Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Marina El Alamein is an old city on the coast of Egypt. It was a busy port city thousands of years ago.
Archaeologists have found 18 tombs there. The tombs have not been opened since ancient times.
Some tombs are cut into rock underground. Other tombs are built above the ground with limestone.
Inside the tombs, scientists found 24 small gold objects shaped like tongues. Ancient people put these gold tongues inside the mouths of dead people. They believed this would help the dead person speak after death.
- archaeologist
- a scientist who studies old objects and places from the past
- tomb
- a place where a dead body is buried
- ancient
- very old, from a long time ago
- port city
- a city next to the sea where ships arrive
- underground
- below the surface of the ground
- limestone
- a type of rock often used for building
- amulet
- a small object worn or placed for protection or magical power
- afterlife
- a life some people believe happens after death
Level 2 — Elementary
An Egyptian archaeological mission working at Marina El Alamein, an ancient port city on Egypt's northwestern Mediterranean coast, has uncovered 18 tombs that have remained sealed since antiquity, along with sarcophagi, surface burials, and a range of other artifacts.
The newly discovered cemetery includes 11 rock-cut underground chambers, averaging about eight meters in depth, and seven above-ground tombs built from limestone. Several of the burial chambers were found in remarkable condition, their entrances still sealed exactly as they were left in antiquity.
Among the most striking discoveries were 24 gold funerary objects shaped like tongues, placed inside the mouths of some of the deceased as part of an ancient burial ritual. One of the gold pieces was crafted in the shape of the Eye of Horus, an important symbol of protection in ancient Egyptian belief.
Marina El Alamein, located about 100 kilometers west of Alexandria, is widely believed to be the ancient city of Leukaspis, described by the Greek geographer Strabo. The city thrived from the Hellenistic through the Byzantine periods, and this discovery brings the total number of tombs found at the site since its identification in 1986 to 44.
- mission
- a team of people sent to carry out a particular task, such as excavation
- sarcophagus
- a stone coffin, often decorated, used to hold a body
- cemetery
- a place where many dead bodies are buried
- chamber
- an enclosed space or room, especially underground
- funerary
- relating to a funeral or burial
- ritual
- a set of actions performed in a fixed, traditional way, often for religious reasons
- geographer
- a person who studies the physical features of the Earth and its regions
- thrive
- to grow or develop successfully
Level 3 — Intermediate
An Egyptian archaeological mission excavating at Marina El Alamein, an ancient port city on Egypt's northwestern Mediterranean coast approximately 100 kilometers west of Alexandria, has uncovered a cemetery of 18 tombs sealed since antiquity, together with sarcophagi, surface burials, and an assortment of accompanying artifacts.
The cemetery comprises 11 rock-cut hypogea, averaging roughly eight meters in depth, alongside seven above-ground limestone tombs. Several burial chambers were found in exceptional condition, their entrances still sealed precisely as left by those who interred the dead, offering researchers an unusually undisturbed glimpse into ancient funerary practice.
Among the most significant finds were 24 gold funerary objects fashioned in the shape of tongues, inserted into the mouths of several of the deceased as part of a burial rite intended to grant the dead the power of speech in the afterlife. One such piece was shaped as the Eye of Horus, a potent symbol of protection within ancient Egyptian religious tradition.
Marina El Alamein is widely identified with the ancient city of Leukaspis, referenced by the Greek geographer Strabo, and flourished from the Hellenistic through the Byzantine periods, reaching its cultural and commercial peak during the first three centuries AD. This latest excavation raises the total number of tombs documented at the site since its identification in 1986 to 44, underscoring the settlement's enduring role as a Mediterranean crossroads of civilizations.
- excavate
- to dig up and carefully remove earth to reveal buried remains
- hypogeum
- an underground chamber or tomb cut into rock
- interred
- buried, especially in a formal or ceremonial way
- undisturbed
- not touched or interfered with since its original state
- rite
- a formal ceremony or action performed according to tradition
- potent
- having great power or influence
- flourish
- to grow and develop in a healthy or vigorous way
- crossroads
- a place where different influences, cultures, or paths meet
Level 4 — Advanced
An Egyptian archaeological mission excavating at Marina El Alamein, an ancient port settlement situated on Egypt's northwestern Mediterranean coast roughly 100 kilometers west of Alexandria, has unearthed a cemetery comprising 18 tombs sealed since antiquity, accompanied by sarcophagi, surface burials, and a diverse assemblage of associated artifacts.
The cemetery encompasses 11 rock-cut hypogea, averaging approximately eight meters in depth, alongside seven freestanding limestone tombs. Several burial chambers were recovered in exceptional condition, their entrances sealed precisely as configured by those who interred the dead millennia ago, affording researchers an exceptionally undisturbed vantage into ancient funerary custom rarely preserved with such fidelity.
Among the assemblage's most consequential finds were 24 gold funerary objects fashioned in the form of tongues, inserted into the oral cavities of several deceased individuals as part of a burial rite intended to confer upon the dead the faculty of speech within the afterlife. One such artifact was rendered in the form of the Eye of Horus, a symbol of protection occupying a position of considerable potency within ancient Egyptian religious cosmology.
Marina El Alamein is widely identified with the ancient city of Leukaspis, attested by the Greek geographer Strabo, and flourished across the Hellenistic through Byzantine periods, attaining its cultural and commercial zenith during the first three centuries AD. This latest excavation elevates the cumulative tally of tombs documented at the site since its identification in 1986 to 44, further substantiating the settlement's enduring status as a Mediterranean nexus where successive civilizations converged and left their material imprint.
- assemblage
- a collection of things or artifacts gathered together
- freestanding
- standing alone, not attached to or supported by another structure
- fidelity
- the degree of exactness with which something is preserved or reproduced
- oral cavity
- the mouth, considered as an anatomical space
- cosmology
- a system of beliefs about the nature and origin of the universe
- attest
- to provide evidence or confirmation of something
- zenith
- the highest or most successful point of something
- nexus
- a central point where many things connect or converge
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