Cairo: Over 2,000 mummified sheep from ancient times have been unearthed inside an Egyptian temple by archeologists. They also found mummies of dogs, goats, cows, gazelles, and mongooses at Abydos, a site famous for temples and tombs.
Ramses II was the ruler from 1304 to 1237 BC, nearly seven decades.
According to the tourism and antiquities ministry, the sheep heads were left as an offering to the pharaoh Ramses II. Archaeologists from New York University said that the ram heads were offerings indicating that a cult to Ramses II celebrated 1,000 years after his death, reported AFP.
Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the discovery will help people know more about the temple of Ramses II and the construction activities from the time period 2374 to 2140 BC as well as the Ptolemaic period, from 323 to 30 BC. The US team also found the remains of a palace with 16-foot walls dating to 4,000 years ago. Several statues, papyri, remains of ancient trees, leather clothes, and shoes were also found.
Abydos is a site in southern Egypt. It is 435 kilometres on the Nile river south of Cairo. Popular temples like Seti I and tombs like necropolises are also in the area.