Archaeologists find 110 Egyptian tombs in Nile Delta
Egyptian archaeologists unearthed 110 tombs at a site on the Nile Delta, the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said.
The graves, some of which contain human remains, were found at the Koum El Khulgan in Dakahlia province, about 150 kilometres north-east of Cairo, the ministry said on Tuesday.
The finds include 68 ovalshaped tombs dating to the Predynastic Period, which spanned 6000 to 3150 BC, the ministry said.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the latest discoveries were an important historical and archaeological addition to the area.
The burials include people interred in a squatting posture, many of them laid on their left sides with their heads pointing to the westward.
There are also 37 rectangular tombs from an era known as the Second Intermediate Period, when the Semitic people of the Hyksos dynasty ruled ancient Egypt about 3,600 years ago.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities said these tombs differed from the others in how the deceased were buried.
In these tombs, all of those buried are in an extended position and the head is heading west and face upward.
The remaining five ovalshaped tombs date to the Naqada III period from about 3200 to 3000 BC.
Archaeologists found remains of adults and children in these tombs, the ministry said.
Funerary equipment and pottery objects were also found.
The discovery is the latest in a series of archaeological finds in recent years for which Egypt has sought publicity in the hopes of reviving its tourism sector.
Tourism has been badly hurt by the turmoil following a 2011 uprising and now the coronavirus pandemic.