found throughout the Mediterranean, is one of three main species, along with the spiny dye-murex (Bolinus brandaris) and the red-mouthed rock shell (Stramonita haemastoma), that were exploited in antiquity to produce purple dye.

The dye made from these snails is known as Tyrian purple, which was highly prized in the ancient world—not least because producing it was an extremely tedious and difficult task. The process was complex and required the collection of thousands of marine snails. In fact, it is estimated that it up to 12,000 individual mollusks would need to be processed in order to produce only around 1 gram of dye.

This made the product very expensive. During the Roman period, for example, Tyrian purple was worth more than gold, pound-for-pound. As a result, the pigment was generally reserved for use by the upper echelons of society. In fact, in certain periods, the use of Tyrian purple was restricted by Roman law so that only the emperor could wear it.

Tyrian purple is thought to have first been manufactured by the Phoenicians—an ancient civilization of the Mediterranean region that originated in the coastal Levant region, primarily in an area that is now occupied by modern Lebanon.

The pigment was most famously produced in Tyre, a city located in Lebanon that is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world. But it was also manufactured in other regions of the Mediterranean.

The recent excavations at Kolonna also unearthed the bones of several young mammals—mainly piglets and lambs—that were heavily burnt in the area of the dye workshop.

The authors proposed in the study that these animals were sacrificed in some form or ritual, potentially to protect the production site.





"Although many Byzantine slaves and concubines had already been brought into Mecca and Thaqif and other towns in Hijaz (according to Jahiz al Dhahabi and Chinese recordings) it hadn’t done much to change the complexion of the people even by the 15th century if we are to believe Al-Dhahabi and the Chinese records which also speak of the entire region from Mecca to Jidda as occupied by "very dark purple" people.

Sub Saharan African discovered in Ancient Egypt?
YAP Gang Genetics

Fulani & Iberomaurusians connections.
ANCESTRAL SLC24A5-GG

JUNE 22, 2024

Metagenomic peek into a corn mummy

Bed$tuy🇭🇹 said:

For learning purposes only

HAPLOGROUP DE in terms of genetics.
Hoabinhian Andamanese(Jarawa & Onge)
Xiongnu Mongolian(Takhiltyn khotgor, Tamiryn Ulaan Khoshuu, Mori Baridag, Tsagaan Chuluut, Zambaga Khairkhan)
Chinese(Caishichang, Samdzong, Lajia aka Oijia culture, Tibetan)
Japanese(Jōmon, Ainu, Ryukyuan)
Koreans(gaya confederacy daeseong-dong gimhae)
The all share a common ancestor with Africans because of HAPLOGROUP DE which is YAP Positive. Simple

Google Map of Ancient Samples of
HAPLOGROUP DE & it's Subclades

Ancient samples - Y-DNA DE - Google My Maps

Ancient samples - Y-DNA DE

www.google.com

Andamanese Islanders
First Black Asians that precedes the Natufians and share a common ancestor
Ancestral SLC24A5-GG

Click to expand...

Who Are the Japanese? New DNA Study Shocks Scientists​

A mask depicting Aterui ‘Lord of Tamo’, a famous Emishi chief from the ancient Tohoku District in Japan. The Emishi people from north-east Asia have been identified as a possible third main ancestral group in Japan.
By studying the genomes of more than 3,000 people across Japan, researchers have shed light on the population’s complex ancestry. The work may also pave the way for future precision medicine.





Researchers discovered that the genetic lineage of Japan’s population includes three ancestral groups, revising the previous understanding of just two. By using whole-genome sequencing of over 3,200 individuals from across Japan, the study identified significant genetic variations and ties to north-east Asia, particularly the Emishi people.

Genetic Diversity in Japan​

A genetic study led by scientists from RIKEN’s Center for Integrative Medical Sciences has uncovered evidence that people in Japan descend from three ancestral groups.


