Archaeologists uncover 20 mummies in vast ancient Egyptian treasure trove
Egypt has unveiled 16 ancient tombs containing a huge stash of artefacts about 2500 years old, many in good condition and hailed by archaeologists as among the most important discoveries of recent times.
The tombs contain 20 sarcophagi holding the mummified bodies of high priests and officials from the 26th dynasty, which ruled from about 672 to 525BC.
Mostafa al-Waziri, the secretarygeneral of the supreme council of antiquities, said that an Egyptian archaeological mission had discovered the shafts in al-Ghoreifa in Minya province, about 320km south of Cairo and close to the Nile.
They are eight metres deep and include five sarcophagi in human form that are made of limestone and engraved with hieroglyphics, and five wooden coffins in good condition, some of which are decorated with the names and titles of their owners.
There are also more than 10,000 ushabti, small figurines that were placed in tombs in ancient Egypt in the belief that they would serve the deceased in the afterlife, as well as more than 700 amulets made of various materials.
They include heart-shaped scarabs, symbols of the gods, and amulets made of pure gold including one in the shape of a winged cobra.
Many pots of different shapes and sizes, which were used for funerals and religious rituals, were also unearthed, along with tools for cutting stones and moving coffins such as wooden hammers, and baskets made of palm fronds. The discovery includes eight groups of painted limestone jars and other stone artefacts.
Waziri said that one of the sarcophagi belonged to the son of Psamtik, who was the head of the royal treasury. He was bestowed with many titles, most important of which was the priest of Osiris and Nut.
Mohamed Wahballah, a member of the archaeological team, told
that one of the tombs contained six sarcophagi, two of them still sealed and in very good condition.
One belonged to a man called Djed of Djehuty Luf Ankh, and is considered one of the most important coffins found in recent times because of the titles inscribed on the lid, which are the nicknames of rulers of the Central Egypt region.
In the same tomb, there is a sealed wooden coffin belonging to a man called Hr, who served as a high priest.
In another there is a sarcophagus belonging to a nobleman called Epy, alongside another plain limestone sarcophagus of a child, believed to be his son.
The tomb was looted of its funerary objects and coffins but the inner side of it has survived as it was concealed by the sands. Human skulls and skeletons were found piled in a side of the tomb.
The archaeological mission has been working in the al-Ghoreifa area since 2018. It has previously discovered 19 tombs containing 70 stone coffins, among other finds.
Khaled al-Enany, the Egyptian minister of antiquities, said that the Minya region ‘‘continues to reveal its secrets’’.
Last February 50 mummies including 12 children were discovered in burial chambers nine metres deep at the Tuna al-Gebel site in Minya. It is believed to have been the grave of a wealthy family.
The first tombs discovered in the region were the Fraser Tombs, found in 1853 by the German Egyptologist Heinrich Brugsch, and described by the British civil engineer George Willoughby Fraser.