MINYA GOVERNORATE, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that the communal tombs of senior officials and high priests of the god Djehuty—who was also known as Thoth, the god of knowledge, the moon, measurement, wisdom, and writing—have been discovered in Upper Egypt, in the necropolis of Khumun at the Tuna El-Gabal archaeological site. Mustafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the 16 tombs contained sarcophagi and wooden coffins. Five of the sarcophagi were carved from limestone in an anthropoid shape and engraved with hieroglyphic texts, he added. Five well-preserved wooden coffins were also discovered, along with more than 10,000 engraved ushabti figurines made of blue and green faience. Other artifacts from the tombs include more than 700 amulets, some made of pure gold; painted canopic jars carved from limestone; pottery; tools for cutting stone and moving sarcophagi; wooden hammers; and baskets made of palm fronds. To read about Heliopolis, the most sacred site along the Nile, go to "Egypt's Eternal City."
