Egypt unveils 30 ancient coffins recovered from Valley of the Kings
Egypt’s antiquities authority has revealed the details of 30 ancient wooden coffins found in the southern city of Luxor.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, yesterday said that the coffins, with inscriptions and paintings, were discovered in the Asasif Necropolis on the River Nile’s west bank near Luxor.
He said the coffins were for men, women and children from the 22nd dynasty (945BCE to 715BCE), and had been collected and hidden by a priest for fear of them being looted.
The necropolis, located in the ancient town of West Thebes, includes tombs dating back to the Middle, New Kingdom and the Late Periods (1994BCE to 332BCE).
Mr Waziri said the coffins were in two layers, with the ones on top across those below.
Photos from the ministry released this week showed several coloured coffins, discoveries that the ministry described it as the “biggest and most important” in recent years. Egypt has sought publicity for its archaeological discoveries in the hope of reviving its tourism sector, which was badly affected by the turmoil following the 2011 uprising and deadly terrorist attacks.
This year, a gilded coffin stolen from the country and acquired two years ago by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York made its way back home.
The 2,100-year-old relic was looted and smuggled out of Egypt in 2011.
The museum unknowingly acquired the artefact in 2017 from a global art trafficking network using fraudulent documents, officials said.
The antique was bought from a Paris art dealer for $4 million (Dh14.69m) and made the centrepiece of an exhibition.
The museum was given a forged 1971 Egyptian export licence, among other false documents, prosecutors told US local media.
The relic dates back to the 1st century BCE and was owned by a priest called Nedjemankh. It will be put on display in Egypt next year.