Add Category
Egyptian antiquities officials have announced the discovery of at least 100 ancient coffins, some with mummies inside, and around 40 gilded statues in a vast Pharaonic necropolis south of Cairo.
- The discovered items date back to the Ptolemaic dynasty (about 320 BC to about 30 BC) and the Late Period (664-332 BC)
- The Saqqara site is part of the necropolis at Egypt's ancient capital of Memphis
- Since September, antiquities authorities have revealed at least 140 sealed sarcophagi, with mummies inside most of them
Colourful, sealed sarcophagi and statues that were buried more than 2,500 years ago were displayed in a makeshift exhibit at the feet of the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.
Archaeologists opened a coffin with a well-preserved mummy wrapped in cloth inside.
They also carried out x-rays visualising the structures of the ancient mummy, showing how the body had been preserved.
Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany told a news conference the discovered items date back to the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt for some 300 years — from around 320 BC to about 30 BC — and the Late Period (664-332 BC).
He said they would move the artifacts to at least three Cairo museums including the Grand Egyptian Museum that Egypt is building.
He said they would announce another discovery at the Saqqara necropolis later this year.
The discovery is the latest in a series of archaeological finds in Egypt.
Since September, antiquities authorities have revealed at least 140 sealed sarcophagi, with mummies inside most of them, in the same area of Saqqara.
Egyptian archaeologists found other "shafts full of coffins, well-gilded, well-painted, well-decorated," Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters on Saturday (local time).
The Saqqara site is part of the necropolis at Egypt's ancient capital of Memphis that includes the famed Giza pyramids, as well as smaller pyramids at Abu Sir, Dahshur and Abu Ruwaysh.
The ruins of Memphis were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in the 1970s.
Egypt frequently touts its archaeological discoveries in the hope of boosting a vital tourism industry that has been reeling from the political turmoil left in the wake of the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.
The coronavirus pandemic this year dealt the sector a further blow.
AP