CAIRO — Egypt’s tourism and antiquities minster says archaeologists have unearthed dozens of ancient coffins in a vast necropolis south of Cairo.
Khalid el-Anany says at least 59 sealed sarcophagi, with mummies inside most of them, were found that had been buried in three wells more than 2,600 years ago.
“I consider this is the beginning of a big discovery,” el-Anany says, adding that there is an unknown number of coffins that have yet to be unearthed in the same area.
He speaks at a news conference at the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara where the coffins were found. The sarcophagi have been displayed and one of them was opened before reporters to show the mummy inside. Several foreign diplomats attended the announcement ceremony.
The Saqqara plateau hosts at least 11 pyramids, including the Step Pyramid, along with hundreds of tombs of ancient officials and other sites that range from the 1st Dynasty (2920 BCE-2770 BCE) to the Coptic period (395-642).
Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says initial studies show that the decorated coffins were made for priests, top officials and elites from the Pharaonic Late Period (664-525 BCE).
He says archaeologists also found a total of 28 statuettes of Ptah-Soker, the main god of the Saqqara necropolis, and a beautifully carved 35 cm tall bronze statuette of god Nefertum, inlaid with precious stones. The name of its owner, Priest Badi-Amun, is written on its base, he says.
— AP
Khaled El-Enaby, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, right, and Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, left, react after opening a sarcophagus that is around 2500 years old at the Saqqara archaeological site, 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt, October 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Khaled)
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