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Freedom251 › Blog › Ancient Egypt

An Egyptian Couple’s Tomb in Dakhla Oasis Had a Shrine Added Above Its Entrance

By Freedom251 Team · · 3 min read

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A fourth-century CE tomb in Egypt’s Dakhla Oasis was built for Pisechtes and his wife. Above its entrance stood a mud-brick shrine that was likely erected after their burial, according to a report on the discovery. That later addition raises the possibility of reuse, but the available account does not identify who built it or when.

Where the tomb was found and who it commemorated

The limestone tomb lies near ancient Mothis, in what is now Mut, in Egypt’s Dakhla Oasis. Live Science reported its date as the fourth century CE, during Roman rule in Egypt, and described it as about 1,700 years old. Those are rounded descriptions, not a precise measurement of the tomb’s age. The burial was made for a man named Pisechtes and his wife; the report does not give her name. Live Science’s discovery report is the source for the dating and identification.

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What was added above the entrance?

A flight of 14 steps descends to the entrance. Its decoration includes a winged sun disk, Osiris and two cobras, as described in the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities statement cited by Live Science. A mud-brick shrine stood above the entrance. The ministry statement reportedly characterized the shrine as likely having been built after Pisechtes and his wife were buried. The steps and decoration are features reported from the tomb; the later date for the shrine is an inference, not a confirmed construction sequence. Live Science

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Was the tomb reused?

A shrine added after the burial makes later activity at the tomb plausible, but it does not establish that the tomb was reused as a burial place. The available report gives no absolute date for the shrine, stratigraphic account explaining its relationship to the tomb, or name of a later occupant. It also does not report whether human remains were found; the ministry statement’s silence on that point cannot establish their absence.

What does the Greek tomb poem say?

A stone plaque bears a 19-line funerary poem in ancient Greek. The reported lines praise Pisechtes for kindness and wisdom and call him an “advisor in life.” In the closing lines, his son Sarapion addresses his father and asks him to accept funerary libations and offerings from his grieving children. The full poem and a complete translation have not been provided in the account, so those reported details are not a full translation.

Angelos Chaniotis, identified by Live Science as a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study, told the publication by email that the inscription “is a highly literary and original epigram” with grammar similar to that of “Homer’s famous epics.” The Institute for Advanced Study profile identifies Chaniotis with the Institute and his field. His assessment is an expert comment to Live Science, not a stated conclusion of the excavation team.

How Egyptian and Greek traditions appear together

The tomb combines Greek-language commemoration with Egyptian religious imagery and texts. Its hieroglyphic inscriptions include protective spells and references to the Amduat, a text concerning the sun god’s passage through the underworld. The Greek poem, meanwhile, addresses Pisechtes through praise and offerings from his family. Together these features show different written and religious traditions present in the same burial, without establishing the language or beliefs of every person associated with it.

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What else was reported inside

Reported finds include an offering table, a purification basin, pottery and at least one coin depicting Constantine the Great. The discovery account does not supply a complete inventory or enough detail to assign a precise date to every object. These are finds reported in connection with the tomb, not evidence that each was deposited at the same time.

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Ancient EgyptDakhla OasisEgyptian archaeologyGreek inscriptionstombs

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