The findings, published recently in the journal Science Advances, challenge the longstanding belief that there were two main ancestral groups in Japan: the indigenous Jomon hunter-gatherer-fishers and the rice-farming migrants from east Asia.

Instead, the researchers identified a third group with potential ties to north-east Asia—the so-called Emishi people, thus lending further credence to a ‘tripartite origins’ theory first suggested in 2021.

The Japanese population isn’t as genetically homogenous as everyone thinks, says RIKEN’s Chikashi Terao, who led the study. “Our analysis revealed Japan’s subpopulation structure on a fine scale, which is very beautifully classified according to geographical locations in the country.”



The clay figurine at the left, which was found in Japan, has been linked to the Jomon people, one of the most dominant ancestries on the southern, subtropical island of Okinawa, while people living in western Japan share more genetically with Han Chinese people, represented by the figurine on the right.

Combing for Clues

Terao’s team arrived at their conclusions after sequencing the DNA of more than 3,200 people across seven regions of Japan, running the length of the country from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south. It is one of the largest genetic analyses of a non-European population to date.

The researchers used a technique called whole-genome sequencing, which reveals an individual’s complete genetic makeup—all three billion DNA base pairs. It provides roughly 3,000 times more information than the DNA microarray method, which up until now has been used more widely. “Whole-genome sequencing gives us the chance to look at more data, which helps us find more interesting things,” says Terao.

Exploring Ancestral Links and Rare Gene Variants

To further enhance the data’s usefulness and examine the potential links between genes and certain diseases, he and his collaborators combined the DNA information obtained with relevant clinical data, including disease diagnoses, test results and information on both medical and family history. They collated all of this into a database known as the Japanese Encyclopedia of Whole-Genome/Exome Sequencing Library (JEWEL).

One topic of particular interest to Terao’s was the study of rare gene variants. “We reasoned that rare variants can sometimes be traced back to specific ancestral populations, and could be informative in revealing fine-scale migration patterns within Japan,” he explains.

Their hunch proved right, helping to reveal the geographic distribution of Japanese ancestry. Jomon ancestry, for instance, is most dominant in the southern, subtropical shores of Okinawa (found in 28.5% of samples) while lowest in the west (just 13.4% of samples). By contrast, people living in western Japan have more genetic affinity with Han Chinese people—which Terao’s team believes is likely associated with the influx of migrants from east Asia between the year 250 and year 794, and is also reflected in the comprehensive historical adoption of Chinese-style legislation, language, and educational systems in this region.

Emishi ancestry, on the other hand, is most common in northeastern Japan, decreasing to the west of the country.


Insights From Archaic Human DNA

The researchers also examined JEWEL for genes inherited from Neanderthals and Denisovans, two groups of archaic humans that interbred with Homo sapiens. “We are interested in why ancient genomes are integrated and kept in modern human DNA sequences,” says Terao, who explains that such genes are sometimes associated with certain traits or conditions.

For instance, other researchers have shown that people in Tibet have Denisovan-derived DNA within a gene called EPAS1, which is believed to have aided their colonization of high-altitude environments.[3] More recently, scientists discovered that a cluster of Neanderthal-inherited genes on chromosome 3—a trait that is present in roughly half of all south Asians—is linked to a higher risk of respiratory failure and other severe symptoms of Covid-19.

The analysis by Terao’s team shed light on 44 ancient DNA regions present in Japanese people today, most of which are unique to East Asians. These include a Denisovan-derived one, located within the NKX6-1 gene, known to be associated with type 2 diabetes, which the researchers say could affect a person’s sensitivity to semaglutide, an oral medication used to treat the disease. They also identified 11 Neanderthal-derived segments linked to coronary artery disease, prostate cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and four other conditions.

The Future of Personalized Medicine

The RIKEN-led researchers also used data on rare genetic variants to uncover the potential causes of diseases. For example, they found that one variant of a gene called PTPRD has the potential to be “highly damaging” because it could be linked with hypertension, kidney failure, and myocardial infarction, says Xiaoxi Liu, a senior scientist in Terao’s lab and the study’s first author.

