Egypt announces the discovery of almost 60 intact sarcophagi. One of them was opened in the presence of the press.

Archaeologists have found almost 60 perfect sarcophagi in Egypt in a necropolis at Saqqara, south of Cairo, where they were buried more than 2,500 years ago. The discovery was made near the famous Step Pyramid of Djoser, built 4,700 years ago, the first in the Pharaonic era.

According to the first observations, the sarcophagi contain the remains of some priests, high-ranking political leaders and other personalities.

The opening of one of the sarcophagi, on Saturday, in front of the press and the guests gathered under a large tent, revealed a perfectly preserved mummy, adorned with colorful hieroglyphs, with a face with finely contoured features, reports France Presse, taken over by Agerpres.

“Almost three weeks ago, we found 13 sealed and intact sarcophagi, and the following week, we announced that we had discovered another 14,” said Khaled El-Enany, Egypt’s minister of tourism and antiquities. “Today we announce that 59 sarcophagi (in total) have been removed from the pits,” said the minister, who was at the site of the discovery.

However, the official says that this is only the beginning, because there are still sarcophagi, it is not known how many, in other wells. “I think it is the beginning of a great discovery,” said the official, noting that the wooden sarcophagi probably date from XXVI dynasty of ancient Egypt, around the 6th-7th centuries BC. C.

Dozens of statues have been recovered from the surrounding area, especially a bronze figure of the god of the lotus flower, Nefertum.

Egypt hopes to revitalize its tourism

All the sarcophagi, covered in intricate, brightly colored drawings as well as hieroglyphics, will be transported to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM /), whose opening scheduled for late 2020 has been postponed to next year.

They will be placed in a room in front of which you will receive 33 sealed sarcophagi of priests of the XXII dynasty, discovered in 2019 in Luxor, southern Egypt.

The site of Saqqara, 25 km south of the pyramids of the Giza Plateau, is home to the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis. It is included in the UNESCO world heritage.

This is the first major discovery since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Egypt, leading to the closure and archaeological sites for three months.

Egypt hopes that all these discoveries and its new museum will revitalize tourism affected by the pandemic, but also by political instability and the attacks after the 2011 revolution, which removed Hosni Mubarak from power.