Egyptian antiquities officials on Saturday announced the discovery of at least 100 ancient coffins, some with mummies inside, and around 40 gilded statues in a vast Pharaonic necropolis south of Cairo.

The colourful, sealed sarcophagi and statues that were buried more than 2,500 years ago were displayed in a makeshift exhibit at the feet of the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.

The sealed wooden coffins, unveiled on site amid much fanfare, belonged to top officials of the Late Period and the Ptolemaic period of ancient Egypt.

They were found in three burial shafts at depths of 40 feet the sweeping necropolis, that were once Egypt's ancient capital of Memphis.

Archaeologists opened a coffin with a well-preserved mummy wrapped in cloth inside.

They also carried out X-raying visualising the structures of the ancient mummy, showing how the body had been preserved.

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Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany told a news conference that the discovered items date back to the Ptolemaic dynasty.

The Dynasty ruled Egypt for some 300 years - from around 320 B.C. to about 30 B.C., and the Late Period (664-332 B.C.).

'Saqqara has yet to reveal all of its contents. It is a treasure,' el-Anany said at the unveiling ceremony.

'Excavations are still underway. Whenever we empty a burial shaft of sarcophagi, we find an entrance to another.'

The discovery at the famed necropolis is the latest in a series of archaeological finds in Egypt.

It came just over a month after archaeologists in the area found 59 other well-preserved and sealed wooden coffins dating back more than 2,500 years ago.

Since September, antiquities authorities revealed at least 140 sealed sarcophagi, with mummies inside most of them, in the same area of Saqqara - around 10 miles south-east of the Pyramids of Giza.

Egyptian archaeologists found other 'shafts full of coffins, well-gilded, well-painted, well-decorated,' Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters on Saturday.

The minister attributed the flurry of discoveries in Saqqara to extensive excavation works in recent years.

He said they would move the artefacts to at least three Cairo museums including the Grand Egyptian Museum that Egypt is building near the famed Giza Pyramids.

They would announce another discovery at the Saqqara necropolis later this year, he added.

The Saqqara site is part of the necropolis at Egypt's ancient capital of Memphis that includes the famed Giza Pyramids, as well as smaller pyramids at Abu Sir, Dahshur and Abu Ruwaysh.

The ruins of Memphis were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1970s.

Archaeologists also hope to find an ancient workshop for manufacturing wooden coffins for mummies soon, according to Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Egypt frequently touts its archaeological discoveries in hopes of spurring a vital tourism industry that has been reeling from the political turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The sector was also dealt a further blow this year by the coronavirus pandemic.

pyyxxaro:
EXPLORERS , you don change name abi , we still know you

theFilmtricsay

Cousin9999:
Boring. In that region, Sudan and Ethiopia are far more interesting.

Kekereekun123:
you and senseless comments are like 5 and 6

Juliusmomoh:
Una go soon dig out one accient curse wey go kill all of us.....
.
Mr. Digger

theFilmtric:
Egypt! Always digging and discovering!.
Memphis was the burial capital of the world then
Africa has the most heritage in the world
But Sub-Saharan Africa's heritage is almost lost mainly because of the colonial masters
And African's poor mentality
I hope they won't sell them.
So sad
Africa was once the wealth capital of the world.
Now it is the poverty capital.

theFilmtricsay

Raydos:


Dey whine yourself, You think a typical egyptian see himself as African??

People wey hate black people like sh!t

Raydos:


Dey whine yourself, You think a typical egyptian see himself as African??

People wey hate black people like sh!t

theFilmtricsay

Righteousness89:
Egypt, Once one of the World's most Powerful Nations! Until Pharoah made the mistake of refusing God's First Born ( The Nation of Isreal) to leave.
Exodus 5:1-2
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

Those words made GOD ALMIGHTY to Cripple, Shatter and Batter Egypt. Up till today Egypt has not Recovered.
The Same Pharoah who Bragged and Boasted against His Creator had to Bow. He had to Call for Moses and Aaron by Night! And also had to beg for Blessing

Exodus 12:31-32
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.

Egypt has been a Shadow of itself ever since!

This is where I Pity mere Creatures and Nations who donate themselves to fight God's people and God's work!

Repent and Submit to GOD before He Falls on you and you begin to wail..

Time for Mercy is Running out!
Make Haste ! Come into the Ark before it becomes late..

theFilmtricsay

Samylekey:

Hehehehe
Ancient curse ke, dem no go see am o

6ixT8:
If evolution is time by time; when is it coming to naija?