Additionally, the scientists noted significant incidence of variants—also called loss-of-function variants—in the GJB2 and ABCC2 genes, which are associated with hearing loss and chronic liver disease, respectively.

Teasing out the relationship between genes, their variants, and how these impact traits, including disease predisposition, could one day play a role in helping scientists develop personalized medicine, says Terao.

“What we’ve tried to do is to find and catalog loss-of-function gene variants that are very specific to Japanese people, and to understand why they are more likely to have some specific traits and diseases,” he says. “We’d like to connect population differences with differences in genetics.”

In the future, he hopes to expand JEWEL and include even more DNA samples in the dataset. For the longest time, large-scale genomic studies have focused on analyzing data from people of European descent. But Terao says it’s “quite important to expand this to the Asian population so that in the long run, the results can benefit us too.”

Archaeologists Found a Completely Untouched Egyptian Tomb With 11 Bone-Filled Graves

• An archaeological restoration mission made an unexpected discovery when the team found collection of a completely untouched tomb dating back to the Middle Kingdom period.
• The finding could provide fresh insights into funerary practices from the 12th and 13th Egyptian dynasties.
• Along with remains of men, women, and children, archaeologists uncovered rare artifacts still in their original positions, untouched for thousands of years.

The artifacts discovered inside a tomb of 11 Egyptian burials from the height of the country’s Middle Kingdom offer a fresh perspective on the funerary practices from the 12th and 13th Egyptian dynasties after a restoration project wound up making quite the find.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of the Al-Asasif necropolis in a translated statement, and Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Archaeology, said that the importance of the discovery, the first in the region from the Middle Kingdom, will change the history of the area.

Inside the tomb, the discovery of which was made by a joint Egyptian-American mission involved in the cleaning and excavation of the 25th dynasty’s tomb of Karabasken, 11 graves contained skeletons of men, women, and children. According to the statement, the sealed chamber was a tomb used for families over several generations through the 12th and the beginning of the 13th dynasties in Egypt. The unique pieces of jewelry found link the remains to multiple high-status families from the time period.

The 12th dynasty lasted from 1991 B.C. to 1802 B.C., and the 13th dynasty lasted from 1803 B.C. to 1649 B.C. The fact that the tomb had never been unsealed was quite a shock.

Ayman Ashmawi, head of the Egyptian Archaeological Sector, said in the statement that while floods heavily damaged the timber coffins and linen fabrics that wrapped the bodies, much of the burial contents were preserved and found in their original locations near the skeletons, including some jewelry still located on the bones of its original owners.

One of the most prominent finds is a unique necklace with 30 cylinder-shaped beads of amethyst stone and two cylindrical beads of agate, all surrounding a hippopotamus head. Other necklaces, bracelets, chains, rings, and belts feature red agate and blue-green ceramic, often decorated in the shape of falcons, snake heads, and hippos. The hippo held many different meanings throughout Egyptian culture, including representing power and wealth, fertility, and life, rebirth, and regeneration.

Inside two of the burials, the archaeologists uncovered copper mirrors, one with a lotus flower-shaped handle, and the other with a rare design of the face of the goddess Hathor, often associated with motherhood, with four distinct facial expressions. There was a small statue made of Venetian stone with severed legs and was decorated with an assortment of jewelry, including 4,000 clay beads to form the statue’s hair. It was common in Egyptian tradition for statues placed within tombs to have legs broken off so they couldn’t harm the deceased occupants in the afterlife.

A square table made to hold incense found in the tomb featured a low edge and a water channel in the middle, all surrounded by motifs of a bull’s head and loaf of bread, meant to preserve the deceased in their afterlife.

Excavations within the area will continue, with researchers hoping to reveal additional secrets from the ancient cemetery, hippo heads or otherwise.