A 2,000 - year - oldsarcophagus , lead - lined and dating back to the R.C. era , has been discovered by archaeologists wreak in the Gaza flight strip . Located just 500 meters ( 0.3 miles ) from the sea along the Northern Gaza coast , the sarcophagus is part of a largeRomannecropolis that was describe only last class .
The excavation projection is being supervised by Première Urgence Internationale , a Gallic humanitarian organization that endure ethnical heritage preservation projects in Gaza under a program calledINTIQAL , and funded by the British Council , Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities ' director of excavation and museums Jehad Yasin toldCNN .
So far , around 90 individual and corporate grave have been notice at the ancient 3,500 - straight - metre ( 37,673 - square - ft ) site – but expert trust this one is special , likely belonging to a salient individual .
That hypothesis is base on the location of the inhumation , Yasin explained – but perhaps strengthen this determination is the fact that in Roman Catholic time , as through later centuries , lead coffins were considered a “ fancy and expensive ” way to be entomb , Laura Burnett , from the UK ’s Portable Antiquities Scheme , tell theBBC in 2017 .
For now , though , we ’ll have to expect to see who was interred in such a singular fashion , with a statement from the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities confirming that the sarcophagus had not yet been open , according toReuters . Instead , the casket has been put in a protective wooden container , ready for further study by local and external expert .
harmonise to Yasin , the psychoanalysis of the discovery , which will include bone identification , will in all probability take around two month .
Despite the agitation that is good - synonymous with the region , the state of the sarcophagus was “ exceptional , ” according to a press release from the Ministry . This is thanks to the fact that it remain seal and closed throughout its 2,000 years underground – a timeframe that is attest by the clay jarful and other artifacts find in the cemetery , Ministry spokesman Tareq Al - Af toldReuters .
While the burial ground itself seems to have been something of a serendipitous discovery – it was in the beginning found in 2022 by a chemical group of construction workers on a caparison project – its creation is far from surprising . As an authoritative trading spot for many civilizations throughout history , Gaza is so full of ancient relic that the great unwashed almost literally trip over them : last year alone escort both part of a4,500 - year - old statueof a Canaanite goddess identify in a farmer ’s playing field , and anornate Byzantine mosaicdiscovered by accident while hear to constitute a tree diagram .
No wonder , then , that the team behind the novel find say they expect to find much more from the necropolis . After all , so far only ten burials have been opened for excavation – and according to Yasin , there are likely more sarcophagi waiting to be unveil .
