Pharaonic Tools for Religious Ritual Unearthed in Kafr El Sheikh

A group of Egyptian archaeologists working for the Supreme Council of Antiquities has unearthed a collection of tools that had been used in ancient religious ritual from the Temple of the Pharaohs in Kafr El Sheikh. The finds were excavated at multiple sites north of Cairo.

According to the archaeologists, the tools found were used to honour the ancient goddess Hathor, the matron of love and joy who is often depicted as a cow. The instruments unearthed included a part of a limestone pillar in the form of Hathor and a group of glazed ceramic incense burners, one of which is decorated with the head of god Horus, the falcon-headed protector of the monarchy.

Other finds included a sacred limestone well and a mudbrick bath, a group of clay vessels dedicated to Hathor, a collection of statuettes depicting deities Taweret (protective goddess of pregnancy and childbirth) and Djehuty (god of knowledge and the moon), a small maternity chair, a large offering holder, a pure gold Udjat eye and the remains of golden scales used in the gilding of some other pieces.

Aymen Ashmawy, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, revealed the archaeologists also discovered scenes of ritual and daily life depicted in ivory, after they unearthed a large limestone lintel covered in hieroglyphics. The inscriptions also bear the names of various ancient Egyptian kings.