Greek Funerary Elegy Honoring a Judge Unearthed in Sealed Egyptian Tomb

An ancient Greek funerary stele bearing an elegy was uncovered inside a pyramid‑shaped mud‑brick tomb at the Bir al‑Shaghala site in Egypt’s Dakhla Oasis, the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced in late August.

Dating to Egypt’s Roman period, the tomb was constructed for the interment of a married couple.

A fourteen‑step sandstone staircase descends to the tomb’s main entrance, which is adorned with hieroglyphic inscriptions, protective funerary spells, and other texts.

The stone entrance is a distinctive feature of the Bir al‑Shaghala necropolis, observed Mohamed Abdel Badie, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

It is topped by an Egyptian cornice bearing a winged sun disk flanked by two cobras, followed by a reed‑bundle motif.

The upper lintel of the entrance also displays a previously undocumented funerary scene illustrating the seventh hour of the Book of Amduat, an ancient Egyptian guide to the afterlife.

Inscriptions on either side of the lintel record texts and scenes pertaining to the tomb’s occupants, and the entrance was sealed by a stone slab carved with an Osirian figure encircled by a series of protective spells.

Beyond the entrance lies a mud‑brick hall whose vaulted ceiling is partially collapsed, giving way to two burial chambers that branch off to the right.

Funerary stele found affixed to tomb’s wall

Archaeologists located the funerary stele attached to the tomb’s southern wall. The stele is rectangular, capped by a gabled stone centered on a sun‑disk relief.

Its nineteen lines of ancient Greek text, written in red ink, are dedicated to an individual named Pesikhtis, who preliminary analysis suggests may have served as a judge.

Dating to the late third and early fourth centuries BCE, the elegy attests to a vibrant literary and cultural milieu in the region during the Roman era.

Alongside the stele, the excavation yielded a sandstone offering table and purification basin, several pottery vessels, and a bronze coin bearing the portrait of the Roman Emperor Constantine.

Mohamed Ibrahim, director general of New Valley Antiquities, observed that the tomb appears to have been reused later, as the remnants of a mud‑brick chapel and funerary shrine were discovered above the entrance.

According to Hisham El‑Leithy, secretary‑general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the significance of the find resides in the tomb’s architecture, its inscriptions, and the funerary texts, offering valuable insight into burial practices and daily life during the Roman period.

Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy echoed this view, stating that the oasis sites contain “important evidence… of the succession of civilizations that Egypt has experienced throughout its history.”

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