Photo: Department of Antiquities
Photo: Department of Antiquities
Photo: Department of Antiquities
Photo: Department of Antiquities
Photo: Department of Antiquities
Photo: Department of Antiquities
Photo: Department of Antiquities
Photo: Department of Antiquities
Photo: Department of Antiquities

Two ancient graves have been discovered in the oasis town of Awjila, which date back to the 4th century BC, archaeologists say.

The Benghazi-based Libyan Department of Antiquities said it is the most important and greatest archaeological discovery in Libyan history.

It's only the chance that led to this important discovery. A local resident from Awjila was leveling a piece of land to build a new house on it when he suddenly found the two graves, one after another.

He immediately informed the Department of Antiquities, which sent a team of archaeologists to excavate the land.

Potteries, garnets and other funerary objects were found together with the skeletons.

The archaeologists took samples from the skeletons and analyzed them using carbon-14 dating method, which proved that the graves go back to the 4th century BC.

Archaeologists believe that the bodies found in the two graves are the remains of the Awjila ancestors who were mentioned in Herodotus book, The Histories.

Awjila is a town in northeast Libya, 400 km south of Benghazi.

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