Dozens of coffins brought to light
Secretarygeneral of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa alWaziri looks at one of the dozens of 2500yearold coffins recently discovered in a burial shaft near the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt.
Egypt yesterday put on show 59 of the coffins, which belonged to priests and clerks from the 26th dynasty.
They were discovered in August at the Unesco world heritage site south of Cairo, buried in three 10m12m shafts along with 28 statues of funerary deity Seker.
Archaeologists said tens more were found at the site just days ago.
The team behind the discovery had been active since 2018 and previously unveiled a cache of mummified animals and a wellpreserved tomb of a fifth dynasty royal priest called Wahtye in the area.
Waziri said the shafts were in ‘‘perfect condition’’ due to a protective seal that preserved them from chemical reactions.
The coffins will be put on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum, expected to open next year.