Cairo (AP) – Egyptian antiquities officials on Saturday discovered at least 100 ancient coffins in a huge Pharaonic necropolis south of Cairo, some with mummies, and announced the discovery of as many as 40 gold statues.
Colorful, sealed sarcophagi and statues that were buried about 2,500 years ago were displayed in a temporary display at the foot of the famous Step Pyramid of Joser at Sakkara.
Archaeologists opened the coffin with a well-preserved mummy wrapped in cloth from the inside. X-rays were also carried out by visualizing the structures of ancient mummies, showing how the body has been preserved.
The objects discovered belong to the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt for about 300 years – from about 320 BC to about 30 BC, and the final period (664-332 BC), Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anni told a news conference.
He said he would move the artefacts to at least three Cairo museums, with Egypt building under the famous Giza Pyramids. He said he would announce a second discovery at the Sakkara Necropolis later this year.
The find on the famous Necropolis is the latest in a series of Egyptian archaeological discoveries. Since September, antiquities officials have declared at least 140 sealed sarcophagi, In the same area of Sakkara, with most of them mummies.
Egyptian archaeologists found other “branch-filled shafts, well-groomed, well-painted, well-equipped,” Mustafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters on Saturday.
The site of Sakkara is part of the Necropolis in Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, which includes the famous Giza Pyramids as well as the small pyramids at Abu Sir, Dahshur and Abu Ruwesh. The ruins of Memphis were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1970.
Egypt has repeatedly backed its archaeological discoveries in the hope of boosting an important tourism industry that has been plagued by political unrest since the popular uprising of 2011 overthrew long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak. The coronavirus epidemic also hit the region one more year this year.
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