SHOCK DISCOVERY: Egyptian archaeologists unearth at least 17 mummies at ancient site
EGYPT has discovered at least 17 mummies thought to date back to 332 BC at an ancient burial near the southern city of Minya.
Egyptian archaeologists discovered at least 17 mummies thought to date back to 332 BC
The incredible find is the latest in a string of discoveries that Egypt’s antiquities minister branded helping hand for the country’s struggling tourism sector.
Archaeologists uncovered the site eight metres below ground in Minya, a province about 150 miles south of Cairo.
The crypt contained limestone and clay sarcophagi, animal coffins, and papyrus inscribed with Demotic script.
Archaeologists uncovered the site eight metres below ground in Minya, a province about 150 miles south of Cairo
It was first detected last year by a team of Cairo University students using radar.
The mummies, most fully intact, have not yet been dated but are believed to date to Egypt's Greco-Roman period, a roughly 600-year span that followed the country's conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, according to Mohamed Hamza, a Cairo University archaeology dean in charge of the excavations.
Salah Al-Kholi, a Cairo University Egyptology professor who led the mission, said as many as 32 mummies may be in the chamber, including mummies of women, children and infants.
Archaeologists uncovered the site eight metres below ground in Minya
The crypt contained limestone and clay sarcophagi, animal coffins, and papyrus
ISIS show destruction of Palmyra's antiquities including mummies
Egypt is hoping the discovery will boost its image abroad and revive the tourism industry which has suffered since the 2011 political uprising and in the wake of militant attacks, including two ISIS church bombings last month.
Antiquities Minister Khaled Al-Anani said: “2017 has been a historic year for archaeological discoveries. It's as if it's a message from our ancestors who are lending us a hand to help bring tourists back.”
It was first detected last year by a team of Cairo University students using radar
The incredible find is the latest in a string of discoveries
In recent weeks archaeologists have excavated a slew of relics that include a nobleman's tomb from more than 3,000 years ago, 12 cemeteries that date back about 3,500 years, and a giant colossus believed to depict King Psammetich I, who ruled from 664 to 610 BC.
Tourism Minister Yehia Rashed said the new finds could boost tourist arrivals this year to about 10 million, an improvement from the 9.3 million visitors that came in 2015 but still far below the 14.7 million from 2010.