by Meilan Solly/Smithsonianmag.com
Excavations along the Nile Delta have unearthed 110 tombs spanning three eras of ancient history, reports Mustafa Marie for
Per a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, 68 of the burials date to the late Predynastic Period (around 3300 B.C.), when the Nile Valley was still split into Upper and Lower Egypt. Five date to the Naqadda III culture, which rose to prominence in the decades preceding the unification of Egypt in 3000 B.C., while the other 37 represent an intermediate era (roughly 1782 to 1570 B.C.) between the Middle and New Kingdoms. During this period, the enigmatic Hyksos dynasty ruled for more than a century before ceding control to the returning pharaohs. (For comparison’s sake, the Pyramids of Giza date to about 2500 B.C.)