Mummies found in newly discovered tomb in Egypt
A storeroom housing about two dozen ancient Egyptian mummies has been
unearthed inside a 2,600-year-old tomb during the latest round of
excavations at the vast necropolis (cemetery) of Saqqara south of Cairo,
archaeologists said.
The tomb was located at the bottom of a 36-foot deep shaft, said
Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass. Twenty-two mummies were found in
niches (hollow places) along the tomb's walls, he said.
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Egypt's top archaeologist Zahi Hawass examines a
newly-discovered Egyptian mummy in a sarcophagus in a tomb at
Saqqara, south of Cairo, in Egypt. |
Eight sarcophagi (coffins) were also found in the tomb.
Archaeologists so far have opened only one of the sarcophagi - and found
a mummy inside, said Hawass' assistant Abdel Hakim Karar. Mummies are
believed to be inside the other seven, he said.
The "storeroom for mummies" dates back to 640 B.C. during the 26th
Dynasty, which was Egypt's last independent kingdom before it was
overthrown by a succession of foreign conquerors beginning with the
Persians, Hawass said. But the tomb was discovered at an even older site
in Saqqara that dates back to the 4,300-year-old 6th Dynasty, he said.
Most of the mummies are poorly preserved, and archaeologists have yet
to determine their identities or why so many were put in one room.
The name Badi N Huri was engraved into the opened sarcophagus, but
the wooden coffin did not bear a title for the mummy.
"This one might have been an important figure, but I can't tell
because there was no title," Karar said.
Karar also said it was unusual for mummies of this late period to be
stored in rocky niches.
"Niches were known in the very early dynasties, so to find one for
the 26th Dynasty is something rare," he said.
Excavations have been ongoing at Saqqara for 150 years, uncovering a
necropolis of pyramids and tombs dating mostly from the Old Kingdom, but
also tombs from as recent times as the Roman era.
In the past, excavations have focused on just one side of the site's
two most prominent pyramids - the famous Step Pyramid of King Djoser and
that of Unas, the last king of the 5th Dynasty. The area where the
current tomb was found, to the southwest, has been largely untouched by
archaeologists.
-AP |
