Leading Egyptologist Mostafa Waziry, who is the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), has unveiled his new book.
Titled, “Vestiges of Ancient Egypt: The Bubasteion Votive Cachette at Saqqara“, the book is co-published by the Houston Museum of Natural History and the SCA.
It is a 192-page work where Waziry sheds light on Bubasteion, a cemetery of sacred animals dedicated to the goddess Bastet (cat goddess) during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras.
Bubasteion is located in the cliff face of the desert boundary of Saqqara, some 30 km south of Cairo.
Saqqara served as the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis.
Over 5,000 years ago, the first kings of ancient Egypt selected Saqqara as the site for their tombs.
It is home to the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the very first pyramid that the ancient Egyptians ever built, and the oldest known ancient Egyptian stone structure. It was constructed in (c.2667–2648 BC).
Through the millennia, the site was deserted, revived, and adapted to changing mythologies, cults, and cultures that define the periods and dynasties of ancient Egypt.
In his book, Waziry argues that Saqqara has evaded much of the attention of archaeologists, tourists, and mercifully of plunderers.
Nevertheless, its sands still conceal a honeycomb of structures, including hundreds of undisturbed tombs, miles of walls, and necropolises containing countless mummies, animal and human, all awaiting discovery.
In 2019, an Egyptian mission led by the author of the book opened a small storage chamber in Bubasteion. The chamber was concealed beneath a mud-brick wall of the Old Kingdom.
This made the Bubasteion Votive Cachette see the light of day. It houses hundreds of objects that date back, and in some cases predate, the 26th Dynasty (664 to 525 BCE).
Inside the cache, there was a unique pair of cobra-headed goddesses with jackal slippers.
The mission also found five lion-mummies, and an extraordinary panel illustrating the syncretic character of Egyptian and other polytheistic religions – the vestiges of an ancient Egypt that still holds many secrets.
This find spurred Waziry to write his book where he also argues that there are still plenty of secrets the monuments of ancient Egypt have to offer the world.
After obtaining his BA in Egyptology from Cairo University, Waziry obtained a master’s degree in Egyptology from the South of the Valley University. In 2013, he obtained a PhD from the Faculty of Archaeology at Sohag University.
He began his archaeological career at Giza, where he continues to work until today.
Since becoming the SCA chief in 2017, he has supervised archaeological missions across Egypt and been involved with numerous finds, including the 2019 discovery of the ornate tomb of Wahtye, a high-ranking Fifth Dynasty official.
Waziry worked at archaeological sites across Egypt and appeared in documentaries aired on the National Geographic Channel, History Channel, and Discovery Channel. He starred in the latest Netflix documentary Unknown: The Lost Pyramid.
He guided the reconstruction of several colossal statues of Ramses II at Luxor Temple and the restoration of the temple facade.
Many of Waziry’s discoveries are on display in museums, including the Hurghada Museum, the Mummification Museum in Luxor, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, as well as the Grand Egyptian Museum.
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