More than 2,000 mummified ram heads from the Ptolemaic period (332 B.C. to 30 B.C.) as well as a massive structure from the Sixth Dynasty have been discovered by the American archaeological mission affiliated with New York University while working near the King Ramesses II temple in Abydos, southern Egypt.
The discovery is significant because it provides more information about the history of the Temple of King Ramesses II in the Abydos Sohag governorate and the surrounding area, according to Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, an organisation tasked with safeguarding Egyptian heritage.
Along with the rams' skulls, the expedition, according to him, also turned up a number of other mummified animals, including lambs, dogs, feral goats, cows, deer, and mongooses. They were located in one of the recently uncovered store spaces inside the temple's northern section.
The mummified sheep are believed to have been used as votive gifts in Abydos during the Ptolemaic era, according to the mission's leader, Sameh Iskandar.