GAZA, Jul 17 (NNN-WAFA) – A second Roman-era sarcophagus, made out of lead, was recently uncovered at an excavation site of a cemetery, located in the northern Gaza Strip, the enclave’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said yesterday.
“The new sarcophagus was found during excavation work inside a cemetery, discovered in Mar, 2022, in the northern Gaza Strip,” Jamal Abu Rida, director-general of the ministry, said.
Several other antiquities, including the first sarcophagus made out of lead, pottery jars, and glass vessels, had been unearthed in the cemetery, before this discovery, according to Abu Rida.
“The first sarcophagus was found in Feb, and was transferred to the ministry’s museum in Gaza,” said the official, adding, his ministry had invited French experts to Gaza for research on the sarcophagus.
Technical teams from the ministry have been working with foreign experts to analyse the cultural manifestations of the findings, Abu Rida noted.
In Mar, 2022, the ministry discovered a 2,000-year-old cemetery, covering an area of 4,000 square metres that was later found to include 125 tombs of different shapes and sizes, according to Abu Rida.
Home to more than two million people, the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip, run by the Islamist Palestinian armed group, Hamas, is one of the oldest regions known to history, as a trade nexus for Arab merchants.– NNN-WAFA
