By Tim Binnall
Archaeologists conducting a dig at an ancient temple in Egypt were astounded when they unearthed over 2,000 ram heads buried at the site. According to an announcement from the country's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities this past weekend, the amazing discovery was made by New York University scientists excavating the area around the King Ramses II Temple in the city of Abydos. Lead archaeologist on the project, Dr. Sameh Iskander, told CBS News that the team initially stumbled upon a handful of the ancient remains and, as they continued digging, "all of sudden we found a whole area filled with ram skulls."
The skulls, some of which were still mummified while others had lost their wrappings over time, are believed to have been offerings left at the temple around the year 213 BC. This is rather remarkable, Iskander observed, as that would be 1,000 years after Ramses II had died and, as such, indicative of the profound reverence that continued to surround the pharaoh long after his passing. To that end, the archaeologist noted that the skulls were placed at a particularly significant place within the temple and all of them were deposited at the same time, though the purpose of that action, which he described as "surprising even for Egyptologists," is a mystery.