17 new non-royal mummies unearthed

EGYPTIAN archaeologists have recently discovered 17 non-royal mummies in desert catacombs in the Minya province.

Archaeologists following the trail of burial shafts in the TounaGabal district of the central Egyptian province found the mummies in a series of corridors, the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry said in a statement.

Along with the mummies, they found a golden sheet and two papyri in Demotic – an ancient Egyptian script – as well as a number of sarcophogi made of limestone and clay.

There were also animal and bird coffins, the ministry said.

The mummies have not yet been dated but the ministry said they belonged to the Late Period, which spanned almost 300 years up to Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt in 332BC.

But a spokeswoman told AFP they could also date from the Ptolemaic Dynasty, founded by Alexander the Great’s general Ptolemy.

The discovery of the non-royal mummies ( right) is considered unprecedented because it is the first such find in the area, officials said at the site.

Egyptologist Salah al-Kholi told a news conference held near the desert site that the discovery was “the first human necropolis found in central Egypt with so many mummies”.

It could herald even more discoveries in the area, he said.

It was the second discovery of mummies announced with much fanfare by the government in less than a month.

In April, the ministry unveiled eight mummies discovered in a 3,500-year-old tomb belonging to a nobleman in the southern city of Luxor. – AFP