Sleeping Beauty's Grave Unearthed in Ethiopia

Archeologists discovered the grave of "Sleeping Beauty" in Ethiopia along with 11 others in the area.

Newser reported that English archaeologists, led by Louise Schofield, were excavating the ancient city of Aksum in what is now Ethiopia for six weeks. They discovered 11 graves that included "extraordinary" items. One of the people in the graves was dubbed "Sleeping Beauty" because of her position and the special items placed beside her body.

Schofield mentioned that the manner the woman was placed as well as the grave goods with her suggested that she was beautiful and much-loved when she was alive. The archeologist added that "Sleeping Beauty" was curled up on her side. Her chin was placed on her hand and she was gazing on a special Roman bronze mirror. She also had an elegant bronze ring, an ornate bronze cosmetics spoon, a necklace with thousands of small beads, a beaded belt, Roman glass vessels, drinking beakers, a flask to catch the tears of the dead, a clay jug and a lump of kohl eyeliner. The luxury items with her revealed that she was probably a rich and powerful person, based on a report by The Guardian.

The Guardian wrote that "Sleeping Beauty" was only covered with soil but her grave was cut into a rock overhang, which preserved all the artifacts. The excavation site also showed buried warriors. Each skeleton had large iron bangles. It is likely that they were killed in battlefields nearby. There was a female skeleton wearing a precious necklaces with 1,065 colored-glass beads. The team also found a unique glass perfume flask.

The Kingdom of Aksum existed from 100 AD to 940 AD. Its capital city was also known as Aksum and the kingdom stretched over most of present-day Eritrea, Western Yemen, northern Ethiopia, southern Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The excavation site required the archaeologists to drive three hours south of Aksum, close to the town of Hawzien. Aksum traded heavily with Rome after the kingdom adopted Christianity. The recent artifacts discovered came from the first and second centuries, which meant that Aksum may already have had a trading relationship with Rome at a much earlier time. Schofield's excavations also presented evidence of ironworks, which the Romans wanted in return during trades, based on a report by USA Today.

The artifacts will be brought to a new museum which will open in October 2015. Germany will be sending nine conservators to restore the finds.