Photos: Egypt unveils ancient coffins, statues found in Saqqara

Colorful, sealed sarcophagi and statues were buried more than 2,500 years ago

Published: November 14, 2020 17:23 AP and Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

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Cairo: 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. Image Credit: AP

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Colorful, 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. Image Credit: AP

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Archaeologists opened a coffin with a well-preserved mummy wrapped in cloth inside. They also carried out X-raying visualizing the structures of the ancient mummy, showing how the body had been preserved. Image Credit: AP

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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 that ruled Egypt for some 300 years _ from around 320 BC to about 30 BC, and the Late Period (664-332 BC). Image Credit: AP

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He said they would move the artifacts to at least three Cairo museums including the Grand Egyptian Museum that Egypt is building near the famed Giza Pyramids. He said they would announce another discovery at the Saqqara necropolis later this year. Image Credit: AP

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The discovery at the famed necropolis is the latest in a series of archaeological finds in Egypt. Since September, antiquities authorities revealed at least 140 sealed sarcophagi, with mummies inside most of them, in the same area of Saqqara. Image Credit: AP

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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. Image Credit: AP

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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. Image Credit: AP

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Image Credit: AP

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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. Image Credit: AP

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Ancient sarcophagus, discovered in a vast necropolis, are on display in Saqqara, Giza, Egypt. Image Credit: AP

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People and journalists crowd ahead of an announcement on a new discovery of ancient sarcophagi more than 2500 years old in a vast necropolis in Saqqara, Giza, Egypt. Image Credit: AP

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