'Listen, father!': 1,700-year-old tomb discovered in Egypt contains a poem in ancient Greek and spells to protect the dead

Key Points:

• Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a 1,700-year-old limestone tomb in the Dakhla Oasis, dating to the fourth century during Roman rule, featuring a pyramid-shaped roof and inscriptions in both ancient Greek and hieroglyphics.
• The tomb was built for a husband and wife, with the deceased man named Pisechtes, possibly a judge, and contains a rare 19-line Greek poem likely written by his son Sarapion lamenting his father's death.
• Hieroglyphic inscriptions include protective spells and references to the "Amduat," detailing the sun god's underworld journey, while artifacts found include an offering table, purification basin, pottery, and a coin depicting Emperor Constantine the Great.
• The tomb entrance is decorated with symbolic images such as a winged sun disk, the god Osiris, and cobras, but no Christian symbols were found despite the coin from Constantine's era.
• Experts note the poem's literary quality and use of diacritical marks, indicating the author's high education level, and suggest the tomb may have been reused later due to an added mud-brick shrine above the entrance.