Ancient Gold Worker’s Tomb Excavated in Sudan

A 3,400-year-old tomb holding the remains of more than a dozen people has been discovered on Sai Island, along the Nile River in northern Sudan. The island is part of an ancient land known as Nubia that Egypt controlled 3,400 years ago. The Egyptians built settlements and fortifications throughout Nubia, including on Sai Island, which had a settlement and a gold mine.

The tomb appears to hold the remains of Egyptians who worked in gold production. Researchers found scarabs, ceramic vessels, a gold ring, and gold funerary masks. A shabti, or small stone sculpture, may have been intended to do the work of the deceased in the afterlife. Inscriptions on the artifacts indicate the tomb had been built for Khnummose, a master gold worker.