埃及出土3600年前木石棺內藏一具木乃伊

Egypt: archeologists find 3,600-year-old mummy; 3 Germans tried for antiquities smuggling

中國日報網 2014-02-14 16:32

This photo released on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014 by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, shows Egyptian men digging up a preserved wooden sarcophagus that dates back to 1600 BC, when the Pharaonic 17th Dynasty reigned, in the ancient city of Luxor, Egypt.

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Spanish archeologists have unearthed a 3,600-year-old mummy in the ancient city of Luxor, Egypt's Antiquities Minister said Thursday. Prosecutors accused nine people including three Germans of smuggling stone samples from pyramids.

In a statement, Mohammed Ibrahim said the rare find in a preserved wooden sarcophagus dates back to 1600 BC, when the Pharaonic 17th Dynasty reigned.

He said the mummy appears to belong to a high official. The sarcophagus is engraved with hieroglyphs and decorated with inscriptions of birds' feathers.

The exact identity of the well-preserved mummy will now be studied, Ibrahim said, adding that it was discovered by a Spanish mission in collaboration with the Egyptian antiquities ministry.

Antiquities department head Ali Al-Asfar said the two-meter sarcophagus still bears its original coloring and writings.

Meanwhile, Egypt's top prosecutor referred three Germans to criminal court on charges of smuggling and damaging antiquities and six Egyptians for acting as their accessories.

Hisham Barakat said authorities issued arrest warrants for the alleged German thieves, who fled to their country after the incident. He said authorities would communicate with Germany to restore the pieces they say were taken last April under the pretext of use for research.

The Egyptian defendants are already in detention.

Barakat says the Germans, along with their Egyptian guides, entered the famed pyramids of Giza with permits to visit but not excavate, and left with samples of stone from the ramparts of two tombs and the burial room of King Khufu.

Egyptian archaeologist Monica Hanna says the German researchers wanted to use the samples prove their hypothesis in a documentary they later filmed, which says that the pyramids were built by a people that pre-dates the ancient Egyptians.

The online documentary, removed in the wake of the controversy, showed one researcher inside the inner chambers of the Khufu pyramid, taking samples from the king's cartouche.

Egypt has experienced a security vacuum since its 2011 uprising. Thousands of artifacts have been stolen.

綜合外國媒體報道，埃及文物部長穆罕默德?易卜拉欣2月13日表示，西班牙考古學家在埃及古城盧克索發掘出一具3600年前的木乃伊。同日，埃及檢方指控9人走私金字塔石刻樣本，其中包括3名德國人。

當天，埃及文物部發表聲明稱，在埃及當局的協助下，一支西班牙考古隊在尼羅河畔古城盧克索進行古墓挖掘工作時，發現了一具2米長的人形木石棺。這具棺槨上刻有象形文字，裝飾有羽毛狀排列的銘文。并且，盡管制作于公元前1600年，但時至今日棺槨上雕刻畫作的著色和紋樣仍保持原來的面貌。

易卜拉欣說，藏于棺槨里的木乃伊可能是當時的一位高官，不過其確切身份還有待考證。

同日，埃及檢方將三名德國人告上刑事法庭，指控其走私、損毀文物，另有6名埃及人面臨從犯指控。

埃及首席檢察官希沙姆?巴拉卡特13日表示，去年4月，三名德國研究人員在埃及向導的指引下，進入吉薩金字塔群，他們僅獲準參觀但被禁止挖掘。然而，他們進入金字塔后，卻以需要證據證明一項研究假設為由，從墓室中竊取了石刻樣本。

巴拉卡特說，這三名“德國盜賊”已經潛逃回國，埃及當局對其發出了逮捕令，并尋求德國配合將其偷走的文物完璧歸趙。而6名埃及被告已被羈押。

自2011年發生政治動蕩之后，埃及陷入“安全真空”狀態，致使數千件文物遭到偷竊破壞。由于擔心失竊的文物會流落海外并在黑市交易，通常情況下，埃及會發出國際協尋通知。