HUNDRED OF SARCOPHAGUS DISCOVERED

OVER 2500 YEARS OLD

It is the biggest “treasure” unearthed in the country since the beginning of the year. Egypt unveiled, Saturday, November 14, a hundred sarcophagi over two thousand years old in perfect condition, discovered in the necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo.

The sealed wooden coffins, unveiled with fanfare during a ceremony, belonged to senior officials of the late period (between 700 and 300 BC) and the Ptolemaic period (323 to 30 BC). They were discovered in the necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo, where some sixty intact sarcophagi over two thousand five hundred years old were unveiled last month. “Saqqara has not yet revealed all that it holds. It's a treasure, ”said Khaled El-Enani, Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, during the ceremony.

The site of Saqqara, which is just over 9 miles south of the Pyramids of the Giza Plateau, is home to the necropolis of Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt. It is classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Revitalize tourism

The hundred sarcophagi unveiled on Saturday were discovered in three funeral pits, 12 meters deep. “The excavations are still in progress. As soon as you empty a funeral shaft with sarcophagi, you discover another, ”added Mr. El-Enani. Archaeologists opened one of the coffins inside which lay a mummy wrapped in a shroud adorned with colorful hieroglyphics . More than 40 statues of ancient deities and funeral masks were also found, according to the minister.

These finds will be distributed in several Egyptian museums, including a new establishment to open on the outskirts of Cairo. According to Mr. El-Enani, these recent discoveries are the result of increased excavation work in recent years. Another discovery in the necropolis must be announced in the coming weeks, he warned.

Archaeologists also hope to soon discover an old workshop for making coffins for mummies, according to the general secretary of the general council of antiquities, Mostafa Waziri.

Egypt hopes that all these finds and its new museum will revitalize tourism undermined by political instability and the attacks after the 2011 revolution that drove Hosni Mubarak from power, and by the Covid-19 pandemic.