Italian and Spanish researchers have unearthed a tomb dedicated to the god Osiris in the Valley of the Nobles in Luxor, Egypt.
The Valley of the Nobles houses the resting places of more than 15 dignitaries and government officials that served during the days of the Pharaohs.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, archeologists Milagros Alvarez Sosa of Spain and Irene Morfini of Italy were conducting studies of the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep II's tutor, Min, when they discovered the shaft that led to the tomb complex dedicated to the Egyptian god Osiris. The study was being conducted with the assistance of Egypt's Antiquities ministry.
The symbolic tomb is thought to be more than three thousand years old and reportedly dates back to Egypt's 25th dynasty in the Valley of the Nobles, the International Business Times reported.
Speaking to the Cairo Post on the discovery, ministry head Abdel-Hakim Karar said that the complex features a chapel with a statue of the god as a centerpiece. The statue of Osiris faces a staircase that goes down a shaft for six meters and terminates in a room that also has a six-meter shaft, Karar revealed to the Cairo Post.
The tomb, however, is not the tomb of Osiris as described by Egyptian lore. It is a 3,200-year-old reproduction, the Cairo Post article clarified.
Osiris is the God of the Undead in Egyptian mythology. Osiris was murdered and mutilated by another God, Seth. In one version of the myth, Seth tore the body of Osiris into various pieces. Isis set about looking for the other pieces and pieced them together with the exception of the phallus, as it was already eaten by catfish, to give him a proper burial. The Egyptian Gods then rewarded Isis by resurrecting Osiris and fashioned him as the overseer of the Underworld